Where would our vehicles be if their tyres weren’t appropriately tested? Well, probably not in the best or safest condition. While it’s thanks to testing companies, it’s no less thanks to testing solutions and equipment manufacturers, too. The latter’s accuracy and reliability make the former’s job easier, making our tyres safer and more efficient as vehicle wheels. In a tete-a-tete with Tyre Trends, Markus Winter, Director – Sales and Marketing, Kokusai Europe GmbH, a leading test and measurement solutions manufacturer founded in Tokyo, Japan, threw light on testing strategies, the need for indoor tyre testing, the company’s plan to establish itself in Europe and more. Read on…

Kokusai began as a sales company for dynamic balancing equipment and has since grown to become a major supplier in the Japanese and Asian industries. The test and solutions manufacturer really started with the balancing of electronical components, which was a huge business about 30 to 40 years ago. It is still a business of Kokusai’s, of course – the balancing of smaller part vans, electrical motors etc.

However, while transitioning to test and measurement (for the tyre industry in particular), it was testing for automotive parts. “And when it comes to automotive parts, it is the tyres, other rotary parts, shafts and drive shafts etc,” Markus Winter, Director – Sales and Marketing, Kokusai, told us. “So it was clear that in an encapsulated market, you start with everything that rotates. And therefore, Kokusai started with all the automotive components, and then tyres and wheels. In fact, we are the leading supplier in Asia. Moreover, we have expanded to the United States with a subsidiary 30 years ago. Plus, we expanded to Europe about five years ago,” he said.

Kokusai’s presence in Europe
In truth, Kokusai is available around the world but is just establishing itself in Europe more and more, which is part of the global strategy. “We do have a lot of very unique testing solutions that are not available in other markets. This is because other markets develop from Asia into Europe,” Winter pointed out.

Kokusai’s equipment
Speaking of interesting testing solutions, Winter asserted that they have tyre performance and tyre wear testing equipment, where they are just leading the market with the innovative ideas that Kokusai has developed.

“For example, for tyre performance testing, we have some competition from the United States and Europe,” Winter explained. “However, we have developed, for instance, an indoor 50-metre flat testing equipment to test tyre performance parameters – the machine named FLATROAD TESTER. And this, in fact, is the test bench with the highest repeatability that is available in the market. As for Kokusai, we have a solution where we accelerate the traversing carriage with a single tyre. We can manipulate all parameters in real-time during the movement and record the measured performance values.”

Winter further went on to throw light on testing the performance of a tyre on FLATROAD TESTER. He cited, “Our mechanical system is like a high-speed linear axis – it is computer controlled and has the precision of a Japanese CNC machine.”

“Hence, we can control all the parameters on the tyre in such a precise way that it’s not like driving a car and pressing the brake. We are exactly controlling the movement and rotation of the tyre. So it is more precise – it’s like having a CNC machine doing the testing,” Winter explained.

“There is another point that makes this kind of indoor testing more reliable,” Winter continued. “Using our indoor test bench, all the outer surrounding conditions affecting the measurement are significantly reduced. Hence, we can do the testing, and the results we measure are the real tyre behaviour between the tyre and the road, without any influence of weather, the driver skills or driving behaviour, car suspension or pavement. It is such a massively built machine equipment that one can be really assured of avoiding all the external factors and focus on the effects between the tyre and the road.”

Surrounding atmospheres affecting the testing
While it is an excellent circumstance to be able to focus completely on the parameters between the tyre and the road, it’s always safer to be aware of the external factors that might come in the way.

“Those are mainly humidity and temperature,” Winter told us. “If you’re doing outdoor testing, starting early in the morning and the sun shining on the pavement, you have a pavement temperature of maybe 15 degrees. If you’re doing breaking tests, it will really affect the results. Additionally, if there’s higher humidity, then there’s a little bit more of sliding that takes place.”

“Of course, you can conduct very long tests over a span of many days,” he further highlighted. “Hence, if you conduct the outdoor testing for a few weeks and also use reference tyres, then you can compensate a lot.”

“In fact, one can put on one tyre on our measurement machine and run it three times, and the measurement curves will be overlapping perfectly three times. That would be the final result,” Winter put across.

More knowledge, better tyres
Outdoor testing brought us to the subject of tracks. This is when Winter informed us that Kokusai has analysed tracks. The complete 50 metres installed in the machine are divided into exchangeable segments.

