Product News Archives - Page 219 of 260 - Tyrepress

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TSRC Planning India, Vietnam Rubber Facilities

With a view to maximise the opportunities present in emerging nations, Taiwan based SBR (styrene butadiene rubber) and BR (polybutadiene rubber) manufacturer TSRC Corporation plans to establish facilities in India and Vietnam. TSRC president W.H. Tu said the company is considering setting up factories in these two countries as both possess a booming automotive industry but lack an upstream raw material supply of SBR and BR. In addition, TSRC is also studying the feasibility of establishing a plant in the Middle East due to regional advantage of low-price raw materials for the production of SBR and BR.

24th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Mistaken Identity?

Is not even the tyre industry safe from cybersquatting? Tyres & Accessories was recently surprised by its attempts to view Dunlop’s UK website. Upon entering the address www.dunlop-tyres.co.uk, instead of viewing the expected Dunlop homepage, we found ourselves face to face with the website of rival tyremaker Michelin. Additionally, a search under www.dunlop.co.uk was equally unfruitful. The website is registered in the name of Essex based man named David Dunlop, and is reportedly available for purchase.

A representative from Goodyear Dunlop has pointed out that the correct website address for the company’s UK Dunlop site is www.dunloptyres.co.uk.

24th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Iconic Chimney Bricks to Be Sold

Blue, yellow and – in some cases – blue-and-yellow bricks once part of Goodyear’s famous landmark chimney in Wolverhampton are to be sold, with the proceeds going to charity.

The beloved 150 ft tower was felled last month in the presence of 1,000 onlookers, and now 350 pieces of industrial memorabilia are available for purchase. Blue bricks will go for £2, yellow for £5, and the much sought after two-tone bricks will be sold for a tenner. All monies raised will be donated to cancer care specialists Macmillan Nurses.

24th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chris Kisby Wins Bid for 3 Regional HiQ Tyre Retail Franchises

Former HiQ Retail Director, Chris Kisby, has successfully bid for the South Midlands, East Midlands and West Midlands zones of the HiQ Franchise Programme. Kisby, who has 30 years experience in the tyre industry, leads an investment group who have been named as the preferred bidder for the region. He will step down from his current role of Goodyear Dunlop UK Director, Consumer Tyres with immediate effect to avoid any conflict of interest.

The announcement follows the news that a management buyout led by HiQ MD Neil Burrows and three other managers was not successful in its bid for a national retail franchise. According to a Goodyear representative, Kisby’s investment group operates independently of the quartet that proposed the management buyout. Prior to becoming Director Consumer Tyres, Chris Kisby held a number of key positions within the Goodyear group including UK Sales and Marketing Director, European Brand Director and Managing Director for Russia, Belarus and Central Asia, as well as leading the HiQ Retail network.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Avon Tyre GT Takes Class Behind the Scenes

Engineers in the Avon Tyre Crew for the company-sponsored British GT Championship gave youngsters participating in the Young Engineers initiative the chance to glimpse their potential future careers.

The initiative is designed to encourage children to think about the importance of engineering and to develop an interest in the field to take through to higher education and beyond. Avon’s engineers showed the 19 11-year olds of All Saints Junior School in Hastings the ropes at the event at Thruxton race track on Sunday, June 29, which presented the ideal opportunity to promote this aspiration to the younger generation.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Grid Technology From Varta

Longer lifespan, greater reliability and far more accessible cold starting energy are all claimed as benefits of PowerFrame; a new battery grid technology being used in the Varta Trio range of car batteries. The application of PowerFrame technology in Varta Silver, Blue and Black Dynamic batteries has been made possible by the introduction of an advanced manufacturing process for the battery’s positive grid, with the high precision process ensuring consistent and stable grid quality.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Sapphire & Glacier Conduct Nationwide Safety Tour

Management from Sapphire Energy Recovery and Glacier – the resource recovery businesses owned by Lafarge Cement – have embarked on a nationwide tour to review safety improvements made at sites and to elevate safety awareness amongst employees. Senior staff, including Sapphire’s resource recovery manager Jamie Randall, commenced their week long roadshow at the Thurrock site where Sapphire collects and processes used tyres for transformation into fuel for cement kilns. Visits were also made to Westbury, Cauldon, Hope, Oldbury, Manchester and Dunbar, where the focus upon safety awareness tied in with Lafarge’s global safety month, which has been held this summer across 76 countries and 3,000 sites.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin NA Opens Second Retail Outlet

Michelin North America celebrated the grand opening of a second retail outlet on July 22. The shop’s official ribbon cutting ceremony, at the Westgate Mall in Spartanburg, South Carolina, was attended by Jim Micali, chairman and president, Michelin North America, Parmeet Grover, Michelin brand director and Jeff Jacobs, director of Michelin identity merchandise, and was conducted by Spartanburg Mayor Bill Barnett.

