Bridgestone/Firestone Breaks Company Record for Plant Construction

26 August 1998

Bridgestone/Firestone Breaks Company Record for Plant Construction; Begins Pre-Operational Testing in New Plant

    AIKEN COUNTY, S.C.--(AutomotiveWire)--Aug. 26, 1998-- Bridgestone/Firestone South Carolina (BFSC) began pre-operational testing of tire-making equipment today, exactly one year to the day that the tire company announced it would build a $435 million passenger and light truck tire plant here. No Bridgestone plant anywhere in the world has previously gone from the initial announcement to pre-operational testing in one year.
    BFSC team members paused today to celebrate this important milestone by autographing the first test tire at a company ceremony and presenting awards to individuals and groups who went beyond the call of duty to achieve this record.
    The plant will continue pre-operational production of test tires through the remainder of 1998 and first quarter of 1999 as construction of the 1.6-million-square-foot facility continues, even though the majority of equipment has not yet been installed. BFSC is on schedule to produce tires for the market in the spring and will reach full capacity of 25,000 tires per day in the year 2000.
    "To produce the first test tire exactly one year after we announced the plant is just unbelievable," said BFSC President Nobuo Kawakami. "I want to thank all of our team members and contract employees who have worked so hard to make this possible, as well as the people of Aiken County who have given us so much support. We not only set a record for speed of construction, but we can also be very proud of the quality of this facility. Our goal is to be the number one tire plant in the world in terms of product quality, productivity, customer satisfaction and cost competitiveness."
    Bridgestone/Firestone Chairman and CEO Masatoshi Ono congratulated the BFSC team on its accomplishment. "The demand for our tires in North America continues to be extremely strong, so we are very pleased that the Aiken plant has moved one step closer to producing tires for the market," Ono said. "I want to congratulate the entire BFSC team on achieving this significant milestone in record time."
    Currently about 1,000 contract employees are working at the plant site. The construction manager is Bechtel Corporation.
    The plant is being constructed on a 550-acre site near I-20 in Aiken County, centrally located between Aiken and North Augusta in South Carolina. When the plant is finished, it will be the culmination of 1.2 million construction man-hours, 61,000 cubic yards of concrete, 250,000 lineal feet of pipe and 11,000 tons of steel.
    The facility, which will produce tires for the original equipment and replacement tire markets, will become the 17th tire manufacturing facility for Bridgestone/Firestone (the ninth in the U.S.).
    Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest tire and rubber company. The company develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and associate, house and private brand tires, as well as Firestone air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and industrial products.