Interview With A Tyre Leader_PK Mohamed_Apollo Tyres

INTERVIEW WITH

P.K.MOHAMEDChief Adviser - Research & TechnologyMember of Management BoardApollo Tyres Ltd.

Tyre Technology IsAn AmalgamationOf Science And Engineering.

P.K. Mohamed is a soft-spoken and an accomplished tyre

technologist. I consider it a privilege to know him and

present his leadership wisdom to you in this special edition.

The above quote aptly summarizes Mohamed. You will

agree with me when you read this passionate interview of

his journey from a college lecturer to a well-known tyre

technologist. There are struggles, challenges, achievements,

lessons on loyalty and continuous education for us to imbibe

in his more than 49 years' of experience in the field of Tyre

Technology and Manufacturing.

Mohamed’s exceptional knowledge, clarity, relevance and

insight on the various aspects is awe-inspiring. I have said

earlier that true leaders are few and when we find one, we

look towards them as mentor and guide.

Mohamed is a Fellow Member of the Rubber and Plastic

Institute London, Member in the Management Board of

Apollo Tyres Ltd, Industrial Advisory board of Centre for

Tyre Research, USA, IRCO and Area Director of American

Chemical Society Rubber Division. Mohamed is also the

Chairman of Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee

(ITTAC), Technology Environment Safety and Standard

(TESS) group of ATMA and past chairman of IRI. He has

several international publications to his credit.

As always, I welcome your feedback on

[email protected].

Best Regards

Prasanth Warrier

| Interviewer’s Note |

“A leader is someone who

demonstrates, what’s possible” - Mark Yarnell

There are struggles,

challenges, success

lessons on loyalty

and continuous

education for us to

imbibe in his more

than 49 years of

experience.

3

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Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World JAN 2016|(Disclaimer: All the pictures and statements in this special supplement are sourced from web or shared by respective companies. All copyrights belong to actual owner. Rubber Machinery World does not independently verify them nor will vouch for their genuineness, hence will not be liable for any misrepresented data. The images are used for representation purpose only.)

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| LEADER - INTERVIEW |

“Most of my learning in rubber

technology and compounding

has happened during my career.”

Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World | JAN 2016

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PRASANTH WARRIER (PW):

Hello Mohamed. First of all thank

you for accepting an interview with

Rubber Machinery World (RMW) and

sharing your thoughts. From a Junior

Lecturer at Calicut Farook College

(Kerala) to being recognized as ‘Best

Tyre Technologist’ and a Member of

Management Board of Apollo Tyres

is a remarkable journey. So let me

start with a personal question - What

would you say was key to your success

and how you reached the very top

spot? What are the take away for the

next generation of leaders in your

inspiring story?

P.K. MOHAMED (PKM):

It is a fact that I started my career as

a Junior Lecturer in the year 1965

immediately after passing out from college

with Chemistry major. But it was not long

before I realized that the challenges in the

position as a junior lecturer was

inadequate to meet my desires. And my

mind was prompting me to look for a job in

the industry to meet my aspirations and

challenges. So I tried for a job in rubber and

fertilizer industries and was fortunate to

receive positive responses from both. My

decision was to join rubber industry for the

more lucrative remuneration then offered

by the industry.

I joined as a Supervisor in the Quality

Department in Premier Tyres under J.D.

Kamath. Kamath was a good teacher and

guide. At that time the technical department

was headed by G.K.Pillai, a well known Tyre

Technologist trained in the USA under the

collaboration agreement with General Tyre.

The compounding department was headed

by Dr. A.S. Nair, a doctorate holder from IIT

Kharagpur and a well known person in the

field of rubber compounding and material

science. I was fortunate to be a protégé

of these eminent personalities. They

provided me with excellent training that

enabled me to perform better and better in

future. It is worth to mention that when I

joined the Rubber Industry, my knowledge

about Rubber technology and rubber

compounding was very limited. During my

academic time, I only learnt that there was

a molecule called ‘isoprene’ which was the

monomer of natural rubber.

