Michelin is taking the wraps off the Ladoux Technology Center with a new website www.michelin.com/ladoux that shows visitors how tires are made and allows them to visit the test tracks.

Designed by the Lyon-based agency SQLI, the interactive tour is divided into two parts.

The first part guides visitors through four separate buildings, each one dedicated to a specific phase of the tire making process: materials, design, development and process engineering. Users can browse through the Center, clicking on a building to access a short educational video for an easy-to-understand explanation of each phase. Visitors are told for example that more than 200 types of materials go into making a tire. The site’s online guide then introduces some of the Center’s engineers, who describe their jobs. Thanks to the virtual tour, visitors can see places like the tread design unit, which are normally off limits to the public because of confidentiality concerns.

The second part of the tour takes visitors to the tracks, where testers use various methods to check the tire’s six performance characteristics: handling, grip, noise and comfort, durability, rolling resistance and wear. As in the first part of the tour, the guide introduces individual researchers who discuss their work.

Initially developed to showcase Michelin’s advanced technology and innovative capabilities, the website is also an effective hiring tool, especially for young engineers attracted by the Center’s wide range of employment opportunities.

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