Walking into Hankook's Keumsan manufacturing plant, one of the first things that strikes the visitor is just how empty it is (that and the deafening noise from the mass of machinery, of course). Stations are rarely manned by more than one or two workers, and such is the level of automation that, apart from monitoring the equipment, many employees need to perform only a few physical tasks. After raw rubber is mixed into sheets, base, or "green," tires are formed by joining together an inside layer, outer overlay, and metal reinforcements from uniform strips of each material -- a process that requires just one employee to splice the sections together. Sending green tires to be "cured," which adds the tread pattern and hardens the rubber until it's production-ready, is done through a ceiling-mounted conveyor system, and even Hankook's forklifts are robotic, traversing the factory floor solely by computer control. In fact, the area of Keumsan with the most staff is its inspection and shaping station, where workers trim off excess rubber by hand before sending tires out for shipment.
Not all of Hankook's factories are quite as automated as Keumsan, but company executives believe that, besides cost savings, this setup actually improves tire quality, since it eliminates room for human error. Of course, given the rising cost of raw materials around the globe, having a factory that can operate 24 hours a day, 351 days a year, without the requirement for a massive workforce is especially useful when you're selling a product priced below your competition. And speaking of price, despite shrinking profit margins, Hankook says it is trying to hold the line in the U.S. market and will continue to position itself as a cheaper alternative. The company's new Ventus V12 evo, for example, is an ultra-high-performance tire that's won several comparison tests and awards, yet represents a significant bargain when compared to similar shoes from Pirelli, or even Bridgestone.
That said, research budgets and high-tech factories are all well and good, but the question on most buyers' minds when comparing Hankook with the competition is simple: How do its tires perform when the rubber meets the road? As part of the company's rigorous testing regimen, Hankook owns the only wet track in Korea, a compact, snaking route of hairpin turns and all-too-brief straightaways kept continuously coated in a thick layer of water. Hyundai and Kia routinely use the track as part of their development cycle, and easing a Ventus V12-shod BMW up to the starting line, it's easy to see why. To successfully navigate the track at speed without sliding onto the gravel (or worse, plowing through a chain-link fence that's very close to the narrow course) requires a well-sorted suspension -- and a good set of tires.
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