Most of my learning in rubber technology

and compounding has happened during my

Tyre Technology is an Amalgamation

of Science and EngineeringInterview With P.K.Mohamed,

Chief Adviser - Research & Technology. Member of Management Board, Apollo Tyres

Know A Leader - Rubber & Tyre Machinery World JAN 2016|

6


career. This reinforced my belief in the

benefits of continuing education in the

fieldof one’s interest, through reading,

interaction, active participation in the

technical discussion, experimentation of

one’s ideas and analysis of their outcome.

Linking these observations with the

theories, is an important element of

learning which is essential for one’s

professional growth.

It is also important to acquire

qualification in the respective

professional field for better recognition.

The successful stint in Premier saw me

elevated to the position of the Manager -

Compounding & Laboratory Chemist.

It was time in 1976, when Apollo Tyres

was looking for a rubber technologist

with a qualification of LPRI (London) and

with compounding background to be

trained under their collaborator, General

Tire International Company (GTIC) in the

USA. A change seemed just right for me at

that stage to further my career growth

and also to support the financial needs of

my family which was particularly more

felt after my marriage.

I applied for the position on offer and got

selected. People around me and well

wishers like Dr. A.S.Nair, G.K.Pillai,

M.Jayashankar, I.Venugopal, and Dr. John

Jacob congratulated me because then

Apollo Tyres was considered to be a rising

star in the industry circles. And more for

the fact that it was managed by the

dynamic entrepreneur, Raunaq Singh.

I joined Apollo with a lot of hope and went

to General Tires for extensive training in

the areas of rubber compounding, fabric

dipping, calendaring, and heat engineering.

I returned to India and started working

under William Stebins, a General Tyre

Compounding Specialist.

The Technology was then headed by Ceaser

Pereira. Even though every individual

department put in their best efforts, heart

and soul for the growth of the company, the

products offered by our collaborator were

not meeting the customer and market

requirements. Hence tyres started failing

miserably.

Apollo reached a situation where in all the

raw material suppliers refused to make

anymore supply of their products,

collaborator refused to provide further

technology and dealers stopped lifting our

tyres. During that time Raunaq Singh

installed a new management team under the

leadership of Onkar Singh Kanwar, the

present Chairman and Managing Director.

When he took over the company, there was

no credible management team and whoever

was available, was having a very low

morale.

“The products offered by our

collaborator were not meeting

the customer and market

requirements and hence tyres

started failing miserably.”



Quality reputation was extremely poor,

financial and labour situation were

miserable. But he managed the situation

with his management skill, positive

attitude, optimistic and aggressive

approach.

During that time the technical

department was totally vacant and there

was no chance for an external person

with good background joining the

company. So they identified me to steer

the technical department by promoting

me as a Senior manager.

It was then D.V. Kohli and Kanwar gave

the assignment for the development of a

tyre for over-load market and get the

share of this market from the Modi N-416,

(then market leader in that segment with

60 per cent market share). This was an

herculean task to achieve with the

available expertise and man power.

Despite that, I along with R.N. Krishnan,

Sondh, T.R. Gopalakrishnan, Tom Thomas

and Cyriac Mattam, decided to put our

heart and soul; determined to achieve the

goal set by our beloved chairman. We

identified the weaknesses of N-416 tyres

and developed a tyre with the new design

concept, carcass platform, process and

material technology.

The project was a great success. Our

company’s sales of this particular brand

of tyres moved from 3,000 tyres to over

400,000 tyres per annum.

This success encouraged the whole team and

boosted their morale multi-fold. The

increased vigour further paved the way for

the development of XT-7, Amar and passenger

radial tyre technology using available

equipment and market a brand of tyres

called Polyglass.

These developments changed the overall

reputation and financial status of Apollo,

which lead to the expansion of company’s

Perambra plant capacity from 56 MT to 106

MT per day.

As the demand for our tyres further

increased, the management decided to set up

a plant in Gujarat with a capacity of 76 MT

and the same got expanded to 350 MT with in

a short time.


“These developments changed

the overall reputation and

financial status of Apollo.” 10

Our company continued to grow from

strength to strength and prospered under

the leadership of Onkar Kanwar and Neeraj

Kanwar. New technology products like PCR,

TBR, OTR and Agricultural products were

introduced successfully, which helped to

expand the company from 56 MT to reach a

capacity of 1600 MT day in the year 2014.

