Mega Manufacturing - Season 1

It is the most renowned tyre manufacturer in the world: Pirelli. Their capacity: 75 million car tyres a year. 32,000 employees worldwide, including 1,400 engineers. The most prestigious car manufacturers in the world rely on their experience. We follow the production of the P-Zero, Pirellis flagship product. It takes: 100 constituent materials, fifteen manufacturing steps, and over 50 performance tests undertaken in high-tech laboratories. All for achieving the best possible compromise between three irreconcilable and contradictory properties: low rolling resistance, strong grip and low wear. Only then will the P Zero, take to the streets of the world. In Settimo Torinese, Italy, the company manufactures its high-tech tires on 200,000 square meters of floor space. Natural rubber is the basic raw material for around 130 years. But yet, a tire is so much more than simply rubber. The secrets of this Mega Manufacturing operation lie in the other ingredients too: A precisely measured blend of fillers, antioxidants, plasticizers, and curing agents. A car tire is a complex high-tech product with many individual layers. Up to ten different rubber compounds are required for different zones of the tire. Together with textile fibers and steel wires. Only then tires are able to withstand extreme stresses. A new tyre is specially developed for each car brand. The P-Zeros development is based on the experience gathered in the Formula One World Championship, for which Pirelli is the sole supplier. We make a detour to the development and testing department at Pirellis headquarters in Milan and accompany a new P-Zero to the test track.