“Michelin offers consumers a brand that has a unique combination of heritage and vision for the future,” said Jacobs. “We are excited to open ShopMichelin in Spartanburg, where Michelin already has a presence. While Michelin on Main located in downtown Greenville is Michelin’s first retail shop, it also serves as a destination location where consumers can fully experience the Michelin brand. Here at ShopMichelin located in the Westgate Mall, the store will be more of what you might expect in a mall environment, with the merchandise being key.”

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MTNA Boosts Production at Madison Plant by 25%

Marangoni Tread North America has increased Ringtread production at its Madison, Tennessee Alpha-Ring manufacturing plant by 25 per cent. The company reports this greater production will accommodate both domestic and global growth. Specifically, 14 per cent more Ring moulds have been installed at the Madison facility in order to handle North American market growth and provide better service to the North American Ringtread dealer network. On top of this, the Madison plant is now shipping Ringtreads to other global markets, and further expansion is scheduled for next year.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyremakers Face Shortage as NR Supplies Decline

Tyre manufacturers and other users of natural rubber in India may face a supply bottleneck due to the country’s declining natural rubber replantation rate during the past four years. According to a report in India’s The Economic Times newspaper, the rising price of natural rubber has created a reluctance amongst rubber growers to re-plant; trees cannot be tapped for rubber during their first seven years of life, so farmers are avoiding replantation where possible and are continuing to tap older trees. Although this provides greater funds at present, a question mark hangs over future supply as both the quantity and quality of latex produced by older trees is inferior to that of younger trees.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Feel the Force with Maywood

The Maywood Equipment Group has announced the introduction of a brand new 2 post lift into the UK market. The Force 30 is an electro-hydraulic lift with a base frame. This three tonne capacity lift is manufactured in Europe and available exclusively through Maywood.

“One of the great benefits at Maywood is that we can search Europe for the best possible products,” comments Maywood managing director Trevor Homewood. “We already have the Force 36 and the Force 60 in our range, which have proved highly safe and reliable. We like to buy in Europe as we can be much more certain of continual quality. The Force 30 is exclusive to us and we believe that this lift will become one of our top selling models.”

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Embark on Charity Tour de Midlands

Thirteen employees of Goodyear Dunlop are staging a four-day, 320-mile endurance cycle ride to benefit Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The challenge will start from the company’s head office in Erdington on 18th September, and will see riders raising much-needed funds for the leading medical facility.

The manufacturer pledged to raise £50,000 to fund the development of a specialist play area for the Childhood and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) at the hospital earlier in the year, a target the company is on track to meet, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the firm’s thirteen Lance Armstrongs and Victoria Pendletons.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Solideal Releases Raptor Rubber Track Brand

Solideal International has released a new line of rubber tracks under the Raptor brand name. Raptor rubber tracks have been developed in 33 different sizes to fit the most popular mini excavator machines and are reportedly intended to offer “good value for money for price sensitive customers.” Raptor brand will be available in North America as well as in many European countries including: the Baltics, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, UK, Romania and Serbia. Solideal has been manufacturing premium rubber tracks since 1991. The group employs over 9000 people in 20 countries.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

ATSE Appoints New Head of National Accounts

National tyre specialist ATS Euromaster has appointed Steve Bury, 45, to the new position of Head of National Accounts, reporting directly to Peter Fairlie, Group Sales Director. This new role sees Bury head up both the National Car and National Truck sales teams, which are responsible for growing ATS Euromaster’s market share amongst the major leasing companies in the UK and large national fleets with multi-site operations.

Steve Bury joins ATS Euromaster from Unipart Automotive, where he held the position of Sales and Operations Director for two and a half years, prior to which he was National Sales Manager at Autoglass for five years.

23rd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Redundancies Could Be Voluntary: Pirelli Carlisle

Hopes are high that the 60 redundancies announced last week for Pirelli’s Carlisle plant could be filled by volunteers. The MP for Carlisle, Eric Martlew praised Pirelli for their continued investment in the factory despite the job cuts, revealing to local news sources that he was confident that the redundancies could be filled without forcing anyone to leave their job.

The move to cut the jobs comes as a response to decreased demand for products produced at the plant and the ability to manufacture identical items elsewhere. Pirelli released a statement promising to “strive to minimise the impact on our workforce” and that the action – alongside the company’s investment in new technology at the plant – would “help safeguard” its future.

22nd July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors