WALKING briskly around the sprawling Michelin tyre plant that he runs on the outskirts of Dundee, John Reid seems happy to be a man out of time.

The 22-year veteran of the French industrial giant is the rarest of things in the globalised business world of today: a one-company man. And he has every intention of staying that way.

Aged 44, Mr Reid believes there will be no shortage of opportunities to develop his career in a company that operates 73 manufacturing sites in 20 countries.

But he expects to spend at least a few more years running the Dundee plant where Michelin produces around 22,000 standard car tyres six days a week. The factory provides work for 750 people making it a mainstay of the economy in an area once famed for “jam, jute and journalism”, but which has been hit hard by the process of deindustrialisation.

Mr Reid believes the omens are good for the last plant of its kind in Scotland. The giant Continental tyre factory plant near Edinburgh closed in 1999 after the German firm shifted production to Romania.

The Glasgow-born engineering graduate’s confidence is partly due to the fact that demand for tyres is expected to increase dramatically across the world.

With millions of the citizens of countries like China, India and Brazil enjoying big increases in their disposable incomes, the number of cars in the world is expected to double in coming years.

“The biggest challenge we are going through is keeping up. The strategy is one of dramatic growth,” says Mr Reid.

“By 2015 Michelin aim to have 25% more volume, that’s the equivalent of 18 new factories. By 2020 they are aiming for 50% more.”

Noting that the plant was built in 1971, when the UK had a much bigger car-making industry that it does today, Mr Reid says it is not the obvious location for a facility that exports 95% of its output.

However, he is sure that the factory will be around for years.

He believes plants in the west will have to help meet the dramatic increase in demand in the east.

Providing a quickfire explanation of the processes used to bind around 16 rubber and steel products to produce a tyre, Mr Reid says the Dundee plant boasts expertise that will be in particular demand in an age when car-makers are addressing environmental issues. By reducing fuel consumption, the low-rolling resistance tyres it produces can help engine-makers reduce carbon emissions.

“We are making a product manufacturers want.”

Mr Reid is so bullish about the prospects that he is seeking Scottish Government support for a multi-million pound upgrade of the plant, to enable it to make the latest generation of “environmentally-friendly” car tyres. This would involve moving to seven-day working.

Mr Reid’s faith in the plant is also based on the knowledge that it has survived some very tough times, in which he played an important role. When the car-market was thrown into turmoil by the slowdown in spending that followed the credit crunch, Michelin launched a rationalisation drive that left every one of its plants fighting to justify its existence.

While Dundee survived, Mr Reid says it was a close run thing.

“2009 was touch and go. A number of plants that were good and about the same size are now closed.”

The factory is reaping the rewards of efforts to increase efficiency that were made amid the crisis. “We went really hard on the supply chain.”

But Mr Reid notes that the plant had acquired experience of dealing with tough times earlier in the noughties.

“We’ve been close to the edge in the last four or five years a couple of times.”

He believes a key factor in the plant’s success in recent years has been the positive relations that have been maintained between workers and management.

Having worked in the challenging role of personnel manager from 2001 to 2005, this is an area that Mr Reid can speak about from direct personal experience.

He says the approach followed at Michelin has involved getting employees and trades union representatives to buy into a shared vision of what the plant should be looking to achieve.

“We tell the guys the good bits, the bad bits and the bits in between in consistent terms so it’s a relationship built on trust. What that allows you to do is if you’re facing a difficulty or a problem people trust you. If you’ve got that as a start point it makes a big difference.”

Mr Reid says the end result of the communications process is that management are dealing with a business-literate workforce.

“They are capable people. If you’ve got a capable person who’s business-literate and who understands the context of the decisions and who feels well informed and trusted, eight or nine times out of 10 they will come to the same conclusion or similar to your own.”

Mr Reid believes management, staff and the union have a common goal of securing the long term future of the plant. An important manifestation of this has been the willingness of staff to accept the principle of flexible working. This involves 150 of the employees working variable hours that change to suit demand patterns.

“Flexibility is important. If you can’t flex you’re either going to carry too much cost or be forced into losing jobs.”

Mr Reid expects to recruit an additional 140 workers at Dundee if Michelin wins backing for the proposed investment. He expects a decision from the Scottish Government in coming weeks.