NOKIA, Finland—Nokian Tyres P.L.C. is moving production at its headquarters factory in Nokia to a continuous 24/7 schedule to support an increase in passenger tire output there.
The Finnish tire maker will add 80 jobs to help staff the factory under the new production schedule, which will run five shifts a day, seven days a week, beginning in 2022.
"Demand for tires in our main markets has grown throughout the year and continues to be strong," Executive Vice President Manu Salmi said. "With these actions, we want to ensure the availability of our successful products also in the future."
Passenger car tire production in Nokia switched to four shifts six days a week in August, a move that boosted car tire output by 30 percent.
Prior to this latest announcement, Nokian said it has created approximately 120 jobs at the plant this year.
Nokian did not say how much additional output it expects from making the change.
Besides passenger tires, the 117-year-old factory in Nokia has capacity for agricultural, heavy-duty off-road and industrial tires. Annual capacity is listed as 91,000 metric tons, according to Tire Business' Global Tire Report.
