Bandag
Andrew Mabin, formerly the head of Mitas a.s’s UK sales subsidiary, has been promoted to position of sales and marketing director Mitas a.s. The new role will see Mabin take responsibility for both the company’s replacement and OEM activities worldwide effective 1 September 2008. Mabin replaces Werner Flebbe who goes into retirement in October 2008.
When Bridgestone announced it had gained a contract with Swindon-based bus company Thamesdown Transport in July it marked a new stage in the Japanese manufacturer’s UK market development plans. Since then, the company has revealed that it has agreed three other strategic contracts (with Plymouth City Bus, Veolia and First Bus), designed to strengthen its position. The largest of these deals will see the company supply new Bridgestone tyres to 4000 buses. From an already strong position in the truck side of the roughly 1.4 million unit TBR market, Bridgestone is now aiming to position itself for growth in the bus side of the business too.
Speaking to Tyres & Acessories, Bridgestone UK commercial tyre director, Greg Ward, said that the manufacturer had been reviewing the market conditions for some time (about two years) before deciding 2008 was the right time to get involved with this market segment. What the company will have observed during this period is that there are many barriers to entering the part of the commercial vehicle market. And furthermore not many manufacturers are actually in a place to be able to successful serve this market in general. Asked why this was the right time to enter a marketplace that has and such a high entry point, Ward explained that Bridgestone and its partners now have the right “products, services and infrastructure,” to properly service this segment.
In recognition of its 100 per cent on time delivery and 100 per cent delivery accuracy, Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS) has received a Delivery Achievement Award from Hino Motors Manufacturing. The award acknowledges BBTS truck and bus tyre deliveries to Hino’s assembly plants in North America for 2007.
Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions added an increase to the prices of its tread stock as of Aug. 25. The increase of up to 6% covers all of its Bandag brand tread stock sold in North America. (Tire Review/Akron)
Reiff Reifen operates a state of the art retreading facility in the German town of Reutlingen. This Bandag franchise operation retreads in excess of 40,000 truck tyres each year, all of which are subjected to strict quality control measures. All casings are inspected with a SDS shearography machine that can detect any minor internal separation, and all inspection data is recorded on the company’s mainframe. Tyre building is performed using a Bandag-AZ builder extruder and curing is carried out in four completely new installed Bandag electrical autoclaves. Reiff operates to ISO 9000 standard and contracts TÜV Automotive in Munich to endurance test its retreaded tyres to confirm compliance with ECE 109 regulation requirements.
Raw material price increases affect every part of the tyre production and distribution chain. At the moment all the new tyre manufacturers (from the largest to the smallest) are feeling the raw materials pinch, which has been reflected in a run of less profitable financial reports. Even the Chinese manufacturers that were able to offer the “economic option” for so long are being forced to restructure their prices. Prior to this the low price of new Chinese made truck and bus radials had been hindering sales of quality retreads, so now that the price differential appears to swinging back against the Far Eastern budget producers, will this provide the opportunity for a resurgence in retread sales?
Take Qingdao, Shandong province-based Aufine Group Co Ltd. In August Tyres & Accessories received notification that the company was bringing in a second “unfortunate” price increase in three months, brought on by the “not small” (23 per cent) increase in Aufine’s natural rubber costs. The fact that the Chinese government clamped down on production in regions adjacent to Qingdao during the last quarter has also affected the distribution of these products. Furthermore, in addition to pressures mentioned above, the supply of Chinese tyres is also described as “inconsistent” since the pound’s value has fallen against the Euro. As a result Chinese manufacturers are increasingly ‘cherry-picking’ sales in the most lucrative international markets.
On the market from Bandag is a replacement to its BWBT (E) trailer tyre. Called the BTR-WB, the new product is a regional wide base ECL the company says has benefited from exhaustive testing and performs superbly in the most severe circumstances.
Wide base trailer tyres used in regional applications have a tough life and have to cope with endless tight turns and manoeuvring. The result of this can often be irregular wear patterns, and Bandag has this phenomenon in mind when it began developing the BTR-WB application specific trailer product. Several prototypes, hundreds of test tyres and many millions of test kilometres later, Bandag has introduced a product it is confident performs well in all circumstances.
In the US, Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions is introducing six new sizes to its range of Firestone FS560 Plus steer tyres. Fleets operating in short-haul or urban applications now have numerous new size options to choose from, including 9R22.5 and 10R22.5 in “F” load ranges, 10R22.5 in “G” load range, and 255/70R22.5, 275/70R22.5 and 215/75R17.5 low profile sizes all in “H” load ranges. The 215/75R17.5 size will be available in the fourth quarter; all other sizes have already been released.
Formed in 1976, the Al Dobowi Group was established to serve the growing Middle East tyre management industry. From its Dubai base, Al Dobowi Group is now involved in a range of operations (from tyres to equipment) on four continents – they even produce specialized battery components at a factory in the UK. With over 1100 employees all round the world, and some very interesting expansion plans in the offing, Tyres & Accessories recently met with executive director Harjeev Kandhari and found out more about what these will mean for customers.
One of the first things Harjeev Kandhari mentioned in conversation with T&A was that group companies are increasingly focusing on solutions, rather than just products. When you consider the wide variety of related business areas Al Dobowi operates in, this corporate philosophy really makes sense. But in order to explain what this might mean for customers a little background information is required.
Since June the US state of Iowa has experienced its worst flooding in 15 years, with rivers throughout the state bursting their banks. To assist affected communities, Firestone Agricultural Tire, itself based in Des Moines, Iowa, BFS Retail & Commercial Operations and Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions have donated US$100,000 to the American Red Cross’ flood relief efforts. The company says the donation, presented in a ceremony on July 18, reflects the combined efforts of Bridgestone Americas Holding and the three aforementioned business units.
