Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of its White, Ga., manufacturing and warehouse facility.
The ceremony was attended by Toyo global executives, Georgia state and regional officials and Bartow County business and community leaders.
Recently eclipsing $1 billion in sales in the North American market, the 820,000-square-foot expansion of the Georgia tire plant "underscores the company’s strategy to reinforce its global supply network in an effort to support dynamic growth goals," the company says.
"Having reached its initial objective of producing two million passenger car and light truck tires annually at the facility, Toyo is investing $270 million to more than double the output of the two-year-old plant, increasing total volume to 5.2 million units per year by 2011."
Once complete, the expanded facility is expected to add an additional 400 employees to the staff of 450 currently working at the plant.
“Toyo has built the most technologically advanced manufacturing facility in its 63-year history in order to provide the highest quality tires for our loyal North American consumers and our valued network of independent tire dealers,” says Shozo (Carlos) Kibata, senior managing executive officer and president of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc.
Tires will be manufactured using Toyo’s highly automated and proprietary tire production system, Advanced Tire Operation Module (A.T.O.M.). The A.T.O.M. system is designed for multi-product, small-lot production, and enables Toyo to reduce its overall space needs and production lead times, says the company.
