“Technology isn’t just the backbone of all we do – it’s a shared responsibility. It’s a constant reminder that we can change the world using digitalization, data and analytics.”

Bart Kerkhofs, Vice President IT at Bridgestone EMIA, is describing the digital and strategic transformation program that his company is undertaking – and the flagship project that’s making it succeed. 

“We may historically be known around the world as a leading tire manufacturer, but we’re much more than that,” says Kerkhofs. “We are a data-driven company on a mission to address some of the mobility challenges of our generation.”

Over the past three years, Kerkhofs and his team have been working to contribute to this goal using data and technology. In collaboration with Microsoft, they’ve created an end-to-end data platform capable of storing, processing and analyzing key information – and then using it for strategic planning, modeling, forecasting and more. 

All to help Bridgestone do more, with less – and become a center of excellence for digital and sustainable mobility solutions in the EMIA region and beyond.

“When this company was founded, more than 90 years ago, its motto was clear: Bridgestone will survive the test of time only if it focuses not just on profits, but on creating sustainable solutions to the society it operates in,” he continues. 

“That’s what this project is all about: from tire-centric solutions to mobility and sustainability, we’re using data and technology to build an ecosystem of services that will truly make people’s lives easier and safer.”

A nearly century-old company looks at the future

Founded in Japan in 1931, Bridgestone is a global leader in tires and sustainable mobility solutions. Its Europe, Middle East, India and Africa division, where Bart Kerkhofs operates, is based in Belgium. It employs more than 20,000 people and conducts business in 40 countries across the region.

“Tire manufacturing is our heritage and core business,” says Kerkhofs. “But as a modern company, we know how important it is to evolve on the basis of that heritage, and to bring our values to the modern day.”

To honor this goal, the company recently launched a diversification program that looks at making Bridgestone not just a tire manufacturer, but rather a provider of mobility solutions. Within this framework, Bridgestone aims to become a sustainable solutions organization by 2050, supported by the Bridgestone E8 Commitment. 

“Our strategy stems from the idea that being the largest tire manufacturer in the world, we generate unique information,” he explains. 

"We like to say that we have a tire on every road at every hour, somewhere in the world. So what can we do with that position?”

The answer, they recently found out, lies in that very E8 Commitment – a framework of eight focus areas aiming to provide guidance on strategic priorities, decision making and actions throughout every area of the business and its operations.

From Efficiency to Empowerment and Energy, these focus areas have one common denominator: data. 

“When we started looking at transforming our business, three years ago, we quickly realized that we couldn’t do it without data and digitalization,” explains Kerkhofs. 

“Because we are a global company, we know that we generate large amounts of data that we could take enormous advantage of – but weren’t sure how we could capture it and really make the best of it. 

“That was until we created CAPPA.”

A single point of truth for Bridgestone’s present operations

The acronym for Collaborative Advanced Powerful Platform for Analytics, CAPPA is an end-to-end analytics platform that works as single point of truth for Bridgestone’s decision-making processes and strategies. 

It is powered by a range of Microsoft technologies including Azure Databricks, Azure Purview and Azure Synapse Analytics. “CAPPA was born from the need to centralize all our information, harness key insights based on it and then use them to create meaningful change across our operations,” says Onkar Ambekar, Bridgestone EMIA Director of Data & Analytics.

“To do that, we decided to build a data lake where we can collect and store information from various parts of our business – from the tire and rubber business to the manufacturing side, the supply chain and so much more.”

Once the data is collected – using Azure Databricks – Bridgestone can then analyze it and leverage it to both drive internal efficiencies and improve customer services. 

“Our supply chain is a prime example,” explains Ambekar. “Here, demand forecasting is crucial, as it allows us to prepare well ahead for any unforeseen circumstance, make sure that we have everything ready for future orders – and ultimately make our customers much happier. 

“With CAPPA, we can use the data to anticipate anything – from availability and delivery times to tire wear and tire damage.”  

This is proving particularly helpful for Bridgestone Mobility Solutions, a division of the company that is focusing on improving mobility with innovative and sustainable solutions. 

“Through this division, we are running pilot projects with European cities to create pothole maps of certain areas, which cities can then use to oversee and carry out road repairs,” says Onkar Ambekar. 

“Coupled with other road surface analytics, this can play a crucial role in urban planning for municipalities all around the world.”

Looking ahead

As they look to the future of the CAPPA initiative, Ambekar and Kerkhofs are already planning to introduce more Microsoft solutions to their suite.

“We’re very proud of the work we’ve carried out with Microsoft,” says Ambekar. “The results we’re getting from CAPPA are simply outstanding.” 

He mentions the enormous impact that Azure Purview – Microsoft’s unified data governance solution – is particularly having on its operations.  

“Azure Purview has been a great help in documenting and cataloging the data that we have on this data lake,” he adds. “That is creating, in a way, a revolution within Bridgestone because now people from all the company have access to our data cataloging tool – meaning they can search where this data is and access it.”

Combined with all the other Azure components, this is paving the way for an even greater and more extended use of CAPPA across Bridgestone’s global operations. 

“These and more projects are not only testament to what we’re doing in the present day, but also to what we’re working on for the future of our company,” says Kerkhofs. 

“Using our data analytics center of excellence and the insights that we’re gaining, we can apply our solutions at a much broader, global scale and extend it to Bridgestone’s many other divisions. 

“Making our company a true pioneer of sustainable mobility solutions.”