Tire Manufacturers Are Rolling Out Consolidated Data Management

It is a challenging time for the tire industry due to global economic conditions, fluctuations in its front-end automotive industry, and fierce business competition. Under these circumstances, cost-effective planning, improved production process, keeping records of manufacturing data, product information, and related assets of tires have more importance than ever before. In particular, a systemic, agile, and centralized data management platform supporting the entire data value chain can significantly contribute to business growth.

The increased disposable income of consumers and their willingness to spend on new technologically advanced models have spurred automobile sales across the globe. Tire replacement, however, being a typical maintenance cost for direct consumers, is a different story – taking a back seat with increasing demand for new cars. Tire manufacturers further face hurdles as the soaring rubber prices cause an uncomfortable stir on the cost of manufacturing and purchasing tires.

Nevertheless, the industry has significantly matured after going through many cycles and stages of change in the last century. Today, it is highly dependent on data and analytics primarily due to several global economic factors, including consumer spending, budget allocation, and/or budget cut downs, among others.

Tire manufacturers are driving intensive research into making their products safer and more efficient than ever before. They are becoming more professional with their operations, making use of the ever-growing volume of data they generate to transform their businesses, which will eventually stabilize the profit. Within the daily measurements of temperature, pressure, and wear, data scientists are looking for patterns that could help improve the safety of the vehicles and prompt more efficient fuel use.

The Impact That Resonates for a Long Time Throughout the System

At any tire plant, through the entire material flow – from raw materials warehouse to mixing, compounding, component manufacturing, tire-building, curing, finishing, finished tire warehouse, and shipping – there is a humongous amount of data is being generated. Add to that the mountain data coming in from the company's research labs, test tracks, suppliers, customers, weblogs, and social media; and it is impossible to ignore the enormity of the constant pilling up of datasets.

From production data to recipe management to testing & reporting, discerning handling of all types of data becomes a massive task for enabling 100% traceability of work in progress and finished tires. With market developments, seismic shifts in consumption patterns, and technology getting integrated into almost every stage of tire production and distribution cycle, a comprehensive data management tool is 'mandatory'.

Recording information such as batch numbers, operators, weights, processing times, and test results can ensure accurate product tracking at the individual tire level. In turn, automated analytics can apply these insights to a closed-loop action on the same unit, the entire processing network, or other connected devices. By using readily available data, a tire manufacturer/seller can leverage analytics to generate real-time insights and understand the needs of end consumers and product performance under different operating conditions. Additionally, the data from customers and other sources can help drive contextual analytics and generate further monetization opportunities for cost-containment or revenue-generation initiatives for different stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Having one centralized platform to organize and manage this vast amount of data can significantly improve the time-to-value of data and response time by reducing network bottlenecks and service delays. Such an approach focuses on actionable data and creates long-term benefits. The key is to have one solution, a single-stop destination, that keeps records of all manufacturing data. Such a system allows manufacturers to analyze vast volumes of data in a scalable and efficient way, and thus stay ahead of the curve.

Case Study: How a Leading Tire Manufacturer Reaped the Benefits of Strategic Data Management

A firm believer in investing in R&D to improve product efficiency, one of the top global tire manufacturers, was looking for ways to take its operations to the next level. The company is already present across 61 countries, creates products for 41+ brands, and generates yearly revenue of close to €45 billion. The multinational company is developing intelligent technology for making tires that are not only secure and cost-effective but also ecologically friendly.

Yet, its vast reach and multiple production facilities meant they were juggling with an incomprehensible amount of data. Lack of tailored solutions to tackle their problems meant extra manual labor with heightened chances of inaccuracy and errors. One of the issues was product data management and enrichment.

There was no consolidated, central PIM database for product assets and marketing text; and modules were maintained on multiple systems. The content was shared manually, and various teams used the product information in multiple ways without complete knowledge of how data was being shared or used by other teams. Continually monitoring and updating the data shared with customers thus became a very time consuming and complicated process.

Pimcore platform was chosen to implement the PIM and DAM solution to centralize product data and related digital assets on a single platform. The goal was to consolidate product data, marketing text (in multiple languages), and digital assets in a single platform. Pimcore's PIM and DAM platform has streamlined the workflow and ultimately enriched the marketing text.

The implemented solution contains the following features:

1. All product-related information is managed centrally for all sales organizations across the globe in Pimcore PIM.
2. All products are organized in a folder-based structure, segregated based on brands and product divisions. Similar products are grouped under product lines for easy access and re-use of information.
3. Pimcore DAM section is used to manage all digital assets. All assets are stored and organized in a folder structure for easier navigation and management.
4. More than 40 languages are enabled for the content and the assets.
5. Inbound integrations have been configured for various source of information like SAP ERP
6. Data Syndication has been enabled to distribute data to websites, various market places, and other channels.

The solution has enabled the tire manufacturer's team to effortlessly manage product information with reduced data retrieval time and improved data structure usability. It has also increased the overall visibility & usability of product information and digital assets for different business teams.

With Pimcore's PIM, controlled product enrichment has reduced the risk of incorrect product data, and business users across multiple countries are now able to manage digital assets and product data from a single system.

With an elegant data management solution, end-customers can now get added benefits. For instance, the system can let drivers know when their tires should be repaired or changed, thus allowing fleets to keep downtime to a minimum.

Step Into the Next

Conventional tools are no longer enough for handling the complexities of product data and can seriously damage your brand reputation in the run against the competition. You need solutions that can streamline data flow, automate the process of continually updating digital assets across all channels, improve the quality and consistency of product data, and deliver a compelling product experience to drive exceptional customer experience.