Pirelli Builds New $140 Million Tire Plant in Rome, Georgia

    HOUSTON--Sept. 13, 2001--Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Inc.; Houston, Texas). Pirelli Tire North America (New Haven, Conn.) has started construction on a tire manufacturing plant in Rome, Georgia. The company awarded H&M Company Incorporated (Jackson, TN) a design-build contract for a 400,000 square foot building that will include manufacturing, offices and research facilities. Pirelli is providing engineering services for the approximately $140 million project.
    Site work started this past March and the plant is expected to be operational by mid 2002. The plant will manufacture tires for new vehicles and for the replacement tire markets utilizing Pirelli's recently developed Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS). The MIRS process allows completion of the entire production cycle from compounding to finished product without interruption or human intervention. Initially, the plant will be equipped with four MIRS modules, each capable of producing approximately one tire every three minutes. Pirelli plans to add a total of fifteen modules.
    The Rome site will serve as the company's North American headquarters and will also replace a plant in Hanford, California that was closed earlier this year. In total, 55 corporate employees and 250 production workers will be employed after three years. Pirelli S.p.A controls all of Pirelli's operations worldwide and has holdings in 24 countries and 5 continents.