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Chronos Richardson to Exhibit at Tire Technology Expo 2005

Chronos Richardson will exhibiting for the first time its new CR 600 XP process control system at Tire Technology Expo 2005 in Cologne/Germany (Feburary 22nd-24th). This is a PC based system, which uses open-system software packages in conjunction with leading brand PLCs to provide Windows based applications for the mixing room. CR 600 XP has been developed to help tyre manufacturers to efficiently control/monitor their mixing room and improve the quality of their compounding process. At Tire Technology Expo 2005 Chronos Richardson will also illustrate the success they have achieved through establishing technological partnerships with tyre manufacturers around the world, working at both local plant and corporate level in providing turnkey solutions for thousands of mixing rooms. “Our project experience covers every aspect of the mixing room from material intake through to mills and batch-off and total plant control,” says the company.

20th December 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Glitches in the Computerised Future of the MOT

In light of the recent ‘Which?’ report criticising the quality of MOT testing the emphasis has once again been drawn to what the industry and government can do to improve standards. Computerisation appears to be the government’s answer to improving the quality of the MOT test, but what will this mean for those at the sharp end of MOT testing?

Industry members are becoming increasingly concerned by the imminent arrival of MOT computerisation. However, government association representatives have contradicted these uncertainties by claiming that historically this was not the view of the trade. The Vehicle Operating Service Agency maintains that computerisation was introduced in accordance with the trade’s past response that it was the answer to improving the standards of the MOT test. Whichever side of the argument you are on one thing is certain – MOT computerisation is underway and will set the standard for future changes to build upon.

VOSA has been condemned for continuously delaying the delivery of the computerised system, and this in itself is increasing concerns about the system’s impact on businesses. The official line is that testing of the computerised system has been delayed by “slippage in SBS software.” VOSA spokesperson Miranda Roberts explained: “We have completed trial stage one of the introduction process and are currently installing the equipment into five test stations and 38 MOT garages. We will then begin a wider roll out involving more stations before the system goes live before the end of the year.” The agency predicts the roll out will take about six months to complete. The agency openly admits that some garages are experiencing problems with the software, and so VOSA is trying to make sure the equipment “fulfils all the requirements and is as effective as possible.”

When the system is cleared of all its glitches all 19,000 MOT testing stations will be provided with PCs, monitors and printers, and gas analysers will be fitted with a smart card reader. The equipment will be connected to a central database of vehicle information, test results and details of authorised examiners and testers. Access to the system is designed for authorised users only, via electronic smart cards and a password, however anyone with any computer experience knows how hard this method of security is to maintain in a hectic and pressurised work place.

The majority of mechanics disapprove of computerisation because of the cost and the fact that it has been forced on them, but more simply because it means change. Upgrading equipment will be a cost they didn’t budget for, although installation of the equipment is free, the consequences such as updating equipment are not.

3rd November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

MAM Aids MPD’s Expansion

MAM Software has signed a deal to supply its Autowork software to Motor Parts Direct Limited (MPD) for use in their garage programme.

1st November 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

TPMS On the Up as of 2005

The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) has proposed that tyre monitoring systems should be installed on 50 per cent of new vehicles sold after 1 September 2005, according to DB Global Equities New York.

The new proposal requires car manufacturers to install a direct tyre monitoring system to indicate when a tyre is more than 25 per cent under inflated and will eventually include 100 per cent of new cars by 1 September 2007. NHTSA estimates the cost of each device at between £26-40.

Industry representatives believe that by 2007 TPMS could grow to a $1 billion (£55 million) per year revenue opportunity. Currently there are at least five major auto parts suppliers competing in this segment of the market: Lear, Delphi, TRW, JCI and Continental. The announcement could also mean good news for Beru, a leading producer of direct measuring systems that provides software to Lear through a licensing fee agreement.

20th September 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

MAM Forge e-business Links with Bridgestone.

MAM Software has developed new e-business links with Bridgestone UK. The manufacturer’s account holders will now be able to order stock directly over the Internet, without the need for faxes, telephones or third-party software.

30th July 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Omitec Updates OmiScan

Omitec has expanded its OmiScan hand held diagnostic tool, to cover 29 manufacturers. The company’s new applications include additional coverage for Audi, MG Rover, Land Rover, SEAT, Vauxhall and VW, including EMS, Airbag and Chassis systems.

