Autonomous mobile robots, which have been in operation since March 2025 at Continental’s plant in Hannover-Stöcken, have taken over internal tire transportation. By contributing to a safe, efficient, and ergonomic production environment, these smart automation solutions are also supporting Continental’s Industry 4.0 transformation across its tire plants worldwide.
At Continental’s ContiLifeCycle retreading plant for truck and bus tires in Hannover-Stöcken, seven autonomous mobile robots have been integrated into production processes since March 2025. Responsible for transporting green tires within the facility, the robots allow employees to focus on more qualified tasks such as machine setup and quality control. With the successful implementation of smart automation, Continental has made manual production processes more ergonomic while increasing efficiency in tire manufacturing—marking an important milestone on its Industry 4.0 journey.
“For six months now, driverless robots have been supporting our production flow,” says Felix Hantelmann, Plant Manager of ContiLifeCycle. He continues: “These robots take over simple, repetitive tasks such as transporting a tire from one point to another. As they are directly connected to our digital order system, they know exactly where to go and how to coordinate with each other. They create significant added value for our daily operations while contributing to a safe, efficient, and ergonomic production environment.”
Leaner production with autonomous robots, more time for quality
Equipped with advanced sensors, 360-degree camera systems, and AI-based control technologies, the robots move independently and safely throughout the production area. Capable of traveling at a brisk walking speed, they transport tires during the retreading process from the tire preparation machine to curing presses and then on to quality control.
The new hot retreading process works as follows:
- The transport robot transfers the buffed tire casing to the tire preparation machine, where—depending on tire size—up to 18 kilograms of new rubber, heated to approximately 100°C, is applied to the tread and sidewalls.
- Once the tread and sidewalls are added, the tire is placed on a transport cart. Connected to the digital order system, the autonomous mobile robot then takes the cart either to a curing press or to an intermediate storage area, depending on capacity.
- Weighing around 75 kilograms, the tire is vulcanized in the curing press at 160°C, gaining its final shape and tread pattern, before being transferred via conveyor belt to the quality control line.
“The benefits of this system are clear: our employees no longer have to transport tires across the production area. This reduces physical strain and allows them to focus on more complex, value-added tasks,” Hantelmann explains, noting that before the robots were introduced, manual transport involved cranes and carts carrying loads of up to 250 kilograms when two tires were stacked—an effort-intensive and multi-step process.
Technology powered by team spirit: Managing change together
Continental supported the introduction of the robots with a comprehensive training program to ensure employee acceptance. Employees also actively participated in naming the robots, choosing names such as Cargo Knight, Rubber Ranger, and LifeCycle Commander. After six months, the robots have become a natural part of the team.
The use of autonomous mobile robots stands as a strong example of Continental’s approach to making tire production more efficient and sustainable through digitalization and automation. Following this success, similar solutions have been implemented at Continental facilities in Mount Vernon and Clinton in North America; Púchov and Otrokovice in Europe; and Hefei and Rayong in Asia.
More than one million tires retreaded at the Hannover ContiLifeCycle plant
Since 2013, the CLC plant has been retreading worn truck and bus tires, returning them to service. Used tires undergo detailed inspection, their old treads are removed, new treads are applied, and they are vulcanized, reshaped, and finally subjected to quality and safety tests. Up to 70 percent of the tire can be reused in this process. The resulting product matches a new tire in terms of safety and performance while consuming far fewer resources.
Since the opening of the Hannover facility, Continental has retreaded more than one million tires there. Together with its other plants worldwide, the company has returned approximately eight million truck and bus tires to use.
