Around six years ago, JK Tyre joined hands with Pune-based Treel Mobility, which has now been acquired by the tyre company. Today JK Tyre is the only tyre company in India that indigenously manufacturers Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) based on sensor technology. TREEL provides live data on the most important variables: tyre temperature, tyre pressure, tyre positions, locations, distance travelled and expected tyre life through our algorithm thus capture almost full health of the tyres. We provide our TMAS software for tyre management.

JK Tyre offers sensor technologies for both OE and aftermarket.

“The sensors can alert if the air pressure increases and drops by more than one psi. Our sensors are a multi-utility product and come with around five years of life,” Misra said, adding that the company’s sensor technologies are getting good response from the market.

JK Tyre’s manufacturing operations comprise of 12 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. The company has nine modern plants in India (three plants in Mysuru, three plants in Haridwar and one plant each in Banmore (M.P.), Kankroli (Rajasthan) and Chennai and three plants in Mexico – an aggregate production capacity of around 32 million tyres per annum.

The company is engaged in the manufacture and marketing of automotive tyres, tubes and flaps. JK Tyre’s products comprise Truck/Bus Radial & Bias, Passenger car radials, 2/3-wheeler tyres, LCV & SCV Bias & Radial, off-highway tyres (OTR and Farm), as well as speciality tyres for military/ defence, industrial and farm applications besides racing tyres.

Data generated through the sensors is not only helping JK Tyre to develop better products but provides an efficient and cost-effective service to its customers, especially in Truck Radial tyre space. “Service efficiency is what makes the difference to a customer. It is very important factor,” explained Misra.

JK Tyre is also in “Mobility Solutions”, where the company takes complete control of the tyre management and sells tyres by kilometres to the customers.

“Having such solutions availed, fleet owners do not have to worry about the most capital intensive part tyres. They do not have to buy tyres. We provide the right quality of tyres as per their requirements and then we make sure that tyres are optimally used and well maintained. To ensure performance and better life of tyres, we need lots of information and timely data collection which is not humanly possible. But now we can have all the data since tyres are fitted with sensors,” said Misra.

Misra claims that JK Tyres is the first company in India to provide such kind of services to the fleet companies.

“JK Tyre will continuously keep looking into the enhancement of sensor technologies in future,” he said.

With the help of JK Tyre’s service management and support around 3% fuel can be saved with the better pressure, alignment and maintenance of the tyres, whereas the tyre life is improved anywhere between 5% to 10%. “We have also seen big improvement in the downtime of the vehicles as well,” added Misra. The company extended this solution across more than 800 fleet owners. JK Tyre today has over 50 state-of-the-art Truck Wheels centres across the country which provides services enabled by high-quality machinery including computerised wheel alignment, wheel balancing, automated tyre changing, tyre rotation, nitrogen for tyre inflation, all under one roof to provide a 360-degree solution and excellent experience to the customer.

For EV mobility, the company is getting aggressive. JK Tyre has done benchmarking in the markets where the EV is largely being used. “We have tested and kept the tyres ready for EV cars. We have developed special tyres and have also done benchmarking with tyres which are being used by cars like Tesla / Kona,” said Misra. We intend offering special tyres for EV application backed with sensor technology.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is planning to introduce star rating, like electric appliances, for tyres based on their rolling resistance, wet grip and rolling noise. In Europe also, the labelling is provided on tyres for rolling resistance, braking on wet surfaces and external noise.

However, India did not have facilities to test wet grip in India till recent times. For the export purpose, the Indian tyre companies used to get their tyres tested for wet grip from outside India.

“In India, the star ratings have been principally agreed and accepted. The levels from 1 to 5 for RR and wet grip have also been finalised for all type of tyres. The star rating will come soon in India,” said Misra. However, the data for wet grip & rolling noise is yet to be generated to confirm the specs so far considered.

Initially, the star rating will be voluntarily for the first two years and then it will become mandatory. “It will be interesting to see how star rating will influence customers’ buying behaviour,” he added.

