Plenty of News But Just One Subject

This year’s tyre exhibition saw Bandag release quite a lot of news coming from the new product department. But what was most interesting for the international press as well as for customers, was Bandag’s future in the European fleet business after its biggest customer (GE/TIP) left. Although marketing director Danny van Essche confirmed that Bandag is going to remain active in the European fleet business, the company is said to have learned a lesson by GE/TIP’s retreat. This lesson will be used to adapt Bandag’s business strategy in a positive way: “We will not aggressively pursue international fleet business anymore.”

Due to the loss of the GE/TIP European fleet network, which is comprised of 70,000 trailers (Bandag had served 35,000), the retreading specialists have lost about half of its European fleet business turnover. Although in the direct aftermath of these changes Bandag was able to compensate for some of the loss, marketing director Danny van Essche told Tyres & Accessories, it seems that GE/TIP’s changeover from Bandag to Goodyear Dunlop has brought about a change in the mindset of those responsible at Bandag. Now Bandag is said to be puting more effort into its own basis again; dealers and Bandag licensees should take back centre stage and run their own regional fleet business. Now retreading has been declared core business. Explanations like these shed some light on a major change of Bandag’s course in Europe. Marketing director van Essche explains: “We will not aggressively pursue our international fleet business anymore.” When the company entered the pan European fleet business some four or five years ago, launching “Eurofleet” in 1999 in a big way, this “demanded a lot of resources”.

Bandag is now publicly focussing itself on retreading as its “core business” and this can only be to the benefit of Bandag’s licensees and partners. Although Bandag is going to “maintain a good international fleet portfolio” according to the marketing director, a major part of Bandag’s focus is now set on the dealers. And in any event it is true that a major part of the Bandag fleet business was and is made with regional fleet customers in which Bandag and Eurofleet weren’t interested themselves. This always was the business of the local retreader and Bandag partner.

And these customers are the reason Bandag has brought some news to German Reifen show. For example the new contract management software (called “Fleet X-Ray”) was developed by Eurofleet and can be used on a desktop computer and any handheld. With this new application Bandag retreaders are much better equipped to analyse the cost structure of their regional fleet customers. The software will serve for presentational purposes and as a prerequisite for decisions to be taken in relation with tyres. Until now many Bandag customers used to work with their own software in co-operation with their respective regional fleet customer. This new tool is said to be quite instrumental in giving a good, plain overview of a fleet’s cost structure, recommends Danny van Essche. The cost price for “Fleet X-Ray” as well as the annual fee can be absorbed by means of an optimised cost structure on the fleet side of the business.

Apart from traditional shearography Bandag now offers a brand new nail hole detector to its licensees. This appliance enables Bandag’s customer to offer “additional safety” which couldn’t be guaranteed with the prevailing technology. It is in particular nail holes which sometimes cannot be detected with conventional laser technology that’s used in shearography. Furthermore Bandag now offers a new buffer as well as three new tread patterns which were shown in Essen, too.

The interest of existing and potentially new customers in this news could clearly be seen during the Reifen show in Essen where the retreading company attracted plenty of specialists to its stand. Empty chairs were rarely available in Bandag’s spacious hospitality area. During the show Bandag also signed up the new licensee Reifen Wondraschek from Austria.