Automechanika Middle East 2011 will feature a strong showing from Al Dobowi when the company will further promote a new pattern for its Infinity range of tyres, which the firm began promoting at the recent Autopromotec event in Bologna. Al Dobowi Group will be on-show in the dedicated tyres section of the exhibition located in Hall 7.
Maxxis has developed a range of skid steer tyres designed to cope with varied heavy duty industrial applications safely and efficiently, including construction, agriculture and dockside freight, the latter of which is identified by the brand as a particularly fruitful area for spreading its popularity. “Our industrial tyres feature a specially formulated durable rubber compound, extra strong casings and robust sidewalls to deliver superior traction and long life when put to work in the most demanding applications,” says Maxxis International UK’s managing director Derek McMartin. “Their versatility is proving popular with dockside freight businesses, which is helping us to promote the Maxxis brand in this niche marketplace.”
Some 80 million television viewers around the world are said to watch the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, and in 2011 Goodyear is continuing its commitment to the sport by supplying tyres to all 24 participating race trucks. In addition to supplying all teams with specially designed and built Truck Racing tyres, the company will also provide the FIA with technical support at all ten series races. The Goodyear tyres are supplied and serviced by TRO (Truck Racing Organisation), the sole tyre supplier. TRO represents the interests of all teams in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship and its trucks and trailers will attend all races, providing a tyre fitting area in the paddock at each venue. This year sees the introduction of RFID chips in the supplied tyres to enable their systematic electronic monitoring during race weekends.
As Tyres & Accessories previously reported, Marangoni Retreading Systems has established operations in Kuwait in partnership with the country’s sole retreader, Al-Zahem Industries. The new Ringtread plant in Kuwait City was inaugurated on March 23 in the presence of local government representatives, the Italian ambassador Enrico Granara, Iraqi ambassador Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Ulum, plus members of the media and representatives of numerous transport fleets.
Over the last two years Bandvulc has seen a consistent demand for its commercial retreads within Europe and especially Germany, but lately the pace of export growth has increased significantly. Not only have sales through existing partners increased by over 50 per cent in some countries, but new customers are reported to have been won – and in additional territories too. Key developments include distribution arrangements with agents as far away from South West England as Greece and Poland.
Graham Karran is celebrating his 25th year at Michelin Tyre plc with a promotion to retread sales manager, responsible for the sales and marketing of all Michelin’s retread tyres in the UK. He replaces Mike Wilson, previously retread sales manager for 16 years. Wilson is promoted to commercial director of Michelin’s earthmover and industrial operations in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Karran, 44, will use his extensive experience within the truck tyre sector to work closely with Michelin’s Remix and Encore production sites in Stoke-on-Trent. Together, these two facilities maintain Michelin’s position as the country’s largest producer of retread tyres.
Graham Simpson has been appointed a as director of Truck Tyre Specialists Ltd (TTS). His primary function remains sales, an area in which has gained over 21 years of experience in in the Retreading industry. Simpson heads up a team of account managers and van sales team alongside the development of new fleet and casing asset solutions.
According to TTS, the company will be soon launching a new online “Casing Bank Reporting Suite” where customers can not only track there asset value but get an overview of RTD Removal rate, acceptance rate of casings among other detailed reporting.
Marangoni Tread North America has added Presti, AmerSeal, and Counteract products to its supplies and accessory line, which includes envelopes, sealing rings, cushion gum, envelope lube, J-hooks, tire paint and buffing blades, reports Tire Review. MTNA is also adding new Gaither Tool selections to support fleet tyre maintenance needs with a variety of environmentally-friendly product options.
Tyre supplier and fleet service provider Quinton Tyres has consolidated its operations at three sites into a single location. The new 28,000 square foot site in Dukinfield was set up with a ₤1.35 million investment and will act as a base for Quinton’s entire operations, including mobile tyre fitting, sales, accounts, marketing and a new retail on-site fitting facility.
Specialist waste transfer contractor Shorten Environmental has recorded a 50 per cent reduction in punctures since it started fitting Michelin new and Remix tyres across its fleet. The haulier has also begun specifying Michelin tyres as original equipment on new vehicles – most recently when it ordered two Scania R440 6×4 tractor units. Before signing an exclusive Michelin contract, the company’s 31-strong fleet of 44-tonne tractor units, ejector and walking floor trailers had been operating on a variety of different tyre brands. It began Michelin trials in 2008.
Bridgestone UK reports that the new tyre market is starting to show signs of recovery, with the company’s data indicating that the market is running 6 – 8 per cent up on the same time last year. At the height of the recession, it was noted that fleets were parking up some units and using the dormant vehicles’ tyres to keep running costs lower in a process commonly known as cannibalisation. These stocks are now said to be coming to an end and fleets are placing new orders. There also appears to be a genuine increase in tyre demands from fleets. This is mainly due to increases in haulage and delivery volumes. However, although this activity is seen as positive it is still well below the level prior to the recession.
A recent article written by Joel Mayor Loran and published by the Granma and Periodico publications in Cuba gives a fascinating insight into the workings of the country’s National Rubber Company – Poligom. According to the article, which is entitled “How to Save a Million Dollars” the Cuban retreading operation has been facing a scarcity of raw materials and retreadable casings.
The Poligom National Rubber Company reportedly runs five factories specialised retreading work, which retreaded 56,900 tyres in 2009. However, the lack of stability in the supply is said to have affected plans to increase production to 90,000 in 2010. In the year to 10 June the retread companies located in the municipality of Cotorro in Havana City, in the central province of Las Villas, and in the eastern provinces of Camaguey, Holguin and Santiago de Cuba received 34,000 casings, 6,000 less than expected.
Samworth Brothers are, as Tyres & Accessories reported in February 2008, well acquainted with receiving high mileage from their Michelin tyres. Now the tyre maker reports that the chilled consolidator has clocked up more than 723,000 km on a set of Michelin XDE2+ drive axle tyres which were fitted as original equipment on a MAN TGA 26.440 6×2 tractor unit it operates. The tyres were removed at 723,417 km, with 4mm of tread remaining, and regrooved for a second life. It is expected that the regrooved tyres will cover up to an additional 180,000 km before being returned to Michelin for remoulding into Remix tyres.
Maxxis has two industrial tyres that it says are “highly versatile” offerings, giving the company the ability to “make its name” in the market. The M9000 MT Loader and the M8000 Tuff-Guard skid steer tyres are designed to tackle a wide range of heavy duty industrial applications, including construction, agriculture and dockside freight, safely and efficiently, Maxxis states.
German software house PC-Soft has announced plans to show its fa/r software designed for managing retreading processes at June’s Reifen 2010 show. According to the company, PC-Soft designed the comprehensive fa/r system solution specifically for the requirements of the retread industry.
“Our customers benefit from the practical illustration of their processes (e.g. buffing, building) and the seamless integration of production, storage and management, automatic documentation and therefore the optimization of the whole process. Our focus is securing your productivity and flexible response capability to deliver as soon as possible and at optimum production,” company representatives commented in their promotional literature.
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