“We are always looking for opportunities to give back to the communities where we live and work,” said Ken Allen, vice president, FSAG. “It is rewarding to see how dramatically the quality of life can improve for families with the aid given from the Red Cross. The American Red Cross continues to provide invaluable assistance to those affected by the storms, funded by many who felt as we do about their good work, and we are happy that we were able to help support those efforts.”
Anyone who attended the Essen show will have noticed how dramatically the marketing messages propagated at the show appear to have ‘evolved’ from seemingly polar positions.
Asking certain companies what their policy was in relation to aromatic oils and low rolling resistance tyres four years ago resulted in quizzical looks and stifled smiles. There may have been a few companies ahead of the game on this issue, but in general it was all about size, speed and profile. Now this remains undeniably influential, but the ‘product narrative’ has changed completely. Today’s tyres save fuel and last longer than ever, apparently.
As global consumer markets feel the pinch from the credit crunch, one can’t help wondering how long it will take the Chinese manufacturers to catch up with ‘green’ eco-technology. However, there remain both distributors and manufacturers alike that are sceptical as to the sales value of the green message. Do consumers really buy tyres because they may save them fuel?
Pirelli Tyre CEO and European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) president, Francesco Gori, spoke on a related subject during the opening ceremony. In his speech Dr Gori was “perfectly frank” in his references to planned EU directives that will require tyre manufacturers to improve wet grip performance, material authorisation and road noise properties. By way of a warning, he pointed out the consequences these regulations could have on European producers, particularly in comparison with their Asian competitors. Despite the looming threat of legislation and the cost pressure caused by rising raw material prices, the consensus from Reifen visitors is optimistic – 20.2 per cent are even expecting a strong upward trend in the economic growth of the tyre sector, this compares with 12.2 per cent who predicted this in 2006.
As far as the exhibition itself was concerned, with 20 per cent more exhibitors than last time and 17,600 visitors, Reifen Essen has obviously received the green light from the tyre trade. In fact, according to data released by Reifen show organiser Messe Essen, the 25th Reifen exhibition was actually a record breaker. 576 exhibitors (up 21 per cent on 2006) showed their tyre, wheel and chassis technology-related products and services. Visitor numbers totalled 17,600 compared with 17,100 in 2006.
Messe Essen reports that the show was also more international that ever, with 57.4 per cent (2006: 45%) of visitors originating from outside Germany. “That is an excellent value; it highlights the position of Reifen as the leading international fair in the sector,” Dr. Joachim Henneke, Chairman and CEO of Messe Essen commented. International visitors primarily came from other European countries (78.9%) and from the Asian region (11.1%).
Visitors from “the tyre trade” accounted for 34.4 per cent of show traffic, while another 26.8 per cent reportedly worked in the tyre service side of things. 51.1 per cent of visitors described themselves as amongst the top decision-takers in their companies (2006: 44.7%). Seemingly as a result, 42.1 per cent of the visitors placed orders during the show and 42.5 per cent stated that they wanted to conclude contracts after the fair. Nearly all the exhibitors (97.5%) said they had reached their intended target audience.
Keith Jarman, President of AME International, was one particularly positive exhibitor: “Our international business would not be where it is now if this fair had not existed. In spite of the worldwide economic difficulties, the tyre industry is doing fine from a global perspective. Because of the dollar exchange rate, it is absolutely sensible to be here.”
Jean-Claude de Thibault de Boesinghe, Sales & Marketing Manager for EMEA of Bandag AG, echoed this sentiment: “Reifen has gone very well for. We always concentrate all our activities on this fair and meet our dealers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa here. On a large, open booth, we have shown the newest products and technological innovations. The first day was already very busy and the second even better.”
Operator of one of the largest independent trailer fleets in Europe, DSV Road A/S has chosen to fit Bandag retreads as Original Equipment to all of its trailers – a deal that sees 60,000 retreads fitted on trailers delivered to the transporter by German company Bernard Krone GmbH. The job of tyre management for the operation – including the full stock of replacement tyres – has been outsourced to Bandag subsidiary Eurofleet.
For its 50th year of business Bandag delivered a strong presence at the Essen show with a sizable booth, in which was displayed the company’s latest product and technological innovations. The running of the Reifen Essen was also chosen as an opportunity to give several new Bandag released their first public airing, including the company’s new Application Specific product line featuring Bandag designed premium retread products.
Part of this range is the new BTR-WB (E), the Bandag Trailer Regional-Wide Base. A premium offering for the 3-axle trailer segment, the BTR-WB (E) is, says Bandag, the result of exhaustive testing. Wide base trailer tyres used in regional applications are used under tough operating conditions and must cope with endless tight turns and manoeuvring. The result can often be irregular wear patterns, and Bandag had this in mind when it began developing the new tyre. Several prototypes, hundreds of test tyres and many millions of test kilometres later, Bandag introduced a product it believes performs well in all circumstances.
The Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it is to promote its recycled tyre business through Bandag, a new retail chain based on their retreading business acquisition of last year: the US firm Bandag Tire Solutions. The chain will look to employ the technology of Bandag Tire Solutions to retread around 10,000 tyres every year. Bridgestone plan to open its first new Bandag depot by the end of the year, and to spread the presence of the chain to 20 over the next three to four years. Each one will be the subject of a 100 million yen investment.
Prices for tread rubber products charged by Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS) to its franchised dealers in the US have increased by up to 5 per cent, effective May 5. “Unprecedented energy prices continue to impact our costs, particularly for raw materials and transportation,” said Saul Solomon, president of BBTS. No corresponding price increase took place in the Canadian market.
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