Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres Ltd is relying on Contact Elements as its central platform for product development and testing. The low-code solution will foster collaboration, harmonise processes across locations, and support Apollo Tyres in meeting its sustainability goals.
Rising sustainability requirements and the dawn of e-mobility demand for tyres with low rolling resistance made from eco-friendly materials.
Apollo Tyres has set out to increase the percentage of sustainable raw materials used in its products to 40% by 2030. To achieve this goal, the company relies on a data-centric strategy and is implementing a new Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) based on Contact Software’s CIM Database PLM.
It takes about three years to develop a new tyre. Contact’s solution is intended to speed up this process and foster collaboration and communication among teams. It will digitally support and harmonise global R&D processes, streamline test data management, improve traceability of tyre specifications, and simplify materials management.
The LIMS combines specification and test management. Specification management supports the development process from raw material to the final tyre, including recipe management.
Test management supports Apollo’s engineers in capturing test parameters, instructions, and comprehensively analysing test results. The solution integrates company-wide distributed data into a single source of truth, which reduces manual efforts, prevents errors, and minimizes dependency on tools like Excel.
Contact’s solution includes document management, Bill of Materials management, and reporting. The integrated project management allows users to efficiently execute projects and track their progress. Interfaces to an ERP system and laboratory equipment enable automated data exchange, while end-to-end processes foster cross-department collaboration from research all the way to marketing. Templates reduce manual efforts for routine activities, while workflow management accelerates requests for sample manufacturing and testing.
“As a modular platform, Contact Elements allows us to grow our solution organically in a ‘start small, think big’ approach,” says Hizmy Hassen, Chief of Digital and Supply Chain Officer at Apollo Tyres.
The system will be rolled out at Apollo’s Global R&D Centres, first in India and subsequently in Europe. As part of the rollout, processes across the development facilities in Chennai, India, and Enschede, Netherlands, will be harmonised.
With 19,000 employees and a revenue of US$ 3.1 billion, Apollo Tyres is among the world’s leading tyre manufacturers, producing tyres for cars, motorcycles, trucks, and agricultural vehicles, which it sells under the brands Apollo and Vredestein. Apollo Tyres Ltd operates seven manufacturing facilities and two research centres across India and Europe.