Apollo Tyres also acquired plants in thr

Netherlands, South Africa and India

(Premier Tyres).

During this journey of growth, the

technology department, under my

leadership developed products, processes,

systems etc., to maintain the market

leadership. This was recognized by the

management and suitable rewards were

given to all people who have worked in the

technology department including myself.

I consider myself as one of the luckiest

person in the company because I always

received full support from Onkar Kanwar

and Neeraj Kanwar. And they played a vital

role in developing me as one of the well-

recognized technologists in the field of tyre

technology. I am greatly indebted to them.

My journey in Apollo Tyres was fascinating

one, full of challenges which I cherished

throughout my career in the company. I

taught myself, several new lessons in the

company and wish to share a few of them

with the readers:

1. I am a strong believer of Abraham

Lincoln’s words "failure is not a dead end

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Apollo Tyres Display at IMME2014

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“Our company continued to

grow from strength to strength

and prospered.”



Onkar S. Kanwar

Chairman & Managing Director

P.K. Mohamed

Neeraj Kanwar

Vice-Chairman & Managing Director

“I always received full support from

Onkar Kanwar and Neeraj Kanwar.

And they played a vital role in

developing me as one of the well-

recognized tyre technologists. I am

greatly indebted to them.”

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12


but it is a detour. Enthusiasm, passion,

commitment, proper analytical

capability, dedication, positive mind and

of course expertise building through

continuous upgradation of knowledge

will make you an expert.

2. Please do not believe in one-time

education, the success will be depended

upon continuing the education through-

out your career.

3. Challenges always, look insurmountable

and difficult to achieve but the same can

easily be achieved if you commit

yourself to face them with all your

beliefs and passion.

4. Individual can achieve very little but a

team can achieve a lot. Team work is

very critical for success.

PW: As one of the first few employees,

your contribution at various levels has

been significant in Apollo’s rise to today’s

leadership position in tyre industry.

Which is the position that you enjoyed

the most? Why?

When I scan my memory of PKM:

achievements in Apollo Tyres, several

incidences are flashing across in my mind. It

is difficult for me to list all of these items

here, but would like to provide a few of them

for the information of the readers of this

interview. I enjoyed my job in every position

held, that started as the Deputy Manager,

Compounding to Chief Advisor, Technology,

in the span of 38 years in the company.

I have already mentioned some of the

interesting developments that took place in

the company but wish to highlight a few

major happenings that I cherish, for better

understanding for the readers. “Challenges can be

achieved if you commit

yourself to face them

with all your beliefs

and passion.”


(Image Source: Tyrepress.com.)

Image from advertisement of

Apollo Alnac 4G Winter Tyre

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leadership position in the market. This

tyre was known in the market as

Hercules Loadstar. Initial production was

only 3000 tyres per annum and the same

had increased to 400, 000 and earned

market share of more than 40% with

quality leadership. This changed the

fortune of the company.

2. Second task was given to me by my best

friend, colleague, the then Technical

Service Head, U.S. Oberoi. This happened

in the year 1986. During that time

Goodyear introduced a tyre called CT-169,

and claimed as a mileage leader in the

market place. Oberoi advised me to

develop a tyre to compete with the

Goodyear product and to take major

market share in the load and mileage

segment. We developed a tyre with

innovative tread and compounding

technology and embedded on Hercules

“Hercules Loadstar changed the

fortune of the company. Initial

production was only 3000 tyres

per annum and the same had

increased to 400, 000 and earned

market share of more than 40%

with quality leadership. The

positive attitude of my team

members and my belief in me

and my people had paved the

way to develop the tyre,

perfect the same, and establish

leadership position.”

1. First incident comes in mind is the task

given by Onkar Kanwar and D.V. Kohli in

the year 1981. Kanwar was inducted into

the company when the company was

continuously making losses, morale of

the employees were at the bottom and

quality reputation of the product was

poor. Then Sales Director, Kohli

convinced Kanwar that the quality

reputation of the company can only be

revived if technology can develop a

product for heavy load market and

create a stiff competition to Modi N-416,

the then market leader in that segment

with 60% market share. I was asked to

develop a tyre for heavy load market

using existing man power and facilities.

