Bridgestone Canada (Bridgestone) recently announced construction on an automated warehouse at its Canadian passenger and light truck tire manufacturing facility in Joliette, Quebec.

The investment, estimated at $56 million (US$45 million), will heighten the plant’s operational excellence and increase the company’s agility to serve North American tire dealers and customers.

The warehouse will have a maximum storage capacity of 500,000 tires, and will utilize fully automated technology to store the tires manufactured at the Joliette plant. It’s expected to open in early 2020.

“The construction of a highly technological warehouse demonstrates our commitment to use innovative solutions to optimize our operations to better serve our customers,” said Robert Verreault, Joliette Plant Manager. “The Joliette plant has been undergoing an exciting transformation for the past two years and this total investment underscores Bridgestone’s commitment to our team, the Lanaudière region and all North American customers.”

Because of its strategic location, the warehouse will help the company reduce transportation costs and shorten time-to-market of its products to meet customer demands in Canada and the northern U.S. belt.

“We continue taking important steps to better deliver the high-value-added products our customers want and need,” said Erik Seidel, President, Consumer Replacement Tire Sales, U.S. and Canada, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. “The new distribution warehouse will provide more space to house tires onsite at the Joliette plant, improving the ability to get the right tires to the right place at the right time.”