Energy efficient tyre technology Kordsa Global

ENERGY EFFICIENT TYRE TECHNOLOGY

Kordsa Global is the world’s leading producer of nylon and polyester yarns, tyre cord fabrics and single end cords for the tyre reinforcement industry. Industry Europe looks at the company’s growth, biggest achievements and investments over the past year.

Kordsa Global’s success story began with the investment in the cord fabric plant in Izmit, Turkey in 1973. Following a number of strategic acquisitions and investments on a global scale, over the last 36 years the company has emerged as the foremost producer of nylon and polyester yarns in the world.

Today, with 11 plants in 9 countries across 5 continents and a workforce of 400 people, Kordsa Global exports to more than 80 countries throughout the world and its sales figure reached TL 1.7 billion in 2014. In fact, the company increased its profitability by 145 per cent in 2014, and in the first quarter of 2015 its total sales have increased by 27 per cent compared to the previous year.

World-leading products

As the world’s leading producer of Nylon 6.6 and HMLS polyester yarns and fabrics, the company’s first objective is to deliver new generation products with enhanced physical, thermal and chemical properties. A company spokesperson said, “Our continuing investment in R&D has resulted in a new range of products. Hybrid cords, the combination of different kinds of fibres such as aramid, nylon and polyester, in single end cords, is one area where we are launching a series of entirely new products. With almost 40 years of specialised experience in twisting, weaving and dipping technologies, we can process metallic and different textile materials together, to tailor reinforcement properties to meet the specific tyre design and processing requirements of our customers.”

In addition, the company has patented two ‘strip-production’ technologies. This allows Kordsa Global to deliver reinforcement materials direct to tyre building machines, thus eliminating the ‘calendering’ and ‘slitting’ processes and leading to significantly reduced costs for customers. In recent years the company has also been working on the synthesis of new polymers and adhesives, modification of fibres and fabrics with nano technology and new types of processing techniques.

In March, Kordsa attended Tire Technology Expo and attracted a great deal of interest with its innovation cap ply solution Capmax, following a conference presentation given by project leader Evren Güner. In the presentation, the company demonstrated how the production stages of passenger tire nylon overlay production can be simplified with the use of Capmax.

In January this year, Kordsa Global extended its product range with the introduction of its new Kratos Macro line for concrete reinforcement within the construction industry. Opened this year, the new Kratos Marco production line will have a total capacity of 2000 tonnes per year.

CEO Cenk Alper said: “We offered Kratos for the first time in October 2014 during the Turkey Build fair and received very positive feedback. Kordsa Global is the world leader in the manufacturing of tire reinforcement materials and we want to bring our experience to new industries.”

Kordsa continues to invest in expanding its business both in the domestic market and abroad. For example, in January this year it made a major investment in the Asia-Pacific region with the opening of its second tire cord fabric and polyester yarn facility in the region, in Bogor-Citeureup on the western side of Java Island. The investment, totalling USD 100 million, saw the establishment of an 18 kiloton tire cord fabric facility and a 14 kiloton 3rd and 4th generation polyester HMLS yarn facility.

Dedicated to sustainability

As a global company, Kordsa Global is committed to providing sustainable production methods and value creation for all stakeholders, as its spokesperson explains, “We will continue to strive for improved manufacturing practices that result in sustainable value for all. We will do this by continuously improving our processes, maximising customer satisfaction and leveraging our globally diverse resources. We adhere to the highest standards for safe operation of our facilities and for the protection of our environment, our employees, our customers and the people of the communities in which we do business.”

“Furthermore, all our 11 plants have been independently audited and certified to conform with ISO 9001 Quality Management Standards and three of our biggest plants have also been certified to ISO 14001 Environment Management System Certification. As a result we are achieving a reduction in our ‘global footprint’ year on year.”

In fact, in February this year Kordsa Global received the third-place for ‘Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry’ (IEEIP) at the 6th Energy Efficiency Forum and Exhibition (EVF) during the 34th Energy Efficiency Week. It was awarded for its project ‘Improvement in Compressed Air Dryer System in Polyester Manufacturing Silo’ which aims to increase the awareness of energy efficiency among industrial corporations.

Future outlook: Continued innovation

Kordsa’s Global Technology Centre is dedicated to providing further advancements and innovations for tyre reinforcement materials. Currently more than 50 researchers focus their attention on developing new fabric and fibre reinforcement solutions.

Speaking of his confidence that the recent positive growth trend and technological advancement will continue Kordsa CEO Cenk Alper said recently: “Kordsa is in a significant year of leap. Our aim is to open a new Composite Technologies Excellence Centre at the beginning of 2016, where we will be working in cooperation with Sabanci University. We will be able to produce advanced composite material technologies integrated with nanotechnology, which will create a transformation in various industries from aeronautics to automotive. We think this investment is important not only for Turkey, but also for the region.” n