Even though it was an herculean task at

that time, the positive attitude of my

team members and my belief in me and

my people had paved the way to develop

the tyre, perfect the same, and establish

P.K. Mohamed


17


tyre technology were not tested at all. On

the strength of great belief on our

capabilities, and technological knowhow,

Neeraj Kanwar decided to set up a new

plant with the capacity of 2 million tyres

per annum in Chennai. After taking this

decision, he gave the responsibility of

setting up plant and selection of

equipment to K. Prabhakar and process

and product development to myself. We

had sleepless nights because we did not

have a proven product, process technology

and an established market. But myself and

K. Prabhakar worked like a single soul,

“On the strength of great

belief on our capabilities, and

technological knowhow,

Neeraj Kanwar decided to set

up a new plant with the

capacity of 2 million tyres per

annum in Chennai.”

platform. Even though, initially we had

many problems with the performance of

the tyres, we as a team solved them one by

one. And ultimately the tyre became the

volume, quality and price leader in the

Indian market. Production of this tyre

increased from initial 6000 tyres to over

500,000 per annum.

3. Third task was given to me by our young,

dynamic leader Neeraj Kanwar in the year

2006. This was the development of TBR

tyres with excellent durability, to establish

the same in the market place, and earn

brand leadership similar to the global

competitors. During that time all

companies, except JK, were struggling hard

to establish their TBR tyres in the market

place. JK’s TBR tyre, JDH was very well

known in the load segment and our

challenge was to create a product credibly

competing with JDH in the Indian market.

Apollo was well known for the production

of high quality bias tyres then but our

knowledge and experience in truck radial

18

Apollo Chennai Plant


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through improvement in product

performance, brand building and marketing

your products in the markets and segments

where the value addition is high. It is also

essential to contain the cost of raw material

through innovation in tyre design,

manufacturing, and usage of alternate and

recycled materials, wherever the same is

possible through value engineering. Other

conversion cost such as labour, energy,

repair and maintenance have to be

controlled and wastage of material have to

be minimised with the support of every team

member involved in the process.

PW: Today, profitability for tire

producers is from falling raw material

prices, which may not be a true

reflection for the future. Strategically,

where do you see opportunities for tire

producers like Apollo to build sustaining

profitability while creating more value

to your customers?

PKM: We are fully aware of this aspect and

our Chairman and Vice Chairman are

always emphasizing on this, the way you

mentioned. Product cost of a tyre is highly

influenced by raw material input cost. The

value addition on raw material cost is very

low in the developing countries like India.

But at the same time it is good in developed

countries. In developing countries, the

value addition on raw material cost may

vary between 40 to 70% but at the same

time this may way vary more than 100%

in developed countries. Tyre Industry is a

special industry where the R&D,

marketing and sale expenses are relatively

high. So it is necessary to create better

value addition on raw material cost

19


“It is necessary to create better

value-addition on raw material

cost through improvement in

product performance, brand

building and marketing your

products in the markets and

segments where the value-

addition is high.”



“We as a team used all our knowledge,

experience, expertise and worked in

the areas of productive and non

productive time and reduced the

mixing cycle from 300 seconds to

180 second for a batch from master

to final.”

provided the right leadership to our next

line leaders like T.R.Gopalakrishnan

(Technology & Process Development) and

C. Krishnakumar (Projects & Equipment).

We commissioned this plant, developed

process technology and products suitable

for Indian market, and established the

same in the market place. We are now

doubling Chennai Plant from 2 million to

4.1 million tyres per annum. We are one

of the well-known players in truck radial

tyres in Indian market. My satisfaction is

that, after starting and establishing the

development of bias tyres at Apollo, I also

had an opportunity to manage the

transition from bias to radial tyre

technology and establish TBR tyres.

