The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced today that it has agreed to acquire Ventech Systems GmbH, a leader in automated tire inspection technology, from Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH.
Ventech Systems, based in Dorsten, Germany, delivers innovative measuring devices for the vehicle industry. The company was founded in 2006. It provides a fully-automated tire inspection system that quickly and easily checks tire pressure, tread depth and vehicle weight for buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles.
“Over the past three years, our Goodyear Proactive Solutions business has collaborated with Ventech Systems to integrate its data gathering and analysis capabilities into our fleet management solution,” said Christopher Helsel, Goodyear vice president and chief technology officer. “Feedback from our fleet customers has been excellent, and we view this as an important opportunity to enhance our service and value proposition for customers.”
“Goodyear and Ventech Systems are both companies founded and driven by innovation,” said Andreas Pietsch, Ventech Systems chief operating officer and business manager. “Goodyear’s strong market presence enables additional worldwide growth opportunities for Ventech Systems. We are excited to support Goodyear’s fleet customers with our unique technology in terms of process optimization, business efficiency and road safety.”
Truck tire care and maintenance is one of the largest contributors to commercial fleet uptime and total cost of operations. Last year, Goodyear launched Goodyear Proactive Solutions in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to provide a full suite of demonstrated Vehicle-To-Fleet operations management solutions supporting fleet owners to improve vehicle and fleet safety, decrease fuel use, reduce their carbon footprint and support the digital transformation of their fleet.
The acquisition of Ventech Systems will further expand Goodyear Proactive Solutions’ commercial offerings with an efficient, user-friendly closed loop service enabling fleet operators to measure tire pressure, tread depth and vehicle weight on all their vehicles each time they enter or exit their depot.
In addition to its Goodyear Proactive Solutions mobile tire/fleet management offerings, Goodyear is also working with automakers to provide tire information to vehicle control systems to enhance safety and performance. Earlier this month it announced that it is equipping Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility service that exclusively uses Tesla electric vehicles, with wireless sensors in its tires to improve overall tire management and maximize uptime for its growing fleet.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The business and technology will be integrated into the company’s Goodyear Proactive Solutions business.