Winter pointed out that they can use individual road segments with different surface characteristics in the area where they are doing the test. “We can look into factors such as what kind of friction do we want to have, what kind of macro structure do we need, do we want to have the stepping from a high friction value to a low friction value and so on,” he shared. “Thus, we can manipulate all the surfaces, do the testing and then see the effect.”

However, outdoor testing can be complicated, and sometimes they need to test on different standard asphalt pavements, tiles, water floating etc. “In such scenarios, we can exchange the pavement segments at our tester and do another test, which is much easier,” Winter explained. “Moreover, with the knowledge of these small changes – which even the tyres will go through from one test to another – the tyre development engineers will have more detailed information in order to take better steps in the development of the tyre. This is because the repeatability of our processes is so high. Of course, if you have an outdoor process, you can conduct a certain number of tests and do an average. But if your sigma is already that high, you don’t know if you’re developing into the right direction.”

Good or bad tyre?
While every aspect of testing is taken care of by the testing companies themselves, we know that customer demands are changing every day. If we consider a tyre, there are two different departments that Kokusai is serving. “One is tyre testing,” Winter put across. “When it comes to tyre testing, it involves the results for tyre engineering, tyre development, performance testing, wet grip testing, wear testing and so on. This is in order to meet regulations, or to even just develop the best tyres.”

The second part of the Kokusai production is the final finished testing. “This involves the end-of-the-line testing,” Winter further explained. “This is dynamic balance testing, uniformity testing and geometrical testing. However, we’re not doing X-ray. But we’re specialised in dynamic balancing, uniformity and the geometrical measurement. So companies do expect a low cycle time because they want to test as many tyres as possible. In addition, the testing equipment should not be the bottleneck for tyre production.”

Of course, stating the obvious, Winter told us that testing companies and tyre companies need high accuracy and repeatability. This is because only when they have very high accuracy on the testing equipment that they can make calls on whether the tyre is an okay tyre or if it needs to be rejected or downgraded etc.

“A tyre is not always good or bad – it is graded, and only the best tyres are available for the OEMs,” he pointed out. “As for the others, they might be available for the aftermarket, while some go through refinishing in order to get them to a better rate. A very accurate equipment allows the tyre manufacturer to do a very precise grading, which saves costs. And it is better to invest a little more in the precise grading technology than to scrap the tyre or to put it back into the process.”

Tyre wear test
No matter how, tyre testing goes beyond this. Here, we came to discuss tyre wear testing. Winter told us that a standard outdoor tyre wear test entails driving a couple of cars in convoy on selected routes in public road traffic.

“You have a representative circuit in a region with low traffic volume and stable weather forecast. The route needs to fit the logistics, such as hotels for the staff, a workshop, test equipment and so on,” Winter said.

He added, “Now you will drive the test tyres and a reference tyre in a convoy around the track in both directions and change the tyres and the drivers in a certain order. After a mileage of about 25,000 kilometres, you can well identify the wear results and the mass loss of the tyre.”

“This always takes a number of cars, and you have to do a high mileage on driving,” Winter further explained. “Normally, one can say that each kilometre driven on the car comes to about EUR 1 – that’s what we are calculating, including the driver.”

The cost of testing
While many discuss the cost of testing equipment, everybody also has to take the cost of tyre testing, along with the time, into consideration.

“That’s because you first need the tyre test, and then the results from that tyre test, in order to continue with your development,” Winter expounded. “So if you want to make a 25,000-kilometre test to see how a tyre is wearing over a certain distance, you have to conduct the test. The test takes one month, and once you have the results, you can move on to the next step. Therefore, there’s a waiting period of one month.”

Testing strategy for final finish
Nevertheless, is every tyre that we see out there tested at the end of the production process? That depends on the testing strategy of every respective company. Winter emphasised that normally one can say that newcomers or smaller companies are trying to test at least 100 percent for OEM tyres and may conduct some statistical testing for aftermarket tyres. The processes of the really well-known tyre manufacturers are so good that they can reduce to statistical testing. Therefore, it’s just a question of how good the process and the process in tyre building are.

“On the other hand, there are a lot of companies that are still in the learning curve or are cautious about getting some tyres rejected,” Winter said. “These companies are conducting 100 percent testing. But one can say that the very old, established tyre plants, from Continental to Michelin, are doing a lot of statistical testing.”

