Findlay, Oh — Cooper Tire & Rubber has increased capital equipment investments in three of its four U.S. tire manufacturing facilities. The company said this increase provides additional production capacity of more than 2.4 million units to meet the steadily increasing demand for the company’s tires.
The $32.1 million investment will include the purchase of new tire building machinery and presses. An additional 116 manufacturing employees will also be hired.
The Albany, Ga., plant will receive an investment of $19.4 million and will include a new tread line, the addition of a sixteen press expansion and four new VMI tire building machines. In October 2003, the company announced an outsourcing agreement with Chinese based manufacturer, Hangzhou, to make Cooper’s radial medium truck tires which are currently produced solely by the Albany plant.
Cooper’s Texarkana, Ark., facility is scheduled for a $5.2 million increase to boost production capacity. The investment will include eight new presses, additional tire building equipment and cell modification changes resulting in additional capacity of about 560,000 tires annually. Twenty-five additional manufacturing positions will be added. This equipment will allow the plant to make larger diameter UHP tires and will be installed in a modified LEAN cell for increased efficiency.
The Tupelo, Miss., facility will benefit from a $7.5 million investment resulting in six presses being added, combining for an additional 511,000 units annually. Thirty-five new employees will be required to support the increased production volume.
For more information on Cooper Tire and Rubber, visit: www.coopertireandrubber.com.
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