Marangoni Tread North America has begun construction to expand production at its Ringtread plant in Madison, Tenn.
"This expansion will double our capacity and should come on stream by August," says Bill Sweatman, president.
The plant incorporates the company's modular or "production island" technology called the Alpha Ring Evolution. It uses a "continuous strip of rubber that is automatically loaded onto a moving carriage, fitted with a cold-feed, pin barrel extruder with calendar head. Lenticular strips are fed directly into the centripetal presses where the Ringtread is molded," explains Vito Magistrale, Marangoni's technical director.
The process is highly automated, totally integrated, environmentally friendly and offers improved uniformity (time, temperature and pressure) over conventional flat molding processes, the company says.
Marangoni Group is investing $10 million in expansion in the U.S., the company adds.