The company is also establishing its wet grip testing capability. JK Tyre has become the first tyre company in India to buy a traction trailer to test wet grip. The traction trailer has been installed at NATRiP, Indore. International Centre for Automotive Technology and Automotive Research Association of India are in also in the process of certifying complete infrastructure for testing for Indian Tyre Industry for all category of tyres under review.

“Based on the readiness at ICAT and later at ARAI, the tyre industry will generate data on wet grip,” and approach certification body to align the specifications.

The company is currently using the traction trailer for its own purpose and will explore possibilities to provide wet grip testing service to other players in the Indian market.

For the commercial tyre business, the company’s recent breakthrough is Fuel Saver Technology, which saves up to 8% to 10% fuel. The company introduced its fuel-saving technology for its TBR tyres and now it will be brought for tubeless tyres which has also been extended to Tubeless Truck Tyres. The company has also successfully launched a radial mining tyre in the country.

As for as the passenger vehicle tyres, JK Tyre will launch an ultra-high-performance tyre, being developed in Europe. “We have tested our ultra-high-performance tyre up to 300 km/h on one of the best tracks available in Germany by test experts against best in class- tyres. We also picked up an Indian brand which declared their tyre as UHP tyre. Our tyre is far superior in terms of overall- handling, performance, control, wet grip and noise. We will launch this product soon,” said Misra.

In the auto industry, traditional rivals are coming together to meet future demand and tackle various challenges. For instance, BMW and Daimler have come together for autonomous cars. According to reports, the agreement to develop automated driving technology will focus on assisted driving systems, automated driving on highways, and automated parking. However, regarding this Misra does not see possibility of such collaborations on new technology sharing or development in the Indian tyre industry.

“Being a member of various committees in the industry, we had jointly mooted an idea of having a common research and development centre with the support of the Government of India where we have every possible capability for technology development. Even if we get into that, it will not be technology sharing but yes a great platform can get created for Technology development.

For JK Tyre, fuel economy, longevity and safety is paramount for its products. “Safety is expected to be inbuilt, though customers awareness needs to be enhanced. Now fuel efficiency and rolling resistance are gaining traction, particularly from OE perspective. For the aftermarket, longevity continues to be the top priority,” said Misra.

JK Tyre is also building capabilities in various fronts. JK Tyre’s new Research and Development (R&D) facility - Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence (RPSCOE) at Mysore has capabilities for all aspects right from testing the raw rubber sourced to creating simulations and predictive techniques for future offerings. Along with the installation of the traction trailer, the company was the first to have the Semi-Anechoic Chamber that uses specialised software for noise, vibration and harshness and data analysis. The company also has a centre of excellence at IIT Madras which is a joint venture between the company and IIT Madras. “We have developed many predictive technologies and other solution at the Centre. The virtual proving ground has been setup where you can establish the actual performance for the tyres on a vehicle without having actual tyres or vehicle. This is a very advanced concept. We are developing lot of techniques to master and get the full benefit in this virtual proving ground. Various data for the vehicles and a tyre is fed into the software and you can put data of any test track and drive the car with different speeds. You can feel the real performance. With this virtual proving ground capacity, we can generate data for tyres and determine what kind of tyres are best suited for a particular car.”

The company also uses a steering robot to collect data to have accurate and objective information.

For two-wheeler tyres, JK Tyre is focusing on tubeless tyres. The company plans to expand its two-wheeler tyre production from the current capacity of 650000 tyres per month. “We are in the process of expanding the range for high-end bikes. We are also planning to penetrate deeper into the OE space,” said Misra. The company is already OE supplier of two-wheeler tyres for Hero and Bajaj.

The biggest challenge for a technical person in the tyre industry is to anticipate the customer requirement stated as well as unstated and develop the right tyre. “The main challenge is to keep improving the performance and keep the cost low,” added Misra.

The Indian customer is very aware and knowledgeable hence continuous upgradation of technology and products is the key to success.

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VMI has announced that it will showcase multiple new automation solutions at The Tire Cologne, aimed at advancing the retreading process. Among the innovations is an automatic splice unit, which will be on display and available for short demonstrations at the event. VMI account manager Ronald Noppers is scheduled to present on automation in retreading on 11 June at 12:45.

