Camso’s latest pneumatic tire, the Solideal AIR 561, has quickly found its way to some of the world’s busiest airports. This new tire was especially designed for ground support equipment (GSE) and landed a new OEM contract to supply these tires to Charlatte Manutention, a manufacturer of battery powered airport equipment (baggage tractors, tow tractors, belt-loaders, and more).
According to Camso’s OEM Regional Sales Director, Richard Philippe: “Through discussions with customers and airport operations personnel, we understood that the wear and life of GSE tires have been a persistent challenge for equipment manufacturers, resulting into high operational costs for customers. We turned the issue over to our R&D group to develop a solution that would address their day-to-day challenges and improve tire wear life.”
One solution for most GSE tire needs
“Our development team looked for, not just a long-life solution, but one that OEMs can utilize across the widest possible range of equipment and of airport applications,” explains Philippe With the right tire able to cover most needs, OEMs can simplify their supply chain and minimize tire inventories through production.
With that in mind, the team developed the Solideal AIR 561 tire, answering specifically the requirements of baggage, conveyor and aircraft tow tractors, and of trucks that move carts and other equipment on airport runways. The AIR 561 delivers significantly better performance than its predecessor, the Solideal ZZ RIB tire.
Compared to the ZZ RIB tire, the AIR 561 provides:
- 2x the tread life
- 12% better stability
- 10% better energy efficiency
Design effort with customer in mind
To provide customer with the right solution for GSE applications, the product line and R&D teams examined operating conditions of the equipment and the rubber compounds used in the tire, as well as its tread pattern. They’ve also been field-testing the new design through more than 300 hours service at one of the busiest airports in the Mediterranean.
Philippe cites the effectiveness of the new rib profile developed to tackle specific GSE challenges like uneven wear, especially at the trailing end of long trains. This kind of wear is the root cause of snaking, which can inhibit productivity of the equipment and accelerate wear on all of the tires. The new rib profile distributes heat and wear more evenly, so tread life is increased. More tread life translates into more up-time, which leads to lower operating costs for customers.
The “Road Free” advantage
“Providing OEMs like Charlatte with a performing solution that tackles the very specific challenges of GSE applications reflects the advantage we have as specialists in off-road tires,” says Philippe. “Unlike most tire companies, our engineers can focus on the highly specific needs of industrial niche markets. And as the world’s largest supplier of forklift tires, we have an extraordinary base of experience with all sorts of material handling equipment.”
This base of experience coupled with Camso’s collaborative approach to solving customer problems has led to the introduction of the Solideal AIR 561. The AIR 561 delivers on Camso’s commitment to providing customers with the lowest operating cost solution for their applications.
