The inaugural Tyrexpo Africa exhibition will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, from 12 – 14 September and is the latest event in the portfolio of ECI International, following on from Tyrexpo Asia (based in Singapore) and Brityrex International (UK).
The setting and format of the 2004 NTDA conference was so well received last time that this year the association decided to invite members, suppliers and industry observers back to sunny Spain. Held at the Don Carlos Hotel just outside Marbella at the end of June, the conference was opened by keynote speaker Jim Rickard, managing director of Michelin Tyre plc and chairman of the Tyre Industry Federation (TIF). Numerous important issues were discussed, but delegates agreed that the most pressing topics under discussion were: potential government imposed regulation of the industry and the poor consumer perception of the tyre business. The trade’s use of the Internet, issues relating to end-of-life tyre disposal and of course run-flat tyres were also discussed.
Next year’s Brityrex International exhibition (1-3 May 2007) will be breaking new ground, as the show will be taking place for the first time at the G-MEX Convention Centre in Manchester. The show is being supported by the NTDA, who have arranged their AGM and Annual Dinner for 2 May, to be held at the Palace Hotel. In mid-July, the NTDA held an Executive Council Meeting at the hotel and got together with ECI International, the organisers of Brityrex, and members of the press to arrange a familiarisation day.
Maxxis International is the first of the major tyre manufacturers to confirm it is to attend Brityrex International, which takes place at the G-MEX Convention Centre in Manchester from 1-3 May 2007. All exhibitors will be located in one hall with 10,500 square metres of space and the Maxxis stand will be in a prime position adjacent to the entrance.
Maxxis is continuing to develop its credentials within the PCR market while also expanding its UK product portfolio and is actively looking to recruit specialist distributors for its new light and heavy truck tyres.
ECI International are regular exhibitors at Essen and this year the company had no fewer than three of its own shows to promote – Tyrexpo Africa (Johannesburg, September 2006), Brityrex International (Manchester, May 2007) and Tyrexpo Asia (Singapore, September 2007).
So how was the Essen exhibition? ECI International managing director Paul Farrant was delighted with the response, saying: “Reifen 06 was tremendous for us, as it always has been in the past, but this time, with three shows to promote, we were kept busy from start to finish.”
As the UK’s only independent biennial tyre-trade event both national and international exhibitors are now actively booking their stands for May 2007. Specifically targeted at tyre manufacturers, tyre wholesalers, tyre importers and retailers, Brityrex ’07 will feature tyres and tyre technology, retreads, tyre production equipment, tyre repair and changing equipment, fast-fit and garage equipment, wheel alignment and balancing technology, alloy wheels, valves, tools, workshop management software and tyre recycling and disposal technology. In short, everything relating to the tyre from car tyres through to commercial, industrial, agricultural, off-road and recreational tyres.
Brityrex International 2007 received a big boost in the new year when Beissbarth UK reserved a stand area of 85 square metres – the largest exhibition stand in the company’s history.
Philip Hodges, MD of Beissbarth UK, explained that 2007 will see the UK launch of the Beissbarth Touchless wheel aligner in the UK. As the name suggests, this is a completely no-contact alignment system – the first of its kind in the world – and one which Philip believes will have a major impact on wheel alignment in the UK. Certainly, when the system had its world premiere at Autopromotec in Bologna, it drew large crowds throughout the show.
Brityrex International 2007, the dedicated exhibition for the tyre and associated industries, has already sold 25 per cent of the show’s exhibition area. While tyres have traditionally been the mainstay of Brityrex, the organisers ECI International are noticing a growing trend towards diversification among exhibitors. Says managing director Paul Farrant: “Our advance bookings for the 2007 event show great interest from equipment manufacturers – and not just tyre changers and balancers, but sophisticated testing and diagnostic equipment, as well as new areas such as air-conditioning servicing.”
ECI International, organisers of the Brityrex International exhibition, have announced that the 2007 event will be held from 1 to 3 May at the G-Mex Convention Centre, Manchester.
