Bridgestone (China) R&D Center Celebrated its Tenth Anniversary

Bridgestone (China) Investment Co., Ltd. released a piece of good news on September 12 that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Bridgestone (China) Research and Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as R&D Center) which is based in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, ushered in its tenth anniversary.

Over the past ten years, Bridgestone (China) R&D Center has done a lot of work centering on the following three aspects:

Firstly, being devoted to developing local raw materials and lifting the level of raw materials made at home. As the 5th R&D Center built by Bridgestone Group worldwide, the center has, over the ten years, completed assessment and confirmation for over 200 new raw materials, and significantly improved the product quality and market competence of four tire plants of Bridgestone (China) through tackling part of the practical problems occurring in the process of tire manufacturing. It made the proportion of domestically produced raw materials used by these four tire plants rise from 55% in 2006 to above 80%, achieving the stable nearest supply of raw materials. Meanwhile, the center has also provided Chinese suppliers of raw materials with advice on technology and quality management, enhancing their level and global competence to a large extent. Moreover, it has been continuously expanding the range of businesses. Apart from the business of raw material development, the center has also started diversified businesses like R&D of tire rubber formula and investigation and plan- ning of new materials, aiming at becoming a regional R&D center of independent technologies.

Secondly, making sure of the unified standard on quality worldwide and promoting the research and development of green and environment-friendly tires. The center has laid a foundation for the Bridgestone tires made in China to reach the quality level under the Group’s global standard by the development of stable and high-quality raw materials and management of quality. It insists on developing new-type materials that are environmentally friendly, and makes sure that the latest and most strict environmental protection standard for the tire industry is carried out throughout all R&D projects. In the course of indigenization of environment-friendly tire manufacturing of Bridgestone ECOPIA, the center developed an important indigenous raw material, which helped plants solve the technical problems occurring in manufacturing, thus guaranteeing both the products’ being smoothly produced domestically and the stable mass production. Furthermore, the center also plays an active part in developing and utilizing renewable materials, with an aim to achieve the 2050 long-term environmental goal of “100% usage of renewal resources in tire raw materials” set by the Group.

Thirdly, broadly participating in academic exchange within the industry and sharing development with China’s tire industry. Over the ten years, the center has participated in not only the formulation of industry standards, but also exchange activities held by the industry association for over 100 times where it actively shared its own experience and cases in terms of scientific research and technologies of tires, all in an effort to enjoy shared progress and development with China’s tire industry.