Tyre and mobility company Bridgestone and information technology company Microsoft will collaborate to bring Bridgestone mobility solutions platforms to new mobility players, original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and fleets.
Microsoft Azure will enable Bridgestone to create value for customers, primarily global fleet and OEM customers, by integrating advanced tyre analytics to better understand wear and casing health to maximise tyre retreading and inform when tyre maintenance may be needed, Bridgestone says.
Advanced and predictive maintenance analytics deliver greater productivity and efficiency for customers. Both companies will continue to use the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform to capture and analyse tyre data in real-time as part of a fully integrated vehicle ecosystem, Bridgestone adds.
“Uptime, driver safety and total cost of ownership are paramount for fleets. The Connected Vehicle Platform allows us to provide insights through each of these lenses, as well as others, using data directly from the tyre to unlock value that otherwise remains trapped,” says Bridgestone Corporation joint global COO and Bridgestone Americas president and CEO Paolo Ferrari.
Bridgestone will also use Microsoft Azure to accelerate its digital transformation and enhance its portfolio of connected tyre and mobility solutions worldwide.
Bridgestone will build new cloud capabilities using Azure that further streamline and modernise the company’s core tyre business and information technology operations, including workplace productivity.
Bridgestone will use Microsoft solutions to strengthen operational effectiveness and deliver increased flexibility and scalability across enterprise tools and platforms. Improved agility across core infrastructure will result in quicker expansion of tyre-centric solutions to the customer, improved efficiencies and collaboration across the enterprise, more robust governance and security and overall operational cost savings, it says.
“Since our first collaboration announcement in 2020, Microsoft has been a valuable partner in both our European and Americas markets.
“We are excited to build on this collaboration with enhanced and expanded offerings that allow Bridgestone globally to develop new innovations and quickly deliver them to our customers aligned with the Bridgestone E8 Commitment,” says Ferrari.
The Bridgestone E8 Commitment comprises eight values that the company has committed to creating together with employees, society, partners and customers to realise a sustainable society.
The initiative with Microsoft will help Bridgestone deliver on its efficiency, extension and economy values, the company highlights.
“As the world around us becomes more digital and data driven, it’s exciting to see how Bridgestone is working to provide new solutions and data analytics to their customers.
“Our long-standing relationship with Bridgestone has led to many successes and we look forward to supporting their journey in delivering new solutions that result in improvements, fleet management and overall business efficiencies,” says Microsoft Automotive Mobility and Transportation GM Sanjay Ravi.