Continental has upgraded its casing management service with the introduction of the CasingManager app (CMA) and is piloting it in Germany ahead of a Europe-wide rollout. This app enables retailers to register casings swiftly and facilitates the digital management of the collection process, rendering manual recording methods and incorrect entries obsolete. The app also automates the collection of casings by the designated service provider.
Continental has designed a new service for European truck tyre dealers – the ContiCasingAccount. In short, the system enables dealers to deposit used casings into an account and receive a credit for them. According to the company, the new service has already been successfully tested by 28 dealers in Germany. The program will be now rolled out to all interested European tyre dealers. However, Tyres & Accessories understands that the service won’t operate in the UK where a different system is in place.
We’re used to encountering yarn spun from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles in clothing and soft furnishings, but from next year motorists will be able to buy Continental tyres containing this material. Continental will use PET-sourced polyester yarns in the construction of tyre casings and says these can “completely replace” conventional polyester. It will present a concept tyre built upon a PET polyester casing at the IAA Mobility show in Munich this September.
Agricultural tyres generally appear quite similar irrespective of brand, making it difficult to spot at a glance the difference between discount tyres and higher-priced premium products. Bridgestone observes that price thus “wrongly becomes a differentiating element” with these products. The tyre maker is concerned that some may gain the impression they’re paying extra for the brand rather than the tyre, and wishes to set the record straight.
Vellco Tyre Control will seek to capitalise on increased optimism in the European tyre retreading market by expanding its casing supply business into new territories. Retreaders of commercial vehicle tyres were given a boost last year when the European Union introduced tariffs on certain new Chinese products in the segment, which have long caused headaches among retreaders due to their low price. The independently owned casing dealer and used tyre specialist from Weaverthorpe, North Yorkshire is engaged in the procurement, grading and sale of tyre casings of all types, including car, van, truck, agricultural, industrial, and earthmover. In addition to targeting selected European clients, Vellco said it would simultaneously consolidate and strengthen its position in key global markets such as South America and Africa.
Small and medium-size truck tyre suppliers are well aware that a complete portfolio must also include corresponding retreading products. These days, for either economic or environmental reasons, a large percentage of customers within the transport sector expect further use from their tyre casings following the first tyre life. As shown during a visit to Reifen Pinke in Germany, tyre dealers with their own retreading production can particularly profit from this.
Following its pilot introduction in Italy, a year ago Giti Tire rolled out its GT Assist commercial vehicle roadside service assistance programme in the UK. The launch of this 90 minute response service, which is operated in collaboration with the RAC, means that since the end of last year Giti Tire has been able to offer a full fleet portfolio of new GT Radial tyres, GT REE Tread mould cure retreads, along with tyre maintenance through its network of more than 180 independent dealers in the UK and Ireland.
The Bandag brand is to be the only premium retread brand name used by Bridgestone in Europe. The company has decided to phase out the Bridgestone brand on its retreading products within our region as it considers Bandag to be the “world’s leading retread brand.” Therefore, current Bridgestone-branded pre-cured tread products will gradually be phased out in favour of Bandag-branded products.
After an absence of more than quarter of a century, the Bandag retreading franchise will return to Northern Ireland. Following a management buyout, Portadown-based specialist ADCO Retreads has opted to become a Bandag franchisee; the company aims to consolidate and further grow its business through this step. “ADCO is keen to embrace the Bandag brand […]
Compared with producing a new tyre, retreading saves up to 30 per cent in energy and 70 per cent in raw materials. Retreading also lowers overall cost per kilometre, but despite these benefits the European retreading market has been hampered by a scarcity of the industry’s main raw material – good quality, retreadable casings – and by the availability of new imported tyres whose casing quality is not sufficient for retreading.
Liverpool’s Kirkby Tyres continues to promote Double Coin truck and bus radial tyres, having been sole UK and Ireland importer for more than 20 years. This year the wholesaler made the Chinese manufactured brand the focal point of its presence at the Birmingham NEC’s Commercial Vehicles Show, and Kirkby is convinced that it was “an overwhelming success” for Double Coin.
Milton Keynes-based Bridgestone truck tyre specialist, Robbs Tyre Services is to use Cam Systems’ UniServ and Cameo platforms from August as it supports its network of 10 vans. The addition of UniSerV’s Integrated Casing Management module is designed to streamline Robbs Tyres’ job sheet processing while managing its truck casings from cradle to grave.
Hamilton and East Lothian’s R&J Strang Tyre Services is introducing Cam Systems’ Cameo and UniSerV platforms in July. The company, which supplies car, truck, earthmover and specialist tyres, is aiming to streamline its job sheet processing, while managing its truck casings “from cradle to grave” via UniSerV’s Integrated Casing Management module. R&J Strang also wants to exert greater control over products and pricing via the Online Tyre Catalogue, while simplifying its stock management and invoicing processes.
On 16 July, Bridgestone’s domestic tyre subsidiary, Bridgestone Tire Japan, opened a new facility that integrates its Osaka Bandag retreading factory and waste tyre processing plant into a single location. The new 7,100 square metre plant takes in used casings collected from the within Osaka and Kyoto, Hyogo Prefecture, Wakayama Prefectures and has the capacity to produce 3,000 truck and bus retreads per month, including Ecopia retreads. This figure is 30 per cent higher than the combined output of the two previous facilities. Tyres not suitable for retreading are shredded and sold as fuel.
Goodyear has announced the availability of its most recent coach tyre products as TreadMax retreads. The TreadMax Marathon Coach all position and TreadMax UltraGrip Coach winter drive moldcure retreads come in size 295/80R22.5. The newly launched products have the same tread pattern, compound and features as their new tyre counterparts, Goodyear states. Both retreads are also regroovable for more life and economy.
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