Leading in the Field: Building Firestone Farm and Forestry Tires

Firestone Agricultural Plant

The Bridgestone/Firestone Agricultural plant is located in Des Moines, Iowa and it stands on almost 120 acres. For more than 60 years, Firestone has continued to make durable and dependable farm and forestry tires, remaining true to the ideals inspired by the inventor of the farm tire, Harvey S. Firestone: innovation and hard work. Building high-quality farm and forestry tires is not an easy task. It requires a great deal of manpower, training, equipment and time. Farm and forestry tires are built at the Firestone Agricultural and Forestry Tire Plant in Des Moines, Iowa. The Firestone Plant was the first agricultural tire plant to achieve ISO 9002 certification - one more FIRST for Firestone. The ISO is a worldwide organization that sets operational and quality-control standards for businesses in more than 50 countries. The certification ensures high quality tire production as well as giving Firestone recognition in international markets.

Protecting the Environment

The goals of the Firestone Agricultural Tire Division are to produce and deliver, on time quality products while operating in an environmentally responsible manner. All associates are committed to an effective environmental management system to fulfill our responsibility as a good corporate neighbor in the communities where we operate. Firestone Conducts business so that the environmental challenges are managed as an integral part of current and changing business strategies. Firestone Complies with applicable federal, state, and local environmental laws and promotes pollution prevention by communicating about environmental issues across organizational and functional lines.

In June 2000, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) launched a new program called the National Environmental Performance Track. Performance Track recognizes and rewards members for their commitment to sound environmental management, continuous environmental improvement, local community involvement and a strong record of compliance. Firestone is a charter member of the program. You can learn more about Firestone’s environmental commitments by accessing its Annual Performance Report submitted to the USEPA.

Firestone Community Involvement

The plant provides employment to over 1600 people in the community and contributes over 100 Million dollars annually to the Des Moines economy. The plant also participates in various community activities, including providing scholarships to various students.

Firestone believes that an educated pool of employees result in higher quality product. Therefore the plant in conjunction with Simpson College has developed an on-site college degree program. The program was started to give Firestone employees the opportunity to increase skills and knowledge for their current job and beyond. Because of their unique work schedules, the prospect of a college program coming on-site to teach courses was developed in the Fall of 1997.

On-site classes are offered on a rotating schedule, allowing production employees to attend on their days off. Classes meet once per week for 3 hours. Using this schedule, employees have the flexibility to decide whether or not to enroll in classes on a scheduled day on or off. The schedule is set in such a way as to allow employees, whose schedule may not fit a traditional college, to have access to opportunities available in a college setting while being flexible to their needs.

The management certificate is a college credit program shaped by the needs of Firestone. Many positions at Firestone Agricultural require a 4-year degree or it’s equivalent to move into management, the company has collaborated with Simpson College to offer a certificate that would be equal to a four year degree when applying for positions within the division.

Safety And Health Commitment

Firestone recognizes its responsibility to provide an active, aggressive and effective Safety and Health Program. The program is designed to protect associates from occupational injury or illness, protect company equipment and property from loss or damage, and maintain security and fire protection. Management at all levels diligently carries out this policy thus minimizing injury and increasing productivity.

In keeping with this policy, a comprehensive continuing safety and health program has been instituted which contains the following:

• A method of providing prompt detailed accident investigation that will reveal specific causes and ensure that all feasible corrective actions are instituted.
• A system to routinely discover workplace hazards through inspections and associate reports. Where unsafe conditions and unsafe behaviors are addressed on a daily basis, reducing hazards through countermeasures and follow-ups.
• A program to ensure proper procedures are followed and ensure consistent use of personal protective equipment according to company policy and federal law.

Each member of management has a personal responsibility for the safety of all associates who are assigned under him/her. In carrying out this responsibility, the safety office should be called upon for staff support. Such assistance, however, in no way reduces the personal responsibility of supervisors, team leaders, and all associates, nor their obligation to incorporate safety into the process, equipment and programs under their control.

ISO 9002

Firestone’s production plant in Des Moines, Iowa, is the first agricultural tire plant in the United States to obtain ISO 9002 certification . ISO 9002 is a series of international standards and guidelines on quality management and quality assurance established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a worldwide federation of national standards bodies. Being ISO-certified is the key to expanding the agricultural company’s presence in international markets, and will allow the Firestone Agricultural Tire Division to become a major global agricultural and forestry tire supplier.

ISO 14001

The plant is ISO 14000 certified, the ISO 14000 certification is similar to the ISO 9002 process but it focuses upon environmental issues.

Receiving Area

All raw materials enter the plant through the receiving area. On average the plant receives 1 Million lbs. of raw materials a day. Most of the natural rubber is imported from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Steel is mainly imported from Japan and a big percentage of the other items like bead wire, carbon black and synthetic rubber is obtained from North America. After the materials are received they are then forwarded to the testing area.

Testing Area

From the receiving area, the raw materials - rubber, carbon black, steel bead wire etc. - go to the testing area where they undergo a series of tests to ensure the items meet the quality requirements. There are further tests at every stage of production thereafter.

Firestone requires suppliers of raw materials to issue a Certificate of Analysis to assure high quality. Firestone performs test on all materials prior to use. Once all the raw materials are tested and meet the strict Firestone quality standards a certificate of approval is issued and the raw materials are available for production.

Mixing

The first step in the manufacturing process is mixing.  During the mixing stage rubber, pigment, carbon black, and oil are processed. After the mixing, the rubber is either used to make treads or calendared fabric.

Manufacturing Area

Firestone tire builders are experts in tire manufacturing. They must undergo 12 weeks of rigorous training to learn the precision required for farm and forestry tire construction. Tire builders assemble inner liner, body stabilizer plies, beads, sidewall and tread to form a green tire.

During the curing process, the tires are lowered into a press, then the bladder expands inside each tire forcing it into a mold. Using a combination of hot water and steam, the tire is cured for 30 minutes to 3 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the tire. Firestone Farm and Forestry Tire Plant produces approximately 6600 tires daily.

Final Inspection

During final inspection, the vents are trimmed and the tire is inspected inside and out. The tires are then shipped to the individual Firestone dealers or warehouse.

Cut/Section analysis tests.

The Cut/Section analysis is randomly performed on some tires. The process checks to ensure that the tires have all the necessary components.

Warehouse

The plant owns over 1,000,000 square feet of warehouse space in the Des Moines area. The plant ships over 2,000,000 units annually. In line with Firestone’s safety emphasis careful storage to avoid damage and maintain product in first class condition for customers. The main distribution hub is in Des Moines, but we utilize two warehouses on the west coast and one on the east coast to service the coast states.

Total Quality Control

Firestone continually strives to improve the quality of it’s tires. At Firestone quality is not just at the end of the line, but at each and every step of the process. Customer Satisfaction is the number one goal of Firestone. With a combination of Total Quality Control, Zero Defect and Just-In-Time concepts the plant produces and delivers on time quality products which our customers standards.