Agricultural
Mitas has earned recognition as a partner-level supplier for 2015 in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program. The partner-level status is Deere & Company’s highest supplier rating. The Prague based company was selected for the honour in recognition of its “dedication to providing products and service of outstanding quality as well as its commitment to continuous improvement.”
Starco reports the signing of an exclusive agreement to provide complete wheel assemblies to Polish agricultural implement manufacturer, SaMASZ. This deal builds on Starco’s existing supply of rim and tyre assemblies for selected SaMASZ machines. The products supplied under the new agreement will be assembled by Starco at the company’s facility in Poland and delivered inflated and tested subject to the customer’s specifications for Just-in-Time delivery and integration on SaMASZ equipment.
Mitas has announced a significant upgrade of warranty conditions on Mitas Premium radial agricultural tyres. All Mitas Premium tyres manufactured and/or sold after January 2014 in Europe now have six years’ warranty coverage from the date of production, a free 24-month replacement tyre policy and three years’ field hazard qualifying period.
In mid-March, Heuver Tyrewholesale appointed Bert Vreys as its new account manager for Belgium and Luxembourg. During the course of 2015, Heuver decided that its agricultural sector, which is where the company’s roots lie, required greater focus. Heuver therefore reorganised its agricultural department and promoted Pieter Dubois from within the company.
Maxam Tire International Limited (Maxam) has confirmed that Kings Road Tyres (KRT) will be its UK and Ireland distributor for Maxam agricultural, industrial and construction tyres.
Based in West London, and with several distribution centres throughout the UK and a specific facility serving Ireland, KRT have established a successful partnership with Maxam over recent years. Adrian Bader, managing director, KRT, commented: “We are delighted and very enthused to refocus our partnership with MAXAM, particularly with the very exciting development and introduction of their Agrixtra agricultural tyre range. This additional to our brand portfolio in this vibrant replacement market is perceived at KRT as a great enhancement for our dealer network.”
Pirelli’s Chinese owner ChemChina has officially entered into negotiations relating to the separating out the Italian firm’s truck tyre business in order to combine it with Aeolus and the three other ChemChina-owned tyre businesses.
Salisbury-based Simon Jackson Contractors Limited has invested more than £42,000 in new tyres for its fleet in 2015 after taking advantage of Michelin’s 0 per cent Flexelagri finance offer – enabling the cost to be spread across 24 equal monthly payments.
During a conference call yesterday, Titan International chief financial officer John Hrudicka confirmed that sales of Goodyear agricultural tyres in Europe had commenced, with initial orders being supplied from the US. “The early reception to the re-entry of Goodyear is very encouraging and demonstrates the brand still holds tremendous value in Europe,” he commented.
An all-new Goodyear agricultural tyre, the Optitorque, has been launched in the North American market. So far no word has been given on plans to market the Optitorque in Europe, however Titan International’s acquisition of the rights to distribute Goodyear agricultural tyres within the region makes its introduction over here a very real possibility.
New sizes have joined the Maxam Agrixtra MS951R radial traction agricultural tyre range, and Maxam Tire reports that further sizes are on their way. The company is also developing a new radial implement tyre, the Flotxtra MS961R; this will be available in 12 sizes. Other upcoming launches include the MS965 cross-ply implement rib tyre, which will be produced in 11 sizes, the MS966 cross-ply implement tractor tyre, to be sold in three sizes, and a range of agro-industrial radial tyres.
Mitas will exhibit a new product at FIMA in Zaragoza, Spain on 16-20 February. The AirCell is an inner tyre that enables the inflation of large agricultural tyres by +/- 1 bar (from 0.8 bar to 1.8 bar) within half a minute. It is more than 10 times faster than the current method of inflation.
In 2015 Heuver Tyrewholesale increased turnover by 18 per cent. According to the company, this growth represents a major step towards Heuver’s objective of doubling turnover. There firm was also successful online, where Heuver Tyrewholesale realised growth of 14 per cent via its online channel. In terms of brands, Aeolus and Barkley are said to have made a major contribution to the overall result.
Bridgestone Americas shares that it has been designated a Partner-level supplier for 2015 in the John Deere & Company Achieving Excellence Program. Partner-level status is Deere & Company’s highest supplier rating, and Bridgestone states for this selection recognises its dedication to providing products and service of outstanding quality, as well as its commitment to continuous improvement. Bridgestone says its employees accepted the recognition at a ceremony held in the USA recently.
Kings Road Tyres (KRT), one of the longest-established UK tyre wholesalers, is restructuring its distribution network and has committed to a multi-million pound investment and modernisation programme to achieve this.
However, this also means the eight existing KRT warehouses in the UK and Ireland will be progressively closed to coincide with the opening of new premises. This is expected to take place between the end of March and the end of August 2016.
On 27 January, Trelleborg held a ceremony to inaugurate its first agricultural radial tyre factory in the USA. The official opening followed the start of production at the facility late last year. Production at the US$50 million, 430,000 square foot (40,000 square metre) factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina will be gradually ramped up, with all manufacturing equipment expected to be installed by 2018. Trelleborg anticipates that the project will have created around 150 jobs by this time.
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