Bridgestone Canada Inc. (Bridgestone) today announced the construction of an automated warehouse at its Canadian passenger and light truck tire manufacturing facility in Joliette, Québec. The investment, estimated at CA$56 million (US$45 million), will further enhance the operational excellence of the plant and increase the company’s agility to serve the North American tire dealers and customers.
With a maximum storage capacity of 500,000 tires, the new building will utilize fully automated technology to store the tires manufactured at the Joliette plant. The new facility is expected to open in early 2020.
This investment builds upon the expansion and modernization of the Joliette plant announced in 2016. This five-year, CA$312 million (US$250 million) project is progressing as the factory gradually increases its daily production, targeting 20,000 tires per day by 2020.
“The construction of a highly technological warehouse demonstrates our commitment to use innovative solutions to optimize our operations to better serve our customers,” said Robert Verreault, Joliette plant manager. “The Joliette plant has been undergoing an exciting transformation for the past two years and this total investment underscores Bridgestone’s commitment to our team, the Lanaudière region and all North American customers.”
With its strategic location, the new warehouse will enable the company to reduce transportation costs and shorten time-to-market of its products to meet customer demands in Canada and across the northern belt of the United States.
“We continue taking important steps to better deliver the high-value-added products our customers want and need,” said Erik Seidel, president, consumer replacement tire sales, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. “The new distribution warehouse will provide more space to house tires onsite at the Joliette plant, improving the ability to get the right tires to the right place at the right time.”
As one of the Bridgestone Group’s most environmentally sustainable plants, the Joliette facility is committed to preserving nearby 7-hectare wetlands on its property, which has influenced the design of the warehouse. Accordingly, the new 127-foot tall building will be built close to the existing plant facility and be attached by a walkway.
With 1,300 employees, the Joliette plant is the largest private employer in the Lanaudière region of Québec. The plant team has achieved numerous awards in the past year, including the Innovative Manufacturer Award from the Federation of the Chamber of Commerce of Québec and the Prix Créateurs d’emplois for the Lanaudière region. The Joliette plant also holds a Recyc-Québec – Gold Level 3 certification given by the Government of Québec to companies that recycle more than 90 percent of their waste, a percentage that the plant greatly exceeds.
For more company news, visit www.BridgestoneAmericas.com.
