Camso’s latest pneumatic tyre designed for ground support equipment (GSE), the Solideal AIR 561, is being used in some of the world’s busiest airports. Camso recently won a new OEM contract to supply these tyres to Charlatte Manutention, a leading manufacturer of battery-powered airport equipment (baggage tractors, tow tractors, beltloaders, and more).
Credit: Camso
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 tyres 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 tyre wear life.
“Our development team looked for, not just a long-life solution, but one that OEMs can utilise across the widest possible range of equipment and of airport applications,” explains Philippe. With the right tyre able to cover most needs, OEMs can simplify their supply chain and minimise tyre inventories through production."
With that in mind, the team developed the Solideal AIR 561 tyre, to meet the requirements of baggage, conveyor and aircraft tow tractors, and of trucks that move carts and other equipment on airport runways. According to Camso, the AIR 561 delivers significantly better performance than its predecessor, the Solideal ZZ RIB tyre.
Compared to the ZZ RIB tyre, the company says the AIR 561 provides:
- 2x the tread life
- 12% better stability
- 10% better energy efficiency
Designed with the customer in mind
To provide customers with the right solution for GSE applications, Camso’s R&D teams examined the operating conditions of the equipment and the rubber compounds used in the tyre, as well as its tread pattern. They have also field-tested the new design through more than 300 hours of service at one of the busiest airports in the Mediterranean.
Philippe also mentions 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 tyres. 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.
“Providing OEMs like Charlatte with a solution that tackles the very specific challenges of GSE applications reflects the advantage we have as specialists in off-road tyres,” says Philippe. “Unlike most tyre companies, our engineers can focus on the highly specific needs of industrial niche markets. And as the world’s largest supplier of forklift tyres, we have an extraordinary base of experience with all sorts of material handling equipment.”
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