Nortenha Puts Retreads to the Test

Portuguese retreader Recauchutagem Nortenha and Kraiburg Austria recently joined forces in a series of spectacular demonstrations, aimed at illustrating the quality of Kraiburg patterns and retreading. The vehicles used included buses and tankers and they were subjected to a series of tests, including overturning while cornering (the vehicles were fitted with stabilising wheels), aquaplaning and skidding. The stringent tests subjected the vehicles and tyres to load impacts and transverse forces which never occur in normal driving.

Customers were invited to the promotional event and the invitation was taken up by representatives from over 40 well-known companies from Portugal’s freight forwarding, passenger transportation and construction industries, keen to explore the products behind the slogan “More miles in full safety!” The aim was to show existing customers and potential new cus¬tomers that retreads most definitely stand comparison with new tyres.

The practical session was held in the P.R.M. driver safety training centre in Guilhabreu. Nortenha has been fitting Kraiburg retreads on all the commercial vehicles used by the driver safety training centre for some time now. The centre offers the facility for testing the quality of patterns and retreading under extreme conditions and in a very short time.

Rogério Martins, manager and owner of the centre, was deeply impressed with the performance of the precured retreads, commenting, “I used to fit the vehicles mostly with new tyres and hot retreads made by a well-known manufacturer from France or with other premium new tyres. When Nortenha suggested using the Kraiburg retreads, I was sceptical at first. But I have had to change my opinion. The tyres don’t let us down and we haven’t really noticed any differences, even in road grip tests.”

A behind-the-scenes look at production

The visitors who had previously been initiated in the basics of retreading and the backgrounds of Nortenha and Kraiburg, were also impressed by the practical demonstration. José Gomes, representative of the Nortenha family dynasty and responsible for the Production and Technology divisions, opened the event at Nortenha’s manufacturing base in Penafiel with a welcome address before handing over to Patricia Neto of Nortenha Retread Quality Management, who presented the company philosophy and its quality policy. The company is clearly committed to “quality rather than quantity” and is successfully sticking to its principles, even during this economically challenging time. It is the same conviction that they brought with them years ago when they started working in partnership with Kraiburg Austria.

For Kraiburg, Thorsten Schmidt, Retreading Division Manager at and Michael Schwämmlein, Product Development and Service Manager, gave details of the company’s history, philosophy and product strategy. A tour of the production facilities rounded off the theoretical part, and it was evident that few of the visitors were fully aware of the know-how, input, expense, machinery or the care invested in the manufacture of retreads. The positive feedback from customers after the event indicated that it had achieved its targets of facilitating a better understanding of the retreading process and the performance of patterns in terms of mileage and safety, and to generally enhance the image of retreaded tyres.