4. Another small challenge I remember was

given by Neeraj Kanwar. Kanwar after

visiting a few international plants came

and advised us to enhance the mixing

capacity to be in line with international

plants. This was required to expand our

bias tyre capacity without any fresh

investment in the mixing area. During

that time our mixing cycle to produce

one batch from master to final, was more

than 300 seconds. We as a team used all

our knowledge, experience, expertise

and worked in the areas of productive

and non productive time and reduced

the mixing cycle from 300 seconds to 180

second for a batch from master to final.

This helped to make huge saving on

investment in man power, equipment,

building and utility.

I hope that I have provided enough example

of challenges given by my leaders, Onkar

Knwar and Neeraj Kanwar, which has

helped me to keep motivated and perform

beyond my expectation.

Know A Leader - Machinery World 2016Rubber & Tyre | JAN

22


Would you say that rubber PW:

compounding has undergone change in

the last decades that you have been with

rubber industry? What were the drivers

for this change? What role has

machinery played in this change?

In general, all industries are PKM:

influenced by the changes happening in the

environment, regulations, standards and of

course the developments happening in the

industries around the same business. We

have witnessed major changes in the

automobile industries, particularly in the

environmental and legal requirements. The

adoption of ABS breaking system by the

automobile industries demanded higher

wet and dry traction for tread compounds

used for the tyres. The introduction of tyre

labeling system in Europe, and in a few

more countries, forced the tyre

manufacturers to design their tyres with

better traction, rolling resistance and

reduced noise level. In truck categories of

tyres, customers are demanding better

mileage, durability and retreading

capabilities. All these changes demanded

newer raw materials and significant

alterations in compound design, mixing,

extrusion and curing technology. Key

equipment manufacturers have responded

very well to the requirement of the tyre

industries and some of them developed new

equipment and others modified their

existing equipment to process these

materials, compounds and components in

the desired way.


Extrusion Inside Apollo Chennai Plant

“Changes demanded newer

raw materials and significant

alterations in compound design

mixing, extrusion and curing

technology.”

23


PW: How do you envision tyre building

shaping up in the next 10 years? As a

technologist, what are your expectations

from a machinery manufacturer/supplier

to achieve this vision?

As we all know, the tyre building PKM:

machine is one piece of equipment which is

used by the tyre engineer to convert tyre

layout into actual green tyre. This is a very

critical process. The tyre technologist

expects that this process to happen with

bare minimum movements of components

placed in the respective position of tyres. If

changes happen as against his expectation,

the performance of the tyre will have a

very adverse impact. Even though tyre

building equipment manufacturers have

done enough development in the areas

of cycle time reduction, application of

component, its accuracy and

repeatability, there are several areas

which need attention to improve the

uniformity, cycle time and accuracy of

component placement. The cycle time of

carcass drum is 80 to 90% more than

shaping and B&T drums which

determines the overall productivity of


“There are several areas (in

Tyre Building Machinery)

which need attention to

improve the uniformity,

cycle time and accuracy of

component placement.”

24

Inside Apollo Chennai Plant


tyre building machine. Automation can

be enhanced in the machine in the areas

like ply zipping operation etc, to improve

the cycle time. In order to minimize tyre

failures in the areas of tread splice and

turn up, possibilities of application of

strip tread can be explored to avoid

splices related failures and bead

clamping device and its holding pressure

can be modified to improve the

performance in the bead area. All the

above have to be done to realize the

vision of the tyre technologist of creating

the best product in his mind.

PW: What new ideas are energizing the

tire industry globally? How much of

these ideas is facilitated by

developments or improvements in

machinery?

PKM: I am witnessing several changes in the

tyre manufacturing process to meet the

challenges of tyre technology and to meet

such changes, equipment manufacturers are

working in tandem. Many of these changes

are happening to meet the rules set by

regulatory authorities, enhancement in

performance requirements of replacement

customers and OEMs and in processing of

new material.


Inside Apollo Chennai Plant

“Automation can be

enhanced in the machine in

the areas like ply zipping

operation etc., to improve

the cycle time.”

25



“Mixing processes are changing

from several steps of mixing to

single-step; single RPM mixing

to variable RPM and also to

RPM down mixing.”