Staying together while far apart
Yet, tyre testing does not stop at the grading or the testing process. It becomes pivotal for testing equipment manufacturers to make sure that their solutions and equipment are aligned with the current and upcoming regulations of the tyre industry. For this, Kokusai has its sales and application colleagues around the world.

Winter shared, “Our colleagues in America have their network and talk with all the big tyre manufacturers, the government, and attend various conferences to get a feel for what is happening in the market. Our Chinese and Japanese colleagues, too, are doing the same.”

“So we have a high number of offices and manufacturing plants around the world and in all the very important areas,” he further highlighted. “We have a direct network and contact with them. Hence, that’s one of our advantages. Internally, we are putting all this information together to see where there’s an overlap. For example, I have discussions with our European contacts that I meet at site or conferences. And I ask them their views on aspects. My colleagues in the US and Asia do the same and forward their feedback. Hence, it is local networking on one side and then getting the information together again on the other side in order to concentrate that internally. So it’s a big task.”

With Kokusai’s large number of offices and manufacturing plants across the globe, and moreover, all of them being highly connected with one another, the company uses this connection to be flexible with its suppliers as well.

“As we have a manufacturing plant in Japan, Korea, China and the US, if there’s a bottleneck somewhere, we try to get the same components from suppliers that are normally supplying to our other plants,” Winter commented. “To boot, we are looking for some components from Europe and the United States as well. Hence, there are different local purchasing organisations that we have within our group, and if they need to help one another, then our supply chain is quite well organised for that.”

More on Europe
While Winter mentioned that Kokusai has sales and application colleagues around the world, that is also one of the reasons why the company is pushing for the European market. Its manufacturing plant in Europe is in the planning phase.

“Although we think that the basic technology is developed in Japan, this is the heart of our engineering,” Winter put across. “Besides, the localisation and customisation are made where the customers are located and where they have their specifications, their needs and even need their technical support, which is why we are going to develop the main system in Japan.”

“As you know, China wants that certain percentage of the equipment to be built on the site,” Winter further remarked. “And it’s the same in the United States as well. Thus, we are pre-manufacturing the systems in Japan, sending them over to the United States and then making the final assembly, with all the specific American needs, on site. We will be doing the same in Europe in order to compete better against our local competitors in Europe.”

Also, while the test and measurement manufacturer is looking to establish itself in Europe, Asia happens to be its focus right now.

“I’m personally targeting the European market,” Winter told us. “Having been working for the tyre industry for many years, I’m just spreading out the network to get Kokusai well known in the continent by talking to the right people and getting the right enquiries. On top of that, I’m talking about the very interesting future projects for the new labelling topics, new testing devices, testing concepts and more.”

On these lines, Kokusai hasn’t been left behind in terms of aftersales services either. With all of its local offices and manufacturing plants proving to be a great strength, the company has engineers and a team for setting up its machines and servicing them.

“We’re actually building this up for Europe with our partner; we have gone for an established partner, as we would not be building up a complete company with all the service structures and everything else from scratch,” Winter explained.

Investment in technology
Kokusai certainly has big plans for Europe. But at the same time, as mentioned by Winter earlier, the basic technology is developed in Japan. And that is the heart of the company’s engineering. In fact, Winter claims that he is very happy that Kokusai started investigating on its technology over the years.

“Kokusai has invested so much money in its own engineering over the last years that it has its own testing centre just to make the application development. In truth, we are the only company within the tyre testing equipment manufacturers to do so,” Winter shared. “Additionally, we have a new 1,200-square metre testing facility in the Greater Tokyo Area; we are inviting customers to bring their tyres and parts, and we are developing the applications with them. I think this is very unique around the world.”

Furthermore, Winter cited that during the period of the pandemic, the company made Teams presentations with video systems and presented the equipment in China and Japan, along with doing conferences. “Our customers were so happy that we were even able to show them this kind of equipment and make tests on their tyres just through web meetings.”

Also, Kokusai provides new testing concepts, where some of the systems are still being developed. However, the test and measurement solutions manufacturer already offers to start making all the tests with tyre companies’ tyres and develop their customised application.

The need for indoor testing
While Kokusai’s plants and offices across the world stay linked in order to keep up with regulations and be on the same page in general as a group, there are no standards at the moment for the very technical specification of the equipment themselves.

