Customer feedback is vital, says Hercules Tire International

Hercules boasts a long history in the tyre wholesaling business. First established in the 1950s, today the company sells tyres to more than a hundred countries through its Hercules Tire International division and offers its customers a well-established exclusive private brand. The firm is also active in North America through its own distribution companies there. Tyres & Accessories recently spoke with Rick Dorscht, managing director of Hercules Tire International’s European division, who shared the Hercules approach to long-term strength in the global wholesaling business.

The division Dorscht oversees is active in what has become Hercules Tire International’s fastest growing market. He mentions that business within the region “first kicked off” in a big way along with the European Union’s emergence as a single, unified trading region. Last year alone the company’s European sales increased some 25 per cent. In 2011 sales are expected to grow around 40 per cent. “I’ve been with Hercules International since 1978 and have worked with the European division since the late 90’s,” he relates. “I’m now the managing director for the division, which also has offices in Barcelona and Malta and employs a staff of six salespeople and 3 customer service personnel Although based in Canada, Dorscht also regularly visits Europe to support his staff and dealer base.

The two main products Hercules Tire International deals in are its Hercules and Ironman exclusive brands. The first of these is a pioneering private label; last year the company celebrated half a century of Cooper Tire & Rubber producing Hercules brand tyres. Rick Dorscht notes that his predecessors at Hercules were instrumental in establishing the private brand segment in the US and refers to the current Hercules brand portfolio as very broad: “It has everything from lawn and garden through to earthmover. It is a one-stop brand.” The Ironman brand, he adds, already existed but “in a way it is a new launch as last year we significantly broadened its scope.” The current, enlarged Ironman portfolio includes PCR, UHP, SUV and 4×4 sizes

 In addition to its long partnership with Cooper Tire, Hercules also works with a number of tyre makers located in the Far East. The company’s fifty plus years’ experience in the private brand business has proven very helpful in this regard. “We’re known to the manufacturers and have substantial buying power,” Dorscht shares. “Manufacturers want to build tyres for us. We have many great, long-term relationships with our manufacturers. We work with them to get what our customers need today. Manufacturers build to our specifications and designs. We acquire moulds from the top mould manufacturers and own all of our own moulds. We keep pace with the markets and may I say, we’re a pleasure to deal with.”

The two brands are exclusively sold through specific dealers in each market territory, and the European division managing director relates that the aforementioned buying power and design input are just two factors behind the brands’ growing sales. Another vital ingredient is taking the time to listen to customers: “We visit them regularly and speak with them often”. We truly rely upon them as they listen to the people on the street and their feedback is important in order for us to change with the times. Our staff love to meet customers new and old and to listen to the guy fitting the tyres and ask ‘is the product working for you?’ We take on board the feedback we receive and talk to our product committee and recommend products, changes and sizes.”

Speaking of new products and sizes, the latest additions to the Hercules brand include a complete new size range in our premium Raptis line; the new TR, HR and VR lines have been introduced to complement the existing Raptis WR1 line. The brand’s winter portfolio is also receiving a boost: “This year we are also introducing a Hercules studdable winter tyre from one of our Far East manufacturers, the first such product we’ve had. This will be an important addition for our Northern European markets and our Canadian division. We’ve always had the Avalanche Extreme in North America and Europe and now we’re complementing this with PCR sizing from the Far East. This will be coming out in July or August –  in time for our distributors next winter season.”

Product availability is currently an industry-wide issue. The European division managing director observes that domestic markets within China, India and even Russia are growing rapidly and “need more of everything” at the moment, and this is causing capacity issues at most factories. Nevertheless, Hercules Tire International currently has a fill rate approaching 85 per cent. “Such a fill rate is commendable even in normal times without the current world capacity issues,” Dorscht points out. “We work well with our factories and forecast carefully with them what we’ll need going forward. This of course includes planning for new sizes and products as well. – all of us within our international division are confident of the future and our supply which is most definitely due to these important relationships.

In addition to its European division, Hercules Tire International – which was established as a business unit in 1968 – operates Middle East, Far East and Latin American divisions as well, with offices in Dubai, Miami and China. These global operations complement the activities of Hercules Canada, which takes care of the company’s home market, and TDW (Tire Dealer’s Warehouse), the US operation that “sells a pile of tyres” through 12 large nationwide locations. International customers are supplied from the company’s North American warehouses and a number of ‘mixing warehouses’ throughout Asia. These consolidation warehouses are located in Qingdao, Nanjing, Singapore and Thailand and product is shipped direct JIT to customers. These large facilities allow the customer the joy of mixing many SKUs’  in single container shipments. This approach also bodes well for our dealers that have multiple distribution facilities within a territory. They get what they need, where they need it and when they need it  – “now that’s service”! 

While Rick Dorscht says Hercules Tire International will continue to focus on all markets where it does business and that “further opportunities are always there with our existing dealers and territories,” he singles out Russia and the Chinese domestic markets as specific growth markets. He also sees the Indian market as “growing in leaps and bounds.” To accommodate its commitments to such a broad global customer base, Hercules operates a multi-lingual sales team – the European division managing director shares that the company’s international sales staff speak more than 20 languages. “This is all a part of the growth we’re experiencing,” he comments. “It’s a big world out there, and we have much to offer.