Premium city parking firm Q-Park has partnered with MotaGoGo, a consumer-facing tread scanning service, who have installed a tread scanner giving customers a free tyre check when they visit the Mailbox car park in Birmingham city centre.
The UK’s leading exhibition for the automotive aftermarket and vehicle production industry, Automechanika Birmingham, welcomed 10,200 industry personnel to its 2018 event. Featuring 500 exhibitors from 26 countries in 9,400sqm of floor space, the organiser stated that more than 120 companies exhibited for the first time, including: AA Garage Guide, Snap-On, Ceramex, GSF Car Parts and Wurth Electronics. Tyres & Accessories joined the National Tyre Distributors Association in representing the UK tyre industry at what was a lively event for the automotive sector, with an emphasis on visitor interaction – a fact underlined by the three in-hall dedicated presentation spaces, in which speakers addressed major issues currently affecting the sector.
Sigmavision has announced its plans to launch TreadManager, a new cloud-based tyre sales management service developed for the tyre aftermarket. The company states that TreadManager will help tyre providers to increase sales revenue and boost turnover from tyre-related services. Registered users will be provided with tyre measurement data and management information for all vehicles scanned using TreadReader tyre measurement devices. The full range of TreadReader products, including the Hand Held scanner and all specifications of the Drive Over ramp, whether flush-fit or surface-mounted, will be compatible with TreadManager.
The SnapSkan digital tread service, deployed by tyre manufacturer Nokian Tyres in cooperation with its tyre retail and car service chain Vianor, is launching five new checking points in the Nordic countries. A total of four new SnapSkan service points will be opened in parking garages in various locations across Finland. SnapSkan is also going international with the opening of a new service point in Oslo, Norway. This is the first SnapSkan service point outside of Finland.
Sigmavision is bringing its 3D TreadReader images to workshops and dealerships within the eDynamix iVHC system, following a new integration. TreadReader 3D tyre scans, which provide industry-leading clarity and accuracy, continue to set the standard for tyre tread depth measurement. In addition to revealing tread depth, the detailed tyre scans help to diagnose incorrect inflation and wheel alignment issues.
Sigmavision has appointed Chris Coyle as sales director joining the Sigmavision board.
Previously sales director at Pro-Align Ltd, the UK distributor for Hunter Engineering, Chris Coyle was central to Pro-Align’s significant growth, with responsibility for the sales of Hunter Quick Tread drive over ramps, featuring Sigmavision’s TreadReader technology.
As our environment becomes increasingly technologically driven, it is no surprise to learn that as many as 15 per cent of tyres are being bought online. At the same time tyres are becoming more and more “intelligent” with built-in sensors such as TPMS. However, for a long time the business of checking tyre tread depth has been a relatively imprecise affair. A few years back standards improved with the development of digital tread depth probes, some of which even bluetoothed data to cloud-based systems. However, the latest technology takes routine tread depth checks and fleet audits to the next level.
Sigmavision will showcase its new TreadReader tyre measurement App at Automechanika Birmingham. The 3D tyre measurement technology company has added the App to its TreadReader range of tyre measurement products; it is used to control the Hand Held scanner, making a tyre inspection and diagnostic tool. Downloaded to a phone or tablet, the App connects to the scanner via Wi-Fi. Intuitive screens guide technicians through the scanning of vehicle tyres, with the option of printing a PDF report for the customer, illustrating tread depth and tyre condition.
Sigmavision is to promote its TreadReader technology to the commercial sector when it exhibits at The Commercial Vehicle Show (Stand 4F65, Birmingham NEC, 25-27 April). The company states that TreadReader “addresses the shortcomings of traditional dip gauges and other spot-measurement or laser-line devices currently available.” Each product in the range, which includes mobile and fixed workshop options, creates a 3D scanned image showing a 50mm band across the full width of the tyre. Sigmavision adds that its scans are reliable and accurate even on wet and dirty tyres.
Nokian Tyres’ investment in Sigmavision and the installation of its SnapSkan tool via tyre and car service chain Vianor is targeting “improved safety” for “millions of drivers”, the Finnish tyre manufacturer states. The free and fast technology measures the depth of tyre treads on the go and informs the driver of the results, serving motorists on their everyday routes, in locations such as car parks.
Nokian Tyres has become a shareholder in diagnostics equipment firm Sigmavision, launching its own digital tyre checking service, branded SnapSkan. SnapSkan will use TreadReader Drive Over ramps to provide a service that SigmaVision says will help to advance its “Beyond the Workshop” strategy. Dr Andrew Pryce, Sigmavision’s managing director, commented “The opportunity to progress our ‘Beyond the Workshop’ strategy with Nokian Tyres plc is a significant step and we are also delighted to welcome Nokian Tyres as a shareholder in our business.”
Sigmavision has announced the findings of a recent survey conducted in collaboration with Bridgestone and First Stop at the recent Sky Sports British Masters golf event. The company’s technicians surveyed 2,400 cars over two days away from the fairways and greens at The Grove, measuring tyre tread depths with Sigmavision’s TreadReader handheld scanners. The results of the survey back up Bridgestone’s hypothesis that motorists currently do not make the regular checks necessary to ensure their tyres are safe.
TyreSafe’s Innovation and Technology Award, sponsored by Michelin Tyre, has been awarded to Sigmavision. The award recognises the innovative use of technology within the tyre industry, and TyreSafe’s positive contribution to raising awareness of tyre safety issues. Chairman of TyreSafe, Stuart Jackson said the Sigmavision TreadReader shows “versatility [and] capability for adoption across a comprehensive span of applications.”
Sigmavision Ltd has become the latest organisation to lend its official support to TyreSafe.
Based in the UK, Sigmavision Ltd is a high tech company, with world class expertise in laser sensor and camera imaging technology. Originally supplying offline and online laser profiling systems and laser measurement systems to the world’s largest tyre manufacturers, today it is the developer and manufacturer of TreadReader, a technology for tread depth measurement in the tyre aftermarket. Sigmavision now exclusively manufactures and supplies the TreadReader Hand Held scanner and TreadReader Drive Over ramp for aftermarket applications.
At the end of February Tyres & Accessories attended the NTDA’s North West region meeting. For years the National Tyre Distributors Association kept in touch with the grass roots of the industry via a regional structure. This dissipated and virtually evaporated in recent decades, but not in the North West where it has continued to be strong – representing the local needs of the association and working together for the common good of tyre distributors as part of the national NTDA organisation. Latterly, the NTDA has experienced something of a resurgence of the regional approach with other regions being re-invigorated (prior to the North West meeting, the South East and Central South regions met in Watford on 10 February).
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