GRIMSBY, Ontario—June 24, 2015—Cimcorp, a manufacturer and integrator of turnkey robotic gantry-based order fulfillment and tire handling solutions, announces that it has secured a $33.5 million (approx. 30 million euros) order – the biggest in its history – from Chinese tire manufacturer, Qingdao Sentury Tire Co Ltd, to deliver a turnkey material handling solution at a new factory in Thailand.

Established in 2009, Sentury manufactures and sells tires under the brand names Landsail, Delinte and Sentury, with 13 ranges and more than 400 sizes. Cimcorp recently supplied the automated handling systems for Sentury’s Qingdao plant in China, which led to Sentury’s selection of the same Dream Factory concept for its new facility in Thailand. Cimcorp will provide a fully automated handling system that covers the handling of passenger car radial (PCR) green tires from the tire-building machines to the curing presses. It will also manage finished tire sorting, palletizing, warehousing and shipping. The system will become operational in stages during 2015 and 2016.

Qin Long, President and CEO of Qingdao Sentury Tire, said, “We want to build a modern tire plant with the latest automation technologies to ensure high product quality and high productivity from the beginning. Our experiences with the first project with Cimcorp have convinced us that they are a competent and reliable partner for us for the Thailand project.”

Cimcorp’s solution for the new plant, which is located about 100 miles outside of Bangkok, will feature six independent automation lines, each consisting of monorail systems for the unloading of the tire-building machines and transfer of green tires to the curing buffers; green tire buffer storage; spotting stations; and monorail transfers for press delivery. In addition, Cimcorp will also provide finished tire buffers and palletizing stations, rail guided vehicle (RGV) loops, stacker cranes in a high-bay warehouse, and shipping buffers in the dispatch area. The material flow will be controlled by Cimcorp’s Warehouse Control Software (WCS), which will integrate the various technologies – robots, monorails, RGVs, stacker cranes and pallet conveyors – into a seamless system.

Kai Tuomisaari, Cimcorp’s Vice President of Sales and Projects, said, “Today’s state-of-the-art tire plants are efficient, well organized, dynamic and lean. This flexible efficiency can be achieved through modular automation and total control of the process flow, which is exactly what we will be supplying for Sentury’s new factory in Thailand.”

About Qingdao Sentury Tire Co Ltd
Sentury Tire is ranked among the top 75 tire companies in the world. Sentury’s two consumer brands, Landsail and Delinte, include a full range of summer and winter tires for passenger cars, ultra-high performance vehicles, SUVs, CUVs, light trucks and off-road vehicles. In addition to PCR tires, Sentury also manufactures aircraft tires. The company’s global sales network extends to more than 150 countries across North America, South and Central America, Europe, Africa, Oceania and Asia.
www.senturytire.com

About Cimcorp
Cimcorp Group – part of Murata Machinery, Ltd. (Muratec) – is a leading global supplier of turnkey automation for intralogistics, using advanced robotics and software technologies. As well as being a manufacturer and integrator of pioneering material handling systems for the tire industry, Cimcorp has developed unique robotic solutions for order fulfillment and storage that are being used in the food & beverage, retail, e-commerce, FMCG and postal services sectors. With locations in Finland and Canada, the group has around 300 employees and has delivered over 2,000 logistics automation solutions. Designed to reduce operating costs, ensure traceability and improve efficiency, these systems are used within manufacturing and distribution centers in 40 countries across five continents.
www.cimcorp.com