The company is introducing the automatic splice unit and automatic recipe loading as initial steps towards greater industry automation. Designed for applying extruded hot cushion gum to buffed tire casings, the VMI RETRAXX system currently relies heavily on skilled manual labour, a resource that is becoming scarcer and more expensive. To address this, VMI introduced an automated wingformer setting upgrade for the RETRAXX in 2024, allowing operators to start an automatic cycle that positions the wingformers without manual intervention.

Key advantages of these automation solutions include reduced operator dependency and improved uniformity and product quality. VMI will be located in hall 7 at stand number C-041.

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MESNAC made a notable return to the Indian market by participating in the 2026 India Rubber Expo, held in Delhi from 7 to 10 April. After an eight-year absence from offline professional exhibitions in the country, the company presented its advanced machinery and intelligent manufacturing solutions. This participation highlighted its strong technical expertise and service capabilities within the rubber machinery sector while also signalling a renewed commitment to long-term growth and a deep-rooted presence in the region.

At the event, MESNAC’s Vice President, Wang Zhiming, and his team held productive discussions with representatives from several local tyre manufacturers, including long-established industry leaders and existing clients. These conversations focused on technical exchanges regarding core equipment. The company’s exhibition booth attracted nearly 100 professional visitors each day, which helped strengthen ties with long-term partners and facilitated in-depth technical dialogues with potential new collaborators.

Given the steady expansion of India’s tyre industry, MESNAC is dedicated to further strengthening its local market position through a focus on both technology and service. By supporting the sector’s continuous upgrade, the company aims to play a key role in the industry’s evolving landscape.

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China’s Tercelo Tire Group is taking a measured, niche-led approach to global expansion, with India’s fast-growing mining sector firmly in its sights.

At a time when global tyre markets are being reshaped by regulation, geopolitics and intense pricing pressure, China’s Tercelo Tire Group is pursuing a strategy that favours clarity over scale. Rather than chasing volumes across crowded segments, the company is focusing on specific markets and applications where long-term demand fundamentals are strongest.

Nowhere is this approach more evident than in India, where Tercelo is positioning itself squarely within the off-the-road (OTR) tyre segment, aligned with the country’s rapidly expanding mining and infrastructure ecosystem.

The Chinese company, part of the Fortune 500 company Wuchan Zhongda Chemical Group, is a nine-year-old tyre maker selling products under the Tercelo, Transmate, Superhawk, Yingba, Three-A and Rapid brands, among others. The company claims to have over USD 7.2 billion in annual operating revenue and growing.

In an exclusive interaction with Tyre Trends, Akash Gupta, Country Manager – India & Africa, Tercelo Tire Group, said, “We are very new in this segment. We can say we are a small baby (in India) right now. But we are entering the market with a very clear mindset – slow growth, strong quality focus and very specific targeting.”

For a Chinese tyre manufacturer, India is not the easiest market to enter. It is fiercely competitive, dominated by strong domestic brands and governed by increasingly strict trade and quality regulations. Yet, Gupta believes that these very challenges make India strategically compelling.

“India is a very big market for the tyre industry. People like economical tyres – affordable tyres. Historically, Chinese brands always had some presence because of price competitiveness. Even a 10 or 20 percent market share is very big in India,” he said.

However, that landscape has changed significantly over the past few years.

CHOOSING INDIA AMID REGULATION AND RESISTANCE

India’s tyre market has undergone a sharp regulatory shift, particularly in response to rising imports and the government’s push to strengthen domestic manufacturing. Anti-dumping duties, mandatory BIS certification and tighter customs scrutiny have fundamentally altered the playing field – especially for Chinese manufacturers.

“The government started anti-dumping because they are giving scope to local manufacturers. If you don’t protect them, it becomes very difficult,” Gupta explained.

As a result, entire segments are effectively closed to Chinese imports. “PCR, motorcycle and some other tyres – nobody can bring them from China now. So Chinese tyres are not coming into India in these segments,” Gupta said.

While tyres continue to enter India from countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Japan, Gupta dismisses suggestions that Chinese manufacturers can simply reroute shipments through third markets.