I am witnessing a sea change in the area of

mixing. The introduction of Silica filler, in

combination with solution SBR and Silane

coupling agent, revolutionised mixing,

extrusion, building and curing technology

and their equipment configuration. Earlier

mixing process was known as a physical

processes and today the same is known as

a chemical process.

The equipment manufacturers have

developed tandem mixing, for mixing

silica compounds to enhance its

consistency and productivity.

Tangential mixer manufacturers have

improved their rotors design with better

cooling capabilities. The configuration of

rotor wings are changed to enhance

distributive and disperse mixing. Special

coating were given to rotors, ram bottom

and walls to take care of wear and tear.

Mixing processes are changing from several steps of

mixing to single step, single RPM mixing to variable

RPM and also to RPM down mixing. As the tyre

technology is changing from optimised performance

of each components of a tyre, the placement of such

components accurately in a tyre has become a

challenge. Thankfully the design technology is

improved considerably in extrusion equipment. And

today we have extruders which can assemble 4 to 6

components in a tread and extrude as single piece. In

order to avoid excessive shrinkage and distortion due

to poor green strength of recent materials, the

28Image: L&T-Kobelco Make Internal Mixer

Image: Tandem Mixer


29


Image: L&T Make Optima Curing Press

recent materials, the handling method of

extruded treads are improved. Similar

changes are taking places in Tyre Building

and Curing Equipment. Curing is moving

from high temperature cures to low

temperature cures to enhance performance,

and mould venting system and lubrication

system is making dramatic changes to

enhance the much needed tyre appearance.


further increases when it comes to the tread

design. Tread is responsible not only for

providing adequate traction, mileage, and

water drainage but also need to cater to

other performance requirement of rolling

resistance and noise. It is noticed that,

several new concepts such as Natural

Inflated Profile (NIP) and Tension Controlled

Optimized Theory (TCOT), have been tried

by several companies but the tyre

technologist is yet not very successful in

creating a carcass which can withstand

under inflated condition and provide the

same performance. This still remains as a

challenge. In the case of tread, several

developments have taken place to enhance

water drainage & traction improvement,

reduction in foot print pressure & noise and

improvement in aesthetics and aggressive

looks. While the pattern design methodology

followed by many companies generally

follow same guidelines, significant

deviations are seen recently to meet the new

found challenges in meeting label values in

RR, traction and noise. In depth

understanding is required to make

significant alterations in tried and tested


“Tyre technology is an

amalgamation of science and

engineering. It is dominated by

physics, chemistry, mechanical

and chemical engineering. Tyre

is a product which is a unique

combination of steel and

rubber.”

30

Tyre design is a fascinating topic PW:

though few people really understand

the differences in design between

brands. How has the design of tyres

really changed during as you witnessed

it? What were the key factors driving this

change?

PKM: Tyre technology is an amalgamation

of science and engineering. It is dominated

by physics, chemistry, mechanical and

chemical engineering. Tyre is a product

which is a unique combination of steel and

rubber. Steel is responsible to withstand all

stresses experienced by the tyre and rubber

is responsible for taking care of its strain.

Such an intelligent sharing of stresses and

strain is rarely seen in any other product

other than a tyre. So it is a challenge for

the tyre engineer to design a carcass of a

tyre with minimal strain on material when

the same is stressed by inflation, vehicle

load or traction loads. This challenge

PW: With automation being extensively

deployed in every step of tyre production

today, what are the key trends happening

in tire testing aspect?

PKM: In my opinion, the automation in tyre

industry, especially in India, is deployed

selectively because the cost of automation

is very high and the expertise required to

make it work smoothly is also high. It is

possible to manage tyre manufacturing

with the above principle. The countries

where the cost of capital is very high, the

value addition on manufacturing cost and

labour cost is low. This principle can be

employed effectively to produce good

quality products with accuracy and

repeatability. Several developments are

taking place in the internal and external


designs to meet ever increasing performance

requirements and advanced design

simulation tools are of great use for the tyre

designers in this process. With the usage of

new materials and improvements in

compound properties, tyre technologists are

now trying to tune the behavior of new

compounds in different designs for optimal

performance in a given operating condition.


