Article
Tracy Fenner-Smycz: “Working together makes success easier to achieve”
Nokian Tyres US factory in Dayton, Tennessee started commercial tire production in 2020 and is where car and light truck all-season and all-weather tires for North American drivers are manufactured. The factory has a significant role in the North American growth plan.To be able to produce premium Nokian Tyres products to meet the market’s demand, every part of the production process needs to be maintained to a t. One of the people making sure we meet our high standards of quality is Tracy Fenner-Smycz who works as a Mold Maintenance Team Lead in the Dayton factory.
“My main responsibility is to keep production running by ensuring we have all the molds built that are necessary for production”, Tracy explains.
Molds are an important part of tire manufacturing and used in the last step of tire production. After all the components are built and put together forming what is called a green tire, it is then sent to the curing lines. There the soon-to-be tire is placed into the molds and finally formed into a specific tire model.
Molds must be well maintained to produce tires without defects. Each mold consists of several parts. The mold shop will disassemble the container when curing is finished with a mold, and maintenance can begin:
“The different mold parts are all cleaned with specific cleaning method and equipment. Once clean, they are checked and tested to make sure they are in good working order.”
Tracy’s typical day consists of going over the night’s events with the shift lead. After that she will update the current days mold change plan, and meet with the production lead, supervisor, and paint booth operator to review the status of the tire building machines and curing presses to determine which molds they are ready for or to prioritize which ones will go in next when the presses become available.
“I will go over with the mold technicians what will be needed for the day and make certain that they have everything that is needed.”
After the production meeting, Tracy will review with the mold setters what the priorities are for the day and get them started.
Tracy has been working at Nokian Tyres now for two and a half years. She started her Nokian Tyres journey in visual inspection, where every finished tire is inspected by a human before it is allowed to leave the factory.
“While I was in visual, I became more curious as to the process of building tires and found it fascinating. My previous career experience while living in Chicago was in management. When I was told about the lead position in mold maintenance I applied, interviewed, and received an offer for the position.”
Tracy says that her role requires great organizational skills, the ability to troubleshoot and the use of logic.
“We need to be prepared for any problems or situations that might occur throughout the workday. We also need to review the week ahead and make sure that the other shifts have what they might need to have a successful shift.”
Tracy enjoys her role and working at Nokian Tyres.
“There is a lot of responsibilities required and every day is different. All departments must work together to be successful. Working with the other departments is both challenging and rewarding. Working together, you gain a lot of knowledge in other areas of production, and I believe it strengthens the company as a whole and makes success easier to achieve.”
