On May 28, 2026, Michelin Shanghai Factory celebrated its 25th anniversary.
As the only existing manufacturing base for mass production of passenger car tires in Shanghai, Michelin’s Shanghai factory is not only a vivid epitome of the transformation and upgrading of Shanghai’s manufacturing industry, but also a model for the implementation of Michelin’s “everything is sustainable” concept in China.
Since taking root in Minhang in 2001, the factory has steadily transformed into a high-end, modern, green and intelligent “factory of the future” against the background of industrial upgrading and environmental protection requirements in metropolitan areas.
At the celebration ceremony, Ye Fei, President and CEO of Michelin Greater China and Mongolia, said: “The 25 years of Michelin Shanghai Factory are a history of technological evolution of continuous self-innovation. Through intelligent transformation, we have achieved flexible production and customization
Delivery; through green technology, the strict goals of zero waste, zero chemical emissions, and zero VOC have been achieved.
The Shanghai factory is a realistic example of high-end manufacturing and green development, and is the pride of the Michelin Group and the city.” Zhu Haiyan, general manager of Shanghai Michelin Tire Co., Ltd. also said: “For
In the future, Michelin’s Shanghai factory will continue to take root in Shanghai and deepen its roots in China, contributing more to the development of China’s manufacturing industry and the construction of a better society.
The factory will use innovation to drive the development of new productivity and build a high-end intelligent manufacturing base trusted by customers and society; with the concept of “everything is sustainable”, it will build a green, low-carbon, sustainable development.
An ecological oasis for development;
with a continuously improved talent training system and a diverse and inclusive environment, it will become a ‘dream factory’ that attracts and develops industry talents.”
In 2001, Shanghai Michelin Huili Tire Co., Ltd. (joint venture) was established, starting Michelin’s path to large-scale tire manufacturing and local development in Shanghai.
In the early days of the establishment of the factory, the factory mainly operated on a single machine, relying on manual operation and paper and pen transfer. Employees used physical labor to ensure production.
After exploration and accumulation in the initial stage, the factory has established a standardized production process and basic management system, laying a solid foundation for subsequent long-term development.
As it gradually integrates into the Michelin system, the factory promotes the layout of automated production lines and upgrades of workshops. The production process is gradually standardized and systematized, and environmental protection facilities are simultaneously improved. In the context of urban industrial upgrading and environmental protection requirements, the factory continues to consolidate its manufacturing foundation.
From 2014 to 2018, the factory was rated as an enterprise with outstanding economic contributions in Minhang District and became the core force for the high-quality development of the regional manufacturing industry.
From 2018 to 2022, the factory has entered the integration stage of smart manufacturing and green manufacturing. Through the application of digital systems and smart equipment, it has promoted the transformation of production methods from manual labor to data-driven and process optimization. It has been successively rated as “Smart Factory” by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Shanghai and “Green Factory” by Shanghai, becoming an important example of traditional manufacturing upgrades.
In 2023, the Shanghai factory invested and started the second phase of reconstruction and expansion project (Magnolia Project), striving to build a “high-end, flexible, green, and intelligent” future factory, which will be officially put into production in 2026.
The project will add an annual production capacity of 1 million units and more than 100 high-end product specifications, further enhancing the supply capacity of high-performance tires.
Relying on the improvement of intelligent manufacturing capabilities, the factory has continued to optimize its construction, operation and manufacturing accuracy, and has successively won honors such as the National Intelligent Manufacturing Maturity Level 4 Certification, Shanghai A-Class Factory, Waste-free Factory and AI + Intelligent Manufacturing First Prize.
Guided by the vision of “everything is sustainable”, the factory promotes the construction of “zero-carbon factories”, steadily moves towards the goal of net-zero emissions, and promotes the green transformation of the industry.
In the process of intelligent and green transformation of the manufacturing industry, Michelin Shanghai Factory has always adhered to the value concept of “Always Caring”, continued to improve the talent training system and career development channels, and built an organizational environment that is diverse, inclusive, and sustainable growth. While based on local development, it promotes the common growth and transformation of employees and the factory.
Zhu Haiyan, general manager of Shanghai Michelin Tire Co., Ltd., is a typical representative of this talent development system.
She started out as an industrial engineer and has worked in various positions such as R&D, manufacturing, personnel management and supply chain. She has long been rooted in the practice of integrated development of local manufacturing and global systems, making her the epitome of the factory’s continuous promotion of transformation and upgrading, diversity, inclusion and talent growth.
As factories move from traditional manufacturing to “future factories”, a group of local talents have also completed capability upgrades through continuous learning and practice, and gradually grown into the backbone of smart manufacturing and green transformation.
In front-line positions, the factory encourages employees to hone their technical skills through repeated processes and grow into industry benchmarks.
Yang Jianqiang, a national model worker, has long been rooted in the front line of the molding process, participating in key technical research such as fully automatic molding equipment debugging and high-end tire process optimization, and has trained more than 10 technical backbones, forming a stable talent inheritance mechanism and reflecting the ability foundation of the continuous evolution of front-line positions.
Through automation upgrades and ergonomics optimization, the factory continues to lower the threshold for high-intensity jobs, allowing more women to enter core production positions.
At present, female employees account for more than 17% (the domestic industry reference ratio is about 10%), and representative cases such as Chen Dongmei, the first female employee in the vulcanization process position in the factory, and Peng Dongqin, the first female calender operator in Michelin Asia, have emerged, demonstrating the continuous expansion of the boundaries of manufacturing positions.
Groups of female employees are taking practical actions to gradually implement Michelin’s 2050 development vision of “giving everyone equal opportunities to do the work they love”.
The factory uses mechanisms such as the “Platform Talent Training Project” and “New Regional Supervisor Training Camp” to combine actual project practice and cross-position experience to build a systematic talent training path, and promote the collaborative growth of new and old employees through the mentorship system and peer collaboration mechanism.
In this system, veteran employee He Qingguang continued to learn and transform through multiple production line upgrades and technological changes, growing from a front-line operator to a management backbone capable of leading a team independently; Ma Hui, a post-95s industrial management trainee, quickly grew into a process engineer through actual project practice and cross-department experience, and participated in factory digitization and on-site optimization work, reflecting the accelerated growth path of young talents on the front line.
Twenty-five years of hard work and twenty-five years of iteration and rebirth.
From traditional manufacturing to the factory of the future, from extensive manpower production to green smart manufacturing upgrades, Michelin Shanghai Factory has completed the leapfrog transformation of traditional manufacturing with its persistence in sustainable development and people-oriented original intention. It is not only a leader in green smart upgrades in the industry, but also a practitioner of humanistic empowerment and cultivating smart manufacturing talents.
In the future, the factory will continue to implement Michelin’s vision of “everything is sustainable”, focus on the coordinated development of “people × profit × environment”, deepen technological innovation to promote industrial upgrading, cultivate humanistic care to gather endogenous development forces, and continue to contribute practical experience to the high-quality development and green and low-carbon transformation of China’s manufacturing industry.