“The automation in tyre

industry, especially in India, is

deployed selectively because

the cost of automation is very

high and the expertise

required to make it work

smoothly is also high.”

Image: Quality Check Inside Apollo Plant

31

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• Automatic LCV Tyre Building Machine – RB1619

• Automatic Truck Tyre Building Machine-RB2022

• Mechanical Tyre Curing Presses – Scooter to Truck size

• Bladder Curing Presses

• Tube Splicers

Product Range


testing. Forensic analysis methods have

improved considerably and reached a

stage where we can pin point the failure

more accurately. Reverse engineering

capabilities have enhanced in terms of

equipment and expertise which provides

accurate information to reconstruct a

formulation and also identification of

material.

Microscopic technique capabilities have

enhanced considerably to understand the

physical and chemical nature of the material

and its final form. Even though all these

improvements are available in India, the

gap is evident very much in external testing

capabilities. Developing necessary facility

for external testing is highly essential for the

development of tyre, provide accurate

information to OEM for their development

and improvement of tyre performance in

the areas of handling, traction characteristic

and noise level. Also these types of testing

are extremely essential to generate the

necessary and sufficient validation results

for developing simulation methods, which

will soon take a significant place in testing.

PW: Manufacturers find it difficult to

carry hand-in-hand “superior

technology” and “low-cost” expectations

in rubber and tire machinery/

equipment? As a tyre producer (i.e

consumer of machinery), what are your

views to this dilemma?

PKM: In my opinion, the tyre manufacturer

is looking for high value for their

investment. They are very cautious in

selecting a machines because its

35

repeatability, accuracy, break down,

productive & non productive time, machine

mounting space, ease of maintenance and of

course the price, are the critical factors

which are considered prior to selecting a

machine. Even though some of the

manufacturers are attractive on price, they

are failing in several areas I mentioned

above, which may make the equipments

costlier. Engineering companies are capable

of designing equipment with all features

needed by the tyre industry but at the same

time they are lacking process knowledge

which are needed for establishing the

processes to produce high quality products

with accuracy and repeatability. So there is

an urgent need for the tyre equipment

manufacturers to work very closely with

the tyre manufacturer for the development

of equipment which can meet all the above

requirement at a reasonable cost. This may

help to resolve issue raised by you. If you

take any productive equipment, you may

notice that the total time for the production

of unit is a combination of machine and

man time. There is enough scope of reducing

both components of time, if adequate

attention is provided. The implementation

of this concept may revolutionise the

process which may make both sides

happier.


“There is an urgent need for the

tyre equipment manufacturers

to work very closely with the

tyre manufacturer for the

development of equipment

which can meet all the above

requirement at a reasonable

cost.”


PW: Great! And one last question. What advice

on “machinery selection” would you give to

buyers in rubber and tyre industry?

PKM: I have expressed my views on this aspect,

while answering the previous question. To

elaborate a little more I wish to inform the readers

of this interview that tyre manufacturing processes

are designed by the tyre, material and process

technologists and hence the equipment and process

conditions used for producing the tyre should match

the process requirement of its compound, and

components. It is also essential that the same should

meet the threshold limits of temperature, pressure

accuracy, stresses and strain. This can only be

achieved through proper understanding of process

requirement.

“Tyre manufacturing processes are

designed by the tyre, material and

process technologists and hence the

equipment and process conditions

used for producing the tyre should

match the process requirement of

its compound, and components.”

RMW P.K. Mohamed

36

KELACHANDRA MACHINES(MFRS. OF RUBBER INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY)

Chingavanam - 686 531, Kottayam, Kerala. India.

Phone Off: +91- 481-2430325. Fax: +91- 481-2430596

e-mail: [email protected]

KELACHANDRA MACHINES(MFRS. OF RUBBER INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY)

Chingavanam - 686 531, Kottayam, Kerala. India.

Phone Off: +91- 481-2430325. Fax: +91- 481-2430596

e-mail: [email protected]

Leadership & Management

Interview With A Tyre Leader_PK Mohamed_Apollo Tyres