New technologies for European tire industry to be developed in Indjija – Toyo Tires to build Research and Development Center

Toyo Tires Serbia announced that on March 19, it would lay the foundation stone for the construction of the Research and Development (R&D) Center in Indjija, within the industrial complex where the Japanese manufacturer’s tire factory had been operating since 2022.

As previously announced, an urban design project for the construction of the Innovation Center was developed at the request of the investor. The project was developed by the Kubarch company from Subotica, while the architectural designer is North Engineering.

According to the documentation, the new center will be a specialized organizational unit of the company intended for research, development and improvement of processes in the production of automobile tires. Its goal is to develop new and improved production solutions that should further increase the competitiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the factory.

The facility is planned to occupy about 6,000 m2, with part of the building having two floors and another part only one. The center will include experimental areas for small-scale rubber production, laboratories for material testing, offices for data analysis and processing, as well as areas for presentations and employee training.

Rubber production at the center will take place on a limited scale – once a week for about six hours – and the project does not envisage an increase in the factory’s overall production capacity. The facility will employ about 20 employees, while presentations and training will be organized occasionally for up to 60 guests.

Toyo Tires previously announced that the R&D center in Indjija would start operating in January of the next year and that it should become a European hub for research and development. Activities will include material design, processing technology development and raw material evaluation, which means that Indjija will, in addition to production, develop and test new rubber compounds for the European market.

It is also planned for part of the company’s research and development functions to be transferred from Germany to Serbia by the end of 2026, which would give Indjija a more significant role in the manufacturer’s global technology development network.

The German industrial engineering corporation HF Group, one of the world’s leading suppliers of tire technology, has been selected as a partner for the project. According to the company, the agreement stipulates that HF Group will be responsible for the engineering, delivery and installation of the research and development production line.

The facility will be equipped with modern mixing technology that enables the development and processing of complex rubber-mixture formulations, in accordance with the increasingly stringent requirements of the tire industry in terms of performance and sustainability.

I. Z.

Toyo Tire Serbia d.o.o. Inđija

Kubarch doo Subotica

North Engineering d.o.o. Subotica

Toyo Tires Serbia

Kubarch

North Engineering

HF Group

Innovations Centerm R and D Center Inđija

Research and Development Center

Toyo Tires Innovation Center Inđija