“It’s not possible. A lot of people tried Dubai, but it failed. The cost is very high. You send tyres to Dubai, then again to India – the margins simply don’t make sense,” he stated firmly.

Faced with these realities, Tercelo made a deliberate strategic decision. “That is why our focus is not TBR or PCR. Our focus is only OTR,” Gupta said.

Unlike passenger or truck tyres, OTR tyres cater to a specialised industrial customer base, are less price-elastic and are closely tied to capital-intensive sectors such as mining, construction and quarrying. For Tercelo, this segment offers a more stable entry point.

He said, “OTR is a growing sector in the Indian market. We have Coal India, Adani, Reliance – a lot of mining companies. And now the government is also encouraging many small companies to enter mining.”

RISING THROUGH COVID-19

Tercelo’s rise has been shaped by disruption. The company began its manufacturing journey in 2019 — just as the Covid-19 pandemic brought global industrial activity to a standstill.

“When Covid started, all the factories in China were shutting down. But what our company did was something very different,” Gupta recalled.

Instead of retreating, Tercelo expanded. “They bought four factories in China – two for TBR, one for OTR and one for PCR. These were very major factories,” he said.

Among them were Super Hawk and O’Green Group, established manufacturing facilities with strong domestic reputations. “We started from there,” Gupta added.

This bold move allowed Tercelo to build scale quickly once markets reopened. “Today, we are selling more than one million tyres every year – OTR, TBR and PCR combined,” he said.

The company has also structured its brand portfolio carefully to address different geographies and customer expectations. “Our premium brand is Transmate/Tercelo (PCR, TBR and OTR),” Gupta explained. “Then we have Routeck (TBR) for the mid-segment, which is an economical tyre.”

For highly price-sensitive markets, Tercelo operates distinct brands. “StepRising (TBR) and EcoSaver (TBR) are only for Africa. Africa market prefers cheap tyres – low price, low quality. That is the reality,” he said.

This segmentation, Gupta believes, is critical. “You cannot sell the same tyre in Europe, India and Africa with the same positioning. Every market has its own mindset,” he averred.

INDIA’S OTR OPPORTUNITY: MINING, INFRASTRUCTURE AND LONG-TERM DEMAND

India’s mining sector is undergoing a structural expansion, driven by rising energy demand, infrastructure development and policy reforms aimed at increasing private participation.

“The government has given a lot of tenders to small, small companies to participate in mining. We believe the mining business for the next five years is going to be very big,” Gupta said.

While large conglomerates continue to dominate, the emergence of smaller operators is creating opportunities for mid-segment OTR tyre suppliers – exactly where Tercelo wants to position itself.

“We are manufacturing from small OTR to giant OTR tyres. But in India, we see ourselves more in the mid-segment of giant OTR (16.00-25 to 12.00-24),” he said. These tyres serve large dumpers, loaders and haul trucks used in coal, iron ore and limestone mines. “Big vehicles used by companies like Adani, Reliance – that is where our focus is,” he explained.

Rather than chasing aggressive volumes, Tercelo is targeting measured penetration. “We are not trying to take a big share. We are trying to enter gradually,” Gupta reiterated. The numbers reflect this caution. “We are targeting maybe two or three percent of the market initially. In the next three years, my target is five percent. I don’t want anything more,” Gupta explained.

For the executive, this is a realistic and sustainable ambition. “We are only six years old,” he says. “There are many Chinese companies – Triangle Tires, Techking Tires, Advance, Maxam – they are veterans of 20, 30, even 40 years.”

Competing with them requires patience. “Quality, consistency and service – that is how we will succeed,” he added.

REGULATORY CONTRADICTIONS AND MARKET REALITIES

Despite his pragmatic outlook, Gupta does not shy away from critiquing India’s regulatory inconsistencies, particularly in the TBR segment.

“The government has anti-dumping, but at the same time, some Chinese companies are getting BIS. Companies like Sailun, Jetsea and Double Coin – they have BIS (TBR),” he pointed out.

As a result, these brands are able to sell significant volumes. “They are selling 20,000–30,000 tyres every year, sometimes more,” Gupta revealed. For him, this creates mixed signals. He argued, “If your rules are rules, then stick to them. Why give loopholes?”

