AKRON—Author Norbert Majerus is one of the nearly 50 presenters set to speak at the International Tire Exhibition & Conference, planned for Sept. 11-13 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron.
His presentation, "Lean Driven Innovation," examines how Goodyear adopted a lean process for research and development, and details how the implementations of that process at innovation centers reduced delivery and cycle times while increasing throughput.
In preparation for the program, Rubber & Plastics News asked Majerus to consider a few tire industry-related questions.
Q. What's the biggest challenge your customers are asking you to tackle today?
A. Perfect service—on time delivery of tires regardless of quantity any place in the world. Perfect quality and no hassles despite increasing complexity and more competitive prices.
What trends are pushing your company to innovate?
The changes in the car industry: the move from personal, gas-powered cars to electric, shared- and self-driving cars. Industry 4.0 and cyber connectivity open the door for new marketing and service models.