Bridgestone Corporation has officially opened a plant that produces urethane foam for automobile seats in China. The operator of the plant is Guangzhou Bridgestone Chemical Products Co., Ltd., a joint venture company for the manufacture and sale of urethane foam for automobile seats located in Guangzhou City. Bridgestone set this facility up together with the automotive components arm of Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group Co, Ltd on 5 July 2004.
The first Automechanika Thailand will be held from 10 13 May 2006 at the Impact Centre in Bangkok. Thailand is already the largest manufacturer of vehicles in south east Asia, and some commentators point towards sustained and rapid growth. According to show organisers, Messe Frankfurt, the supply and demand sides of the auto industry are calling for a professional platform such as Automechanika to facilitate trade and maximize the huge market potential.
The MOT turned 45 this week and has come a long way since its implementation in 1960. The annual check does not only test the brakes, steering, lights etc, as it did in the beginning, but now includes emissions testing too.
Tyre safety could assume even greater importance soon when the Corporate Manslaughter Bill becomes law in the UK, warns Cheshire-based fleettyreline. The Bill is expected to become law within the next 18 months and will create a new offence of Corporate Manslaughter to cover all deaths at work and target corporate rather than individual liability. For example, a company could find itself liable in the instance of a death arising from an unroadworthy vehicle.
Said fleettyreline chairman John Church: “This Bill has far-reaching implications for any company operating a fleet, whether it is half a dozen vehicles or many hundreds. If a vehicle is defective in any area, most notably in a safety-critical area such as tyres, the liability issue is clear-cut. Our understanding is that, if an employee uses his or her vehicle on company business, the liability will also fall on the company.”
Goodway Rubber chief executive, Tai Boon Wee, has spoken of the company’s plans to build a Chinese compounding plant. “Goodway is looking into the possibility of setting up a rubber compounding plant, possibly in Dongguan in China, via a joint venture with a local partner,” Mr Tai said.
Mobile tyre safety checks on company cars and vans, instigated by fleet managers and carried out by Kwik-Fit technicians, reveal that around 20 per cent of vehicles “require attention”.
Typical findings include tyres that are wrongly inflated, the tread depth may be close to, or below, the legal minimum, tyre wear may be irregular, indicating alignment problems, or the sidewall may be damaged. The analysis is based on a month of safety checks – in a typical month, some 490 site visits are made, with 22,500 vehicles inspected.
Dunlop Nigeria Plc, has invested an estimated sum of 6.5 billion naira (roughly £27 million) on radialising its plant technology with a view to further boosting the production of tyres for heavy duty vehicles. According to company, the Super Steel Radial Plant will be commissioned by Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and will be capable of producing 300,000 heavy duty tyres annually. Furthermore, the expansion is expected to create 200 additional jobs.
Health and safety regulations apply to all businesses. But there are some matters that need to be given special consideration by employers. The government has earmarked ‘Lifting and Handling’ in the workplace as one of these key areas. In As far as tyres are concerned this has particular significance with regards to tyre bays, where fitters manually handle heavy tyres and wheels during the tyre changing process.
According to the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) more than a third of all ‘over-three-day’ injuries reported each year are caused by manual handling – ‘the transporting or supporting of loads by hand or by bodily force’.
Recycling has not only become more important to the public, but to the tyre industry too. Tyre recycling has a lucrative future, and tyre shredding is fast becoming a money-spinner for those companies involved. The choice of tyre shredding and recycling equipment manufacturers and distributors is growing, as is the range of casing collection services throughout the industry.
“However, it is one thing to realise the potential of this market but quite something else to actually set up a business that will evolve into a successful and lucrative service,” says Bob Batchford of RJB County Contractors. This is why the company has recently established a new division within the business, RJB Consultancy, to provide a service to both new and established businesses on how to achieve financial reward from tyre recycling.
(Akron/Tire Review) While rescue efforts continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which slammed into the US’s Gulf Coast near New Orleans and Biloxi, Missouri, Monday, government officials and business analysts are trying to piece together the impact that devastating storm will have on American industry and the global market – particularly oil prices.
10 years after the “dot-com” boom and bust, e-commerce technology is increasingly moving into the mainstream. Government statistics compiled at the end of 2004 show that 69 per cent of UK firms are now using broadband and that 30 per cent of micro businesses are trading online.
Furthermore when these numbers were calculated, the proportion of smaller businesses with websites went up 16 per cent compared with the previous year, bringing the total to 73 per cent. In the same period the number of businesses that saw the benefits of e-technology rose from 8 per cent to 53 per cent.
With this in mind Tyres & Accessories would like ask its readers what they think. How much of your business is handled using e-commerce technology? Click here to state your views.
Months after the End of Life Vehicle Directive led to the banning of lead balancing weights for passenger cars in the EU, discussions on the subject continue in the US.
Most recently the US Tire Industry Association (TIA) issued a statement saying it applauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) denial of the Ecology Center’s petition for a ban on lead wheel weights. EPA cited “insufficient data” as the reason they will not move ahead on a lead wheel weight ban at this time.
The fall of Slovakian economic minister Pavol Rusko has cast doubt on Hankook’s plan to invest 500 million euros into a new tyre factory. The so-called “enfant terrible” of the government in Bratislava always supported Hankook’s strategy and even offered public subsidies of up to 20 per cent of the overall investment, despite the criticism he received over this commitment.
Just one day before Rusko was sacked by the Slovakian president, the prime minister Mikuláš Dzurinda advised his minister to resign amongst allegations of “non-transparent credit transactions”, said a German media report. According to Slovakian analysts, it is likely that the policy of decreasing these incentives for foreign direct investments will continue under a new economic minister. Therefore, the Hankook deal does not appear to have a future. A decision was said to be due by 31 August.
Gyles Brandreth, a former member of John Major’s government is to be the guest speaker at the NTDA’s 2006 Annual Dinner and TAFF Awards.
The event will be once again held alongside the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham at the Birmingham Metropole Hotel on 26th April 2006.
Gyles is perhaps better-known for his appearances on Channel 4’s Countdown, TV-AM and for his writing.
Chairman John Tarbox said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of such an accomplished after dinner speaker who, I am sure. Will make a major contribution to what promises to be the main tyre industry event in 2006.”
Euro Car Parts has launched what it claims is the first aftermarket training academy of its kind to deliver Government-approved training to its sales team trainees. The new training centre, Euro Academy, has been established to ensure Euro Car Parts’ specialised sales teams continue to have the most comprehensive knowledge bank throughout the industry.
The academy’s first 32 young people will begin the three-year Level 3 NVQ Apprenticeship in Parts Operations, which gives 16 to 24 year olds the opportunity to develop their knowledge to the most advanced levels in the UK aftermarket. The apprenticeship will be awarded by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), which is the leading awarding body for vocational qualifications in the automotive sector and the industry’s professional association.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
