Bridgestone Americas last week announced the expansion and modernization of its Warren County, Tennessee Truck and Bus Radial (TBR) Tire plant in Morrison.
The $550 million investment will add 380 new jobs and expand the plant’s existing footprint by 850,000 square feet to support increased capacity and to accelerate the use of advanced technologies that support cleaner, safer and more efficient commercial truck and bus fleets.
The addition of these new jobs reinforces Bridgestone’s commitment to American manufacturing, bringing the total number of the company’s manufacturing workforce in the U.S. to nearly 10,000.
The investment will also allow for all tires made in Warren to be equipped with RFID tags that enable more efficient asset management and optimization of fleets' investments in tires, including retreading.
The plant will incorporate technology for digital readiness in tires, including the integration of tire-mounted sensors that support advanced, data-driven insights for more efficient fleet management.
Bridgestone will also invest in AI control technology that increases productivity and the application of knowledge and data in a digital manufacturing environment. These technologies combined will help accelerate the company’s progress toward its sustainability goals, including carbon neutrality by 2050.
The expansion of the 32-year-old facility is expected to begin before the end of this year, with construction expected to be substantially completed by May 2024. Employment will grow from 1,100 to more than 1,400 teammates and the plant’s footprint will grow from 1.97 million to more than 2.8 million square feet.
The Warren County Tire Plant is one of the company’s most productive operations globally. The facility shipped its one millionth tire in 1993, only three years after it opened. That same year, the plant produced nearly 2,500 tires per day. The plant produced its 70 millionth tire in October 2021.
The Warren County Tire Plant embodies the Bridgestone E8 Commitment with initiatives focused on education and environmental conservation and preservation. In 2004, the plant became a certified wildlife habitat site with 680 acres devoted to providing natural areas and grasses. Community and environmental partnerships led to the creation of the Bridgestone Environmental Education Classroom and Habitat (BEECH), which now serves as an educational classroom for area students as part of Warren County Schools’ science curriculum.
The Warren County Tire Plant has earned numerous awards for its workplace safety programs, including being recognized as a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star site by OSHA.