“The European Union is just developing the standards for wear testing. And they are, in fact, developing the standards for outdoor driving,” Winter explicated. “However, we will need indoor testing in the future. The tyre engineers will especially need it because they will want to have the results in a couple of days and not months. Therefore, there is a need for the development area and the future regulations to also focus on indoor drum testing.”

One leap at a time
Kokusai is clearly spreading its wings gradually, not just by expanding geographically but even by enhancing itself by really investing in engineering and development. It is one of the few major players in testing equipment and invests tremendously in further building up itself.

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Pirelli is all set for the winter season with its winter tyre range that is renewed over the past two years. The newly launched Scorpion Winter 3 joins the P Zero Winter 2 for high-performance cars and the Cinturato Winter 3 for saloons and crossovers. The range is available with Pirelli Elect technology for electric vehicles. Independent tests by European organisations have placed Pirelli winter tyres at the front in safety-related areas, while the Cinturato All Season SF3 has recorded four victories and six additional podium finishes.

Winter tyres or suitable equipment are required from 15 November to 15 April. Most winter driving occurs on dry and wet roads. Below 7°C, winter compounds offer more grip than summer compounds, and the tread pattern helps counter aquaplaning and generate traction on snow. Sidewall markings indicate capability: M+S identifies a product for challenging surfaces, while 3PMSF certifies testing in harsh conditions. An appropriate winter driving style includes increased safety distance, avoiding sudden acceleration and reducing brake use in favour of engine braking.

The Cinturato Winter 3 took first place in the 2026 ADAC winter tyre test in size 225/50 R17 against 16 models, earning a highly recommended rating with the best wet score and the highest assessment for driving safety. It won the AvD test in size 225/45 R17 against 15 tyres with a very good rating. It also finished first in the Auto Bild comparison in size 205/55 R16 on a Volkswagen Golf against 14 tyres with an exemplary rating. Podium finishes followed in tests by Auto Express, Auto Bild Allrad and Tyre Reviews, giving six podium finishes in seven tests, including three victories.

The Scorpion Winter 3 debuted with a victory in the alVolante comparison in size 235/60 R18 on an Alfa Romeo Stelvio, ranking first among six winter tyres. Its wet performance, shortest braking distance, fastest lap time and progressive reactions set it apart. It was judged consistent and predictable on snow and balanced on dry roads.

In the annual Auto Bild super comparative test, the P Zero Winter 2 finished on the podium with an exemplary rating, thanks to precise driving behaviour in wet and dry conditions and braking performance on both surfaces. The Cinturato Winter 3, Scorpion Winter 3 and P Zero Winter 2 are available with Pirelli Elect technology on dedicated fitments for Europe's electric vehicle fleet. Elect addresses low rolling resistance for range, acoustic comfort, longer tyre life, grip for immediate torque and a reinforced structure for battery weight.

All-season tyres suit drivers mainly in urban areas covering up to 20,000 km per year without frequent heavy snowfall. Higher mileage, regular mountain travel or high-performance cars generally call for winter tyres. The Cinturato All Season SF3 carries the 3PMSF marking and has four victories in comparisons by Auto Zeitung, Reifentester, Auto Express and Que Choisir, plus six additional podium finishes. The new Scorpion All Season SF3 extends the approach to SUVs.

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Nokian Tyres will withdraw its sponsorship of the 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship should Russia be permitted to compete, the company has confirmed. The decision follows a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that cleared Russian national teams to return to international ice hockey. Nokian Tyres stated that continuing the sponsorship under such circumstances would conflict with its values. Tiina Frazer, SVP of Brand, Marketing and Communications, explained that while the 2026 tournament cooperation proved highly successful, the company felt compelled to act on its principles regarding Russian participation.

The tyre manufacturer had been named an Official Sponsor for both the 2026 and 2027 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in late 2025. Its 2026 involvement included the ‘Carve the Corners’ contest, running from 6 February to 20 March, which offered fans in the United States and Canada a chance to win a trip to the tournament. The 2026 event, held from 15 to 31 May, featured 64 games with 16 top national teams competing for the title and stands as the world’s largest annual winter sports event.

Frazer said, “Our sponsorship agreement with the IIHF covers the 2026 and 2027 World Championships, and our cooperation around the 2026 tournament was very successful. However, under the current circumstances, continuing the sponsorship if Russia participates would not be aligned with our values. We have therefore decided to end our sponsorship of the 2027 World Championship should Russia be allowed to take part.”

