AKRON— Chuck Yurkovich, vice president of global research and development with Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., told a group of industry executives that the frenetic pace of technology will leave some tire companies "by the wayside."
Yurkovich served as the keynote speaker at the Tire Society's 32nd annual meeting and conference on tire science and technology. The two-day conference kicked off Sept. 10 in Fairlawn, Ohio.
During his speech, Yurokovich addressed the constant challenge of developing new technology as the tire industry changes, touching upon topics varying from bio technology solutions; world economic conditions; technological expectations from consumers and original equipment manufacturers; green technology; and government regulations and other challenges the industry will continue to face in some shape or form over the next few decades.
"Love it or hate it, the pace of future tire technology is expected to increase as a result of technology advances," Yurkovich said. "Tire companies that are unwilling or unable to keep up with this pace of technology development will soon fall by the wayside."
Yurkovich has been with Cooper Tire since July of 2005 and is responsible of leading the company's technical organizations on three continents in development, maintenance and improvement of new products and technologies for all product lines.
He held a number of technical, marketing and managerial positions with Goodyear for 33 years prior to joining Cooper.