Last month, February, was full of adventures. After our road trip to Sicily (about which we will tell you more soon), we flew to the Arizona deserts to attend the annual OTR Conference organized by the Tire Industry Association. So, we left on February 21st to reach the States. Destination Tucson.
This time, both Pablo and Camilla attended the event. They didn’t go unnoticed, thanks to their VM Rubber branded jackets. (We took notes of all the requests and will make sure to go back with a load of them next year).
As for its well-established format, the conference took place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with a cramped schedule. Its 68th edition reached astonishing numbers: 500 attendees from 13 countries (data confirmed by TIA CESO Richard “Dick” Gust), more than 70 tabletops, and 12 educational sessions about legislation updates, economic forecasts, sustainability, professional speakers, and training.
We have especially enjoyed the presentation by Ana M. Arce from Bridgestone Americas titled Global commitment to Sustainability, the OTR Service Live Demo, and the presentation by Doug Kershaw from BKT USA named Electric and automated technologies: the quiet revolution. Therefore, we would like to share some considerations and ideas we found inspiring.
- Bridgestone Americas is committing to using less environmentally impacting materials (such as the Guayule plant growing in the southwest US and Mexico) and focusing on circular economy, especially by recovering carbon black through pyrolysis. For instance, Bridgestone and Michelin launched a campaign / call-to-action to increase the use of CB to reach a more sustainable mobility ecosystem. We like to point out that the circular economy goes beyond reusing and recycling. It also means a different approach to the supply chain. Such as a material available as close as possible to the production facility (like Guayule here), coming from a sustainable crop, instead of a substance shipped from miles away.
- The OTR Service Demo focused on the key procedures to safely and correctly install OTR Tires’ wheels and rims. Without the live video, the impact of this session would not have been the same. So direct and clear.
- The BKT presentation gave an unconventional insight into the energy revolution and EV. Unconventional because instead of only hearing the bright side of this global movement towards 0 emissions, the speech focused on the cons of it because we are not ready and our plant is running out of these resources. If governments don’t have any plan to support the growing demand for EVs, the electricity demand will exceed the offer. Those same governments are already pushing to replace fuel vehicles with electric ones. People will need to seriously take into consideration nuclear power, which is turning out to be the cleanest and safer option thanks to the evolution of technology. Another important figure, often omitted, is the raw materials used to produce the EV’s batteries. The danger, disposal, and origin of them. Mainly lithium and Cobalt.
These sessions and the others reminded us of the importance of always looking at things with an open mind and critical thinking. Answers need to be researched before being found. We also enjoyed the professional speakers: Billy Riggs with How to become a born leader, Alex Weber with The Unstoppable you and Roger Crawford with Turn change into opportunity.
Networking is one of the most important reasons to attend the conference. We had the chance to meet several of our customers and supplier in one place while also getting to know new people. We learned different points of view about the local economic situation, the global one, the impact the war in Ukraine is having across the ocean, the inflation, and the difficulties in finding manpower. We also updated each other about our lives during the last year, sharing laughs.
Since we were in the famous land of cacti, we had to visit the neighborhoods. Arizona is well-known for the giant cacti called Saguaro and found in the Sonora desert. Symbol of the American west, reaching 15 meters in height and an average age of 150-175 years. We couldn’t miss the chance to take some pictures with those fantastic giants and experience a land so different from what we are used to. So, we drove to the Sabino Canyon, and we loved it.
During the Friday night finale, the location for the 2024 conference was revealed: Las Vegas, Nevada. See you there?
Conference photo credit: Peter Kuhn from Credit Visual.