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Sri Trang Agro-Industry Public Company Limited (STA), the world's largest fully integrated natural rubber company, has been honoured at the Intelligent Industry Awards 2026, an accolade bestowed by the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA). The award was formally received on 30 October 2026 at Bangkok's S31 Sukhumvit Hotel by Executive Director Vitchaphol Sincharoenkul, accompanied by Akarat Mattayangkul, Factory Manager of the Huai Nang Branch, and Poowanart Laoprasert, Factory Manager of the Loei Branch.

Three of the company's production sites earned recognition under the award. The Loei and Huai Nang branches in Trang Province were cited for their technically specified rubber (TSR) operations, while the Kanchanadit Branch in Surat Thani Province was acknowledged for latex production. Evaluators placed weight on technology deployments that yield demonstrable outcomes, alongside sustained organisational development spanning operational processes, personnel, energy and sustainability.

Research and development form a central pillar of STA's strategy, merging its natural rubber know-how with digital tools and artificial intelligence. Among its flagship efforts is the Sri Trang AI Machine (SAM), which harnesses AI to bolster analysis and decision-making in production. The company also runs an ‘AI Clinic’ that invites staff from every department to pitch ideas, exchange experiences and obtain expert advice on embedding AI in routine tasks, thereby streamlining workflows, aiding decisions and lifting operational efficiency while nurturing a culture of technological learning.

The accolade underscores STA's drive towards Industry 4.0 through digital adoption, automation, innovation, workforce development and prudent resource management. It represents a further milestone in Sri Trang Group's evolution, reinforcing its emphasis on technology, people and resource efficiency as it continues to champion the sustainable development of Thailand's rubber sector.

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Professor James Busfield of Queen Mary University of London has been awarded the prestigious IRCO Medal by the International Rubber Conference Organisation (IRCO) in recognition of his longstanding contribution to international rubber conferences. The honour was presented by IRCO Executive Chairman Michael Clayton at IRC 2026 in Aichi, Japan, immediately before Busfield delivered his plenary lecture. The IRCO Committee unanimously approved the award at its meeting in Bangkok on 2 December 2025.

His involvement with the organisation spans more than a decade, having represented the United Kingdom on the IRCO Committee since 2013. He chaired and organised IRC 2019 in London, attracting 550 delegates, and led the organisation of RubberCon events in Manchester in 2014 and Edinburgh in 2023, the latter welcoming over 310 participants from 26 countries. A frequent plenary and keynote speaker, he also regularly involves postgraduate students in these international gatherings, providing opportunities to showcase their research and build professional connections.

Left to right: Michael Clayton, Executive Chairman of IRCO; Professor James Busfield, Queen Mary University of London; and Professor Mikihito Takenaka, Congress Chair of IRC2026 AICHI and Professor at the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University.

Beyond his international conference work, Busfield has headed the Elastomer Group at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) since 1995. Under his leadership, the group has delivered more than 100 meetings and conferences for the rubber sector while introducing hybrid events to expand global accessibility. At Queen Mary, he serves as Professor of Materials, National Teaching Fellow, Deputy Head of School and Head of the UK's largest soft matter research group. His career began in automotive suspension engineering before he completed his doctorate under Professor Alan Thomas.

Busfield's research encompasses rubber friction, fatigue, fracture, recycling and smart materials, supported by more than 190 peer-reviewed publications and industrial collaborations with Bridgestone, Continental, Aston Martin F1 and Schlumberger. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2020, he has also received the Colwyn Medal (2009), the American Chemical Society Rubber Division's George Stafford Whitby Award (2021) and the IOM3 T B Marsden Medal (2024).

Michael Clayton, Executive Chairman of IRCO, said, “James never travels alone. At every conference he brings his students, and gives them the chance to present, to meet people and to begin their careers in our industry. He is incredibly generous with his time, and one of our industry's most engaging speakers. Professor Busfield is an incredibly worthy recipient of the IRCO Medal.”

Professor James Busfield said, “It is a great honour to receive the IRCO Medal. IRCO has coordinated the International Rubber Conference and RubberCon events for about 60 years, and I have been fortunate to have been a part of that community for about half of that time. I enjoy greatly participating in these conferences and value the opportunity to meet the global rubber experts, discuss with them new innovations and together help to move the discipline and our industry forward. My thanks are extended to all of those from the global rubber community who have worked to make our IRCO events so successful.”

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