2023-12-04 20:12:06
How is Michelin doing? The question arises after the announcement, at the end of November, of the closure in 2025 of two German factories specializing in tires for heavy goods vehicles and focused on export. Their production will be relocated to Spain. The president of the world’s leading tire group, Florent Menegaux, cites inflation, “accentuated in Germany by the choice of Russian gas as an essential source of supply”, a strategy undermined by the war in Ukraine.
In reality, the loss of competitiveness has, for several years, affected the entire continent, in competition with Asia where costs are half as low. «We want,for economic and ecological reasons, produce more close to customers,” continues Florent Menegaux. Particularly in China, where the group is investing more than 400 million euros over several years.
A machine to print tires
In Europe and particularly in France, where, he emphasizes, “the salary weighs on the costs”, it is about developing activities with high added value. Example in Gravanches, near Clermont. As day breaks over the volcanoes, the morning team prepares the rubber and the cables which serve as reinforcement for the tire. At the other end of the site, the finished product is checked by passing the hand over and x-raying it.
However, there is no question of observing the machine which 3D prints these luxury tires intended for BMW and other Porsches. “It only exists in three copiesboasts Christelle Faucher, director of the factory. The process, exclusive to Michelin, allows manufacturing in small series. »
Silica made from rice husk
France and Europe should also retain a large part of research and development, as at the Clermont-based Ladoux site, where 4,000 researchers are inventing the future. Among the objectives, increase the proportion of recyclable or renewable materials in tires from 30 to 40% by 2030. And reach 100% in 2050.
“We work from corn stalks or rice husk, intended to produce silica which increases the energy efficiency of the tire,” explains Cyrille Roget, director of scientific communication and innovation.
The goal is in fact to reduce rolling resistance, while the tire represents on average 20% of the vehicle’s energy expenditure. A major issue, in the midst of the transition to electric: a very good tire saves tens of kilometers of autonomy compared to an entry-level product.
Seals for NASA, belts for Amazon
For Michelin, the future will involve, by 2050, a tire combining metal and fiberglass, made from 100% biosourced and recycled materials, airless, connected and whose rubber can be regularly reprinted on the tread. rolling.
But it is also about finding growth drivers. “The share of turnover excluding tires will increase from 5 to 20% or even 30% by 2030”, thus anticipates Florent Menegaux.
Michelin uses the know-how acquired in its core business to offer other sectors “critical components” : joints intended for NASA vessels, fiberglass capable of replacing metal frames in concrete, ultra-resistant belts rotating the belts which transport packages to Amazon, biosourced glue which can be used in furniture or microelectronics, etc.
By buying mid-sized companies and opening up its R&D force to them, Michelin is also investing in the health sector. With for example this little star measuring a few centimeters in biodegradable, biocompatible polymers. Once loaded with therapeutic agent, it is ingested, folded into a capsule, then gradually releases the drug into the body, which saves the patient from daily doses.
Michelin returns to its origins
Michelin, which uses 3D metal printing to develop sophisticated moldings for its tires, also intends to exploit this technology in other fields. “It will be used to produce vertebra implants, with very fine roughness to facilitate colonization by bone cells, advances Maude Portigliatti, high-tech materials business director. It also makes it possible to manufacture much lighter parts for aeronautics. »
In a way, Michelin is returning to its origins. Because the inventor of the removable tire in 1891 first supplied rubber parts for agricultural machines, before also participating – with his partner Breguet – in the adventure of aviation.
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A fuel cell mega-factory near Lyon
Controlled equally by Michelin, the car manufacturer Stellantis and the equipment manufacturer Forvia (formerly Faurecia), Symbio is inaugurating a fuel cell mega-factory this Tuesday, December 5 in Saint-Fons (Rhône).
It is the largest “gigafactory” of its type in Europe. The fuel cell produces electrical energy from oxygen and hydrogen. It must contribute to carbon-free mobility.
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