He adds that such decisions also affect domestic manufacturers. “Somehow, you are taking market away from MRF, Apollo Tyres and JK Tyre also. This feels negative,” he said.

These contradictions reinforce Tercelo’s conservative India strategy. “That is why we don’t want to get into grey areas. OTR is clean, focused and aligned with India’s growth story,” he explained.

AFRICA AND EMERGING MARKETS: VOLUME THROUGH PRICE

While India is a story of regulation and selective opportunity, Africa represents a completely different dynamic – one dominated by price sensitivity and limited technical awareness.

“I worked in Africa for almost 20 years. I know the market very well,” Gupta recalled. According to him, African customers prioritise upfront cost above all else. “They don’t want to invest a lot of money on premium tyres because their awareness is very little,” he explained.

Basic practices such as load management and tyre pressure maintenance are often ignored. “They don’t know how to drive vehicles properly, how to maintain air pressure – it’s just load and run,” Gupta said.

Premium tyres do have a niche audience. “If transporters are Indian or British, they understand quality. But local African customers want a USD 100 tyre. That is enough for them,” he said.

This lack of maintenance awareness drives high replacement demand – a reality Gupta acknowledged candidly. “Replacement is very high everywhere – India, Africa, even some parts of Asia. And trust me, all manufacturers love this problem,” he said.

He explained with disarming honesty that if customers started maintaining tyres properly, checking pressure, loading correctly, then the replacement market will reduce and business will go down. “And Frankly speaking, nobody wants that,” he said.

A MEASURED VISION FOR THE ROAD AHEAD

Unlike many new entrants who promise aggressive expansion, Tercelo’s leadership is deliberately cautious in its outlook. He averred, “We are not chasing big numbers. We are chasing stability.”

In India, that means aligning closely with mining growth, building credibility with fleet operators and gradually expanding product acceptance.

He reiterated that while the competition is severe, it is important to acknowledge that Tercelo Tire started in 2019. “Six years is nothing in this industry,” he pointed out.

Yet, Gupta remains confident that discipline will pay off. “If we maintain quality, service and pricing balance, five percent market share is more than enough for us,” said an optimistic Gupta.

As global tyre markets continue to fragment and regional strategies become increasingly important, Tercelo’s approach is looking at an alternative playbook strategy for India – focusing on a niche before building up to a larger play.

“We are starting slowly. But slow growth with the right direction is always better than fast growth with no control,” Gupta concluded. 

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is steadily moving from experimentation to practical deployment in tyre manufacturing, where complex processes and variable raw materials often limit the effectiveness of fixed production standards. By analysing large volumes of plant data and responding to real-time process conditions, AI-driven optimisation systems are helping manufacturers improve efficiency, reduce waste and stabilise product quality. In an interaction with Tyre Trends, Vincent Barjaud of Braincube explains how such systems are transforming key production stages including mixing, extrusion and curing while complementing operator expertise.

The tyre industry indeed depends heavily on raw materials with significant variability, particularly those derived from natural sources and petrochemicals. These materials change over time and therefore are not always consistent in terms of quality and performance. Because industrial processes operate under constantly changing conditions, fixed production standards often create a hidden performance ceiling. Systems capable of adapting to real-time conditions allow plants to consistently reach the best achievable operating point.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping manufacturers move beyond fixed production standards towards more adaptive approaches. Real-Time Process Optimisation (RTPO) processes historical and real-time plant data to continuously adjust operating setpoints based on live process conditions. By responding to variability in raw materials, equipment behaviour and operating environments, RTPO enables plants to consistently operate closer to their optimal performance point.

Speaking exclusive to Tyre Trends on the integration of AI, Technical Partner Manager at France-based Technology firm Braincube, Vicent Barjaud, said, “Our AI-driven solution provides real-time process optimisation by recommending the exact action operators should take, on which actuator and at what moment. Instead of suggesting a broad operating range, the system recommends the precise optimal value in real time. Because operating context evolve during production, this optimal value may change within hours. The system continuously adapts to these changes to maintain optimal performance.” The company devises solutions to address the entire tyre manufacturing process, but the software is particularly effective in compound mixing, extrusion and curing, where material transformation through machine actuation makes these stages highly process-oriented and suitable for optimisation.

