Top three trends in the Industrial Rubber Industry

Abhrasnata Das

Over the years the rubber industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Today, rubber plantations in most of the tropical regions have become an integral part of the national economy. As per a latest report by the International Rubber Research Experts, amongst the world’s 17.1 million tons of elastomers, 7.89 million tons totaled for natural rubber.

The rubber industry is a key sector in the Indian economy with a turnover of around 12,00 crores per annum. Taking a closer look at the Indian rubber industry, there are nearly 6000 companies having 30 large units, 300 medium scale, and 5600 small scale companies.

With the rubber industry occupying a significant spot in the Indian economy, It is crucial for Indian rubber manufacturers to lead the global competition by incorporating these software developments in manufacturing. By allowing the software to maintain scheduled tasks, real-time data collection, analyzing the efficiency, and reporting the desired data, human errors can be avoided & manpower can be utilized efficiently.

Let’s now look into the top three trends that are set to transform the rubber industry in the coming days.

Increasing Need for Circular Economy

The concept of circular economy is to introduce the 6R principles of products that can enhance the green value of products and prolong the product life cycle. It is no longer just a slogan, nor just to reduce costs, but a way of saving and cherishing blessings, for sustainability, a display of technology, and a creation of value.

The concept of circular economy is in the ascendant, the mechanism and technology of recycling and reuse are booming, and the technology and application concept of environmentally friendly and low-carbon new materials have become the most important part of supporting the circular economy.

Natural rubber is now extensively used worldwide for everyday products such as tyres, shoes, footballs, condoms, gloves, sponges, roads, and balloons. On average, the annual consumption of rubber per person is estimated at 3.5 kg.

While natural rubber production can have significant environmental and social impacts, it can be grown sustainably, providing a livelihood for millions of people. Natural rubber production has been under the radar for many years in terms of its impacts, with other commodities such as palm oil and soy historically under more pressure to improve practices. But this is starting to change with the formation of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) and an increasing number of companies committing to producing and sourcing sustainable natural rubber.

Implementation of AI in Rubber Formation

Development of Compounds in Rubber Industry is targeting new raw material usage, adaptation to changes in processing or quality and cost performance improvements for example. Very often – if not always – these are conflicting targets.

In any case the developer deals with a multifactor optimization problem. Nowadays the discussion is on, to use modern computer techniques like Artificial Intelligence [AI] in compound development. It is thought that this technique may replace other techniques like Statistic Experimental Design.

AI handles existing data from any database created in the past. It works with objective functions that are to be minimized or maximized. The answer is a set of solutions, which are defining the best tradeoff between competing objectives, but concluding out historic data. The technologies replacing completely trial and error or one step at a time procedure. AI and DoE have advantages that are significant for the modern rubber industry development.

Incorporation Of Carbon Nanofillers

Nanocomposites comprise a multiphase solid material, with one of the phases having dimensions being within the nanoscale with less than 100 nanometers. The structures that make up the material can consist of nanoscale repeat distances between the different phases.

The fabrication of natural rubber nanocomposites includes the combination of natural rubber matrix and nanofillers that aim to improve the mechanical response of the material and electrical and thermal conductivities. Additionally, the reinforcement of fillers allows for significant improvements in strength and stiffness.

Rubber nanocomposites have been widely used in various industries, from tires to technical parts and consumer goods. Its highly beneficial attribute of elasticity is an important component that enables this material to be highly desired for applications. However, as previously mentioned, it is often compounded with other materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, graphene oxide and graphite nanoplatelets, to enhance its properties, increasing its versatility.

To Conclude

Automation is one of the quickest developing segments in the Rubber Industry. Many manufacturers are not aware of how Industry 4.0 will impact them. By 2025, 1.7 million industrial robots will be introduced into the worldwide market. Today, technology is enabling firms to collect much more data.

In today’s competitive market, manufacturers including MSMSs and SMEs need to include technological advances to empower more efficient, responsive, and precise production and have better control over operations.