Last Saturday, the international tire manufacturer celebrated the 125th anniversary of its Hanau site. To mark the occasion, the long-established company invited its workforce and their families to a party with an attractive programme for young and old at the company premises in Dunlopstrasse. "With this glittering party for our employees and their families, we would like to express our sincere thanks to our entire workforce for their tireless commitment to our company," explained John Ries, Director Manufacturing Hanau at Goodyear. More than 1,800 guests had accepted the invitation and registered for the celebration day.
Highlights included the opening of the celebration by Claus Kaminsky, Mayor of the City of Hanau, as well as by Ries, Director of Manufacturing, an autograph session with YouTube star Jean-Pierre "JP" Kraemer, ambassador for the high-performance Dunlop brand, and on-site tours of the production facility. "For the families, it was super exciting to see live and in color where dad - or even mom - work every day," Ries highlights. A painting competition, a bouncy castle in truck design and a festival rally with great prizes were also particularly popular with the young guests. Those interested in mobility solutions of the future were able to marvel at the "Oxygene" concept tire with real moss in the sidewall. Using photosynthesis, the futuristic tire will provide better air in the cities of tomorrow, according to the tire manufacturer's vision.
Also at the Hanau site, with its 125 years of tradition and know-how in tyre manufacturing, pioneering technologies are being developed for highly topical mobility trends. The Efficient Grip Performance with "Electric Drive Technology", for example, is a child from the Dunlop line, a tyre specifically designed to meet the requirements of electric cars. A prototype of the high-tech tire was presented to the public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in March this year, and it will be rolling on European roads as early as 2019. Guests at the Hanau family festival were also able to marvel at it.
However, the location looks back on an eventful history. In 1893, Hanau was the first Dunlop tyre factory on the European mainland. Initially, bicycle tyres were produced by 28 female employees, as tyre production was a woman's job at the time. From 1902 onwards, car tyres were also produced and, from 1925, truck tyres. Other milestones in the history of the Hanau site include: the production of the first latex mattresses in 1932, the manufacture of the first tubeless tyre for passenger cars in 1952 and pioneering research into aquaplaning in the 1960s.
About Goodyear
Goodyear is one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world. It employs about 66,000 people worldwide and manufactures its products in 49 production facilities in 22 countries. With two innovation centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, the company's goal is to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the industry standard for technology and performance.
More information can also be found at <link http: www.goodyear.de _blank>www.goodyear.de