The implementation typically takes six to twelve weeks from project kick-off to go-live. During this phase, plant data sources are connected and structured for AI analysis without requiring access to confidential compound formulations.

Since most industrial players maintain historical data through data historians, this data is injected into the system, enabling real-time optimisation and recommendations from day one, and in rare cases where no historical data exists, a few weeks are required to gather sufficient operational data.

The solution can be implemented in any plant equipped with PLC-based automation systems, while additional digital systems such as MES, ERP or LIMS improve recommendation accuracy, although valuable real-time operator guidance can still be delivered with only historian data and basic inputs.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

According to Barjaud, one of the biggest opportunities for improvement lies in the uniformity of the final tyre, particularly during quality control at the end of production. This is largely due to the curing stage.

“Plants often operate dozens of different curing moulds. Each mould functions as an individual asset, but many manufacturers treat them as if they were identical. In reality, each mould behaves slightly differently, which can affect tyre uniformity. Recognising and optimising these individual differences can significantly improve efficiency and product consistency,” he added.

It is considered beneficial to treat each curing mould individually because every mould has distinct characteristics including differences in lifetime, behaviour, wear patterns, maintenance history and the time since its last servicing.

When moulds are treated as identical, these variations are overlooked. By managing each mould separately rather than as part of a uniform group, process optimisation can be achieved more precisely, resulting in improved efficiency and performance.

“Strong optimisation results have also been observed in extrusion, where start-up phases of new process orders typically generate scrap as the first few metres of material are discarded before reaching a steady state. By adjusting process parameters more precisely, the time required to reach this steady state can be reduced, thereby lowering start-up waste,” noted Barjaud.

Braincube’s optimisation approach works similarly to navigation apps such as Waze or Google Maps, which continuously adjust routes based on real-time traffic conditions to reach a destination faster.

In the same way, Braincube dynamically updates manufacturing parameter recommendations as process conditions change. Similar to navigation applications such as Waze or Google Maps, the system continuously adjusts the optimal ‘route’ for the process as new conditions emerge.

The approach also applies to extrusion processes, where significant material waste often occurs during machine ramp-up. By helping operators set the correct parameters from the first seconds of operation, the company reduces the amount of material that must be scrapped at start-up.

INTO MANUFACTURING

Braincube works with tyre plant engineering teams to define ideal performance targets such as acceptable tyre uniformity ranges. It analyses production data to identify the actuators and operating conditions that drive optimal results and provides real-time insights to operators so processes can be adjusted to keep tyres within the desired ‘super zone’ of uniformity.

In mixing, its system addresses inefficiencies during product changeovers. Since the first batch after a changeover starts under different conditions such as temperature, roll distance and machine state, it separates the recipe for the first batch from subsequent batches, ensuring consistent viscosity and composition while reducing the higher scrap rate typically seen in the first batch.

For curing, Braincube performs real-time optimisation by adjusting parameters such as steam injection, temperature and curing duration based on the specific mould and its operating conditions. It also helps extend mould lifetime by identifying moulds that can safely operate beyond the usual maintenance threshold of around 3,000 tyres, potentially extending their life by 20–50 percent.

Overall, waste reduction comes from replacing fixed production standards with dynamic optimisation, where the system continuously analyses real-time conditions and recommends adjustments to recipes and operating parameters, improving efficiency while lowering scrap and environmental impact.

“In one case with a top-five global tyre manufacturer that deployed Braincube across its factories, we observed waste reduction of around 70 percent during the extrusion start-up phase. This level of improvement can significantly reduce both material losses and production costs,” noted Barjaud.

MACHINE NEEDS MAN

Braincube approaches root-cause analysis by identifying the drivers of success rather than only analysing defects. Instead of focusing solely on scrap and deviations, the system studies past production data to determine the conditions under which the best tyres were produced.

By analysing the highest-performance production runs including machines, operators, raw materials and process conditions, it identifies the key factors behind superior performance and recommends settings that help replicate those results consistently.

