Toyo tires, or officially as TOYO TIRE & RUBBER CO., LTD., of Osaka, Japan, is breaking ground again. They are investing 371 million dollars in the United States economy by growing their operation in Georgia over the next four years.
Currently they have a manufacturing facility located in White, GA. This facility which produces Toyo, is 2,000,000 sq. ft. in size. The expansion will grow the manufacturing end another 700,000 sq. ft. and an additional 323,000 sq. ft of warehouse space. That’s a 51% increase in capacity for this facility.
Overall this facility has grown exponentially year after year. The facility first broke ground in 2004, and uses a proprietary automated production system called A.T.O.M.(Advanced Tire Operation Module). The very first tire rolled off the line in 2006.
When Toyo started manufacturing in 2006 the plant employed 81 employees. Since opening their doors, the plant has undergone three additional expansion projects bringing the staff up to 1,000 employees. This latest expansion will add another 650 jobs in Georgia.
“We are proud to manufacture tires for North America, on North American soil” says Jim Hawk President of Toyo Tire North American Manufacturing. “This plant, and the people who work in it, play an important role in supporting consumers and our dealers as demand for our products continues to grow. This fourth expansion will help us answer that demand.”
The icing on the cake? On November 27th 2013, the Toyo plant reached a goal of producing 20,000,000 tires. That’s a huge accomplishment. If you do some basic math and assume that the plant ran 365 days a year for the last 7 years, thats pumping out roughly 7,800 tires a day. That’s a lot of tires!
Congratulations to Toyo Tire and we look forward to seeing more great products from them!