DAYTON, Tenn.—Nokian Tyres is setting the bar high at its Tennessee facility. The North American arm of the Finland-based manufacturer produced a record number of all-season and all-weather tires for distribution across North America in the month of October.
David Korda, Nokian Tyres Dayton factory operations director, said the record-breaking month was five years in the making. The plant opened in 2019, and has been building up its output capacity since.
"Since opening in 2019, our team has remained committed to steadily expanding our output and helping our colleagues grow," Korda said. "It is rewarding to reach new heights in our growth journey, at the same time we are adding jobs and becoming more efficient than ever."
The Dayton facility's batch of new hires played a role in the tire production record, according to the company. Now, with hundreds of staff members, the factory and its new warehouse are both staffed for full scale production.
"The production record reflects rigorous training and equipment upgrades aimed at increasing daily yield while maintaining high quality standards," Nokian Tyres said. "The team in Dayton stands at approximately 500 team members in recent months as the company hired employees to staff the new finished goods warehouse it opened this summer."
In addition to high production and efficiency standards and a hard working factory team, Nokian attributed some of the plant's success to its new automated gantry robot system. The system not only brings tires from the production building to the warehouse, but also helps distribute tires across the company's nine-warehouse network in North America.
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