Paul Farrant, ECI’s managing director, revealed that there were a number of reasons for the move. “We wanted to expand the floor space available in 2007 based on the success and re-bookings taken at the 2005 show and Harrogate were unable to give us the third hall we needed to grow the show.”
This month sees the much-anticipated return of Brityrex. After an eight year absence the show is returning to Harrogate as Brityrex International and the organisers, ECI International, are determined to deliver exactly what they promised from the beginning – an exhibition dedicated to the tyre and related industries. As sponsor of the event Tyres & Accessories will provide an in depth report on the new show and assessment of the products on show.
The NTDA Regional Meeting, held at the Brityrex International exhibition on 11 May, played host to the launch of a new Guide to the Manual Handling of Tyres, drawn up by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in consultation with industry bodies and trade associations.
The Guide was launched by Chris Flint, HM Principal Inspector, HSE and one of the Guide’s authors. It is, he said, aimed at employers whose businesses involve the collection or delivery of new or used tyres and is relevant to employers who manufacture, store, distribute, collect, deliver and retail tyres and to retreaders, road haulage companies and bus operators. It is limited to dealing with the risk of musculoskeletal disorders arising from the manual handling of tyres during collection and delivery and does not cover tyre handling during manufacture and retreading.
After an absence of four years, the UK tyre industry was once again treated to its own, dedicated exhibition when Brityrex International was held in May at the Harrogate International Centre.
The show consisted of more than 70 exhibitors from all sectors of the industry and, over the three days of the show, 2,495 visitors came through the doors. Paul Farrant, Managing Director of organisers ECI International, was delighted with the reactions from visitors and exhibitors, with many of the latter booking space for the 2007 show on the spot.
A common theme in the feedback from exhibitors was the quality of the visitors, with many selling machinery off the stand (in one case, every piece of machinery on the stand was sold during the show) and others reporting lists of genuine enquiries to be followed up.
“This exhibition definitely showed that there is a need for a tyre industry, trade-only event,” he said, “and I see it as the springboard for future shows.” As a mark of their confidence, ECI have booked a third hall for the 2007 show, giving another 1,000 square metres of stand space.
“I would like to thank all the exhibitors for their efforts and I am very pleased that their hard work was rewarded by visitors who were obviously at Brityrex International to do some serious business.” Paul Farrant said, adding: “Hopefully those companies which were sitting on the fence this time will have seen the quality of the show and will lend their support for the 2007 exhibition.”
The exact dates for Brityrex International 2007 will be announced later this week and the show will be officially launched at the Tyrexpo Asia show in Singapore this September. Exhibitors wanting to reserve specific stand locations are advised to book early.
John Bean is offering visitors to the ATS/CV show the chance to win a GPS satellite navigation system. In association with UK Equipment Group John Bean will be running a ‘3D Alignment Time Trial’ where, the person who aligns the car in the shortest time wins the system.
Competitors will be using the Visualiner 3D Arago, which the company says is one of the fastest alignment systems on the market. The system uses 3D digital imaging technology, and does not require run-out compensation or levelling of the measuring targets. It’s Windows XP software guides the operator through the measuring procedure and provides full alignment readings within four minutes says UK Equipment Group.
Plans are already well advanced for the NTDA’s spring conference, which is being staged alongside Brityrex in May. It will be the first time that the NTDA has organised an interim event between its major conferences and the occasion will serve as an opportunity to update its members.
John Tarbox, chairman of the organising committee, commented: “We felt very strongly that so much came out of our Marbella event we should provide an opportunity to update the industry on the different projects which came to the fore at that conference and also give those members, who did not attend in Spain, an opportunity to add their voices to the ideas already put down – and also add a few more.”
Quality comes at a price, or so they say. However, Hofmann is offering visitors to the Brityrex show a once in a lifetime opportunity to win quality for free! Visitors to the Hofmann stand (M7) can enter a free competition to win a Geodyna 4801 computerised wheel balancer worth over £3,000.
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