Installing Braincube mainly involves resolving material traceability across the plant. During a six-to-twelve-week integration phase, the system connects to existing data sources and reconstructs where each product was at specific times in the factory.

Once this mapping is completed, Braincube can continuously process data and perform automated optimisation. Plants with strong traceability systems integrate more easily, while others may require certain assumptions during setup.

“Our solution’s recommendations typically achieve more than 90 percent accuracy, but the system is designed to assist operators rather than automatically enforce actions. Operators receive recommendations but remain fully in control of whether to apply them. If a recommendation is rejected, the system immediately recalculates a new suggestion based on the updated operating conditions,” explained Barjaud.

He added, “This human oversight is important because some real-world conditions may not be captured in the dataset. For example, a lower operating temperature may have produced good results in the past because a machine door was open, affecting process conditions. If that factor was not recorded by sensors, the system may initially recommend the same temperature again even though the door is now closed. In such cases, operators can reject the suggestion, ensuring that AI insights are balanced with practical judgment.”

Barjaud contended that operator expertise remains essential when using AI systems. While the system provides data-driven recommendations, experienced operators play a critical role in deciding whether to apply them.

Their deep understanding of the process ensures that AI insights are used appropriately, making the combination of human expertise and AI analysis key to achieving the best production results.

IMPLEMENTATION AND SAFETY

The company also partners with machine manufacturers through white-label agreements, allowing them to offer Braincube-powered optimisation services alongside their equipment. This enables customers to benefit not only from the machinery itself but also from continuous performance optimisation.

In the tyre industry, Braincube currently focuses on mixing, extrusion and curing and still sees major opportunities to expand optimisation in these processes. Even when analysing a specific stage such as curing or tyre uniformity, the system incorporates data from upstream operations like building and other production steps to understand the factors affecting final performance.

The emphasis on optimisation ultimately centres on the final KPI, since this reflects what customers pay for, which is finished tyre quality and uniformity. By integrating data from across the entire plant including upstream processes and raw materials, Braincube helps manufacturers consistently meet required product performance standards.

Also, many tyre makers have more than one manufacturing unit. Integrating Braincube’s solution across each one requires a simple collaborative excursive involving the French company’s team and a ‘Champion’.

“Most companies appoint a champion or a dedicated engineer responsible for replicating successes across plants. This person ensures that the best practices identified in one plant are standardised and implemented across other facilities,” explained Barjaud.

He added that companies usually deploy Braincube as a technical solution while also establishing a human organisational structure to drive replication and standardisation. The combination of technology and internal leadership ensures that improvements are scaled across multiple plants.

Besides, data security is a top priority for Braincube, especially because industrial manufacturing data is highly sensitive. The system complies with major cybersecurity standards such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2, and in its 18 years of operation, it has never experienced a data breach.

The company regularly conducts external penetration tests, maintains a dedicated cybersecurity team and operates under the supervision of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) responsible for vulnerability management and system protection.

Regarding concerns about job replacement, Barjaud reported little resistance from engineers or operators. “Industrial environments have evolved through successive technological stages, from manual decisions to PLCs, closed-loop control, advanced process control and now AI. In this context, AI is generally viewed as the next step in improving efficiency, helping people make better decisions rather than replacing them,” he noted.

MARKET VIEW

Braincube operates globally with a full operational office in Europe but also has offices in United States and Brazil, which has supported the Latin American market for about 15 years.

From Europe, the company manages both European and Asian markets and works with several software distribution partners worldwide including in Thailand, India, Poland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, UK and Italy, collaborating with firms such as Ematica to deliver and integrate its solutions.

In Asia, particularly in India and Southeast Asia, Braincube mainly relies on local partners rather than establishing its own offices. These partners, often industrial software distributors already working with automation systems, MES platforms and data historians such as AVEVA, handle integration and customer engagement.

The company is also engaging with new tyre manufacturers in Asia, typically through those partners who add Braincube’s AI-driven optimisation to their existing portfolios of PLC, SCADA and MES solutions.

Concluding the interaction, Barjaud pointed out that one of the biggest challenges for AI providers in the tyre industry is balancing multiple objectives such as throughput, energy consumption, material usage and product quality. n

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