23rd July 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Mobiles make an impact; mobile phones that is …

On the truck side, and doubtless on the fleet car side in future, tyre management has become king in controlling ppk and fixed price tyre contracts. The computerised analysis of data is not an uncommon concept and many firms have been utilising computer data management for their tyre contracts for some time. The weak link in the chain has always been at the data collection end of the chain. Fitters or inspectors checking and recording tyre data with clipboards is a slow process, subject to much error and the vagaries of the weather. Once the data is collected it then needs to be keyed into the database, a laborious and tedious process subject to much potential for error. There are systems available where electronic data gathering is made possible with wireless connections from tyre depth gauges to PDAs thence to the computers back at base. However, there is a reluctance to buy into, or use, electronic data gathering equipment. Conventional tyre depth gauges and pressure gauges are still the tool of choice. This leaves the main element (manpower excluded) in data collection the point at which the data is actually collected. InfoRoute had what it believed to be the answer to tyre management software, but time and time again fleet tyre management people would listen keenly and respond to any presentation with the statement that “it is the data collection that is the weak point.”

InfoRoute realised that the challenge to be faced was not so much one of selling the software but creating and perfecting the data collection link to improve the collection and flow of tyre inspection data. This was the challenge InfoRoute faced. Truck Tyre Manager, a powerful tyre management PC program had already been developed but data input had to be automatic with no delays. The traditional data collection route could give information as much as six working days out of date. What was needed was a simple to use, readily accessed, cheap, weatherproof system.

InfoRoute found the ideal solution was already in use by every tyre fitter in the country: a mobile phone. Everyone already knows how to use a mobile phone, so that immediately removes acceptance, training, support and cost issues. One hand operation lets you check tyres and enter details at the same time. InfoRoute calls the system Inspector Link.

InfoRoute developed special programs to receive and send vehicle and inspection details between Truck Tyre Manager on the PC and the phone. Working closely with tyre fitters and managers InfoRoute designed single key input routines to guide the tyre inspector. First of all a vehicle is selected by entering the start of the registration or fleet number. The wheel configuration displays and the speedometer reading is entered. Then the front off side tyre is highlighted. Select the make, enter the depth and if there are no faults move on to the next tyre. If the tyre has a problem simple menus allow the inspector to pick a fault and select the action needed. At any time the inspection can be reviewed and altered. A “view actions” menu highlights vehicles needing attention. At any point the inspection can be completed and details transmitted back to the office. Vehicles not yet checked remain on the phone to be checked later.

The phone operates off line, so there is no connection charge while you are inspecting vehicles and it does not depend on having a signal. Inspector Link can be used anywhere. Protected by a weather proof case, fastened to the inspector wrist by a cord the unit can’t fall to the ground. So far InfoRoute has not had any equipment failures or breakages. It doesn’t need any special computer equipment to transmit data, it is just like sending a text. In about a minute you can send and receive details of hundreds of vehicles.

8th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

RL Automotive: Taking the high tech route

Whilst it was Digital data gathering that set the ball rolling for RL Automotive, today it caters for the tyre market’s every need.

RL Automotive is a far cry from the usual tyre parts supplier. Here is a business where, from the outset in 1998, technology was always going to be at its core. Unlike many opportunists who see the tyre industry as a market for their latest software packages, RL Automotive is much more directly linked to the tyre business and offers technology in such a way that even the most Luddite of mechanics (is that a contradiction in terms?) can understand the benefits.

It began with the understanding that the emphasis on tyre costs was moving away from the cheapest-to-buy policy, to the cheapest-to-run, cost-per-kilometre approach to tyres. The tyre management theory of extending tyre life through a proper monitoring and maintenance schedule is in itself nothing new, but it is something that can only truly be worked efficiently by using computers to analyse the data gathered.

With the advance of computer technology there is no difficulty in compiling statistics and generating maintenance schedules from the statistics. The problem lies in the gathering of the data. Amazingly, it is still being done manually onto bits of paper, often using “less than perfect” tread probes. The whole process leads to poor quality data on reams of paper that more often than not can not be analysed correctly. It is also a system which cannot function in wet weather!

Mark Longden, MD of RL Automotive, saw an opportunity to develop digital tyre reading equipment that made life simpler for the collector of the data. It also created a platform that can, with wireless technology, enter and then deliver data from the tyre depth gauge into the vehicle record back at base. Where relevant, this same information can then effortlessly be collated at Head Office and the information used in countless ways.

At the same time as developing this digital product range, the company has built up a mainstream Tyre Service Products distribution business by selecting high quality products from around the world.

11th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Recalls For DaimlerChrysler Vehicles

DaimlerChrysler has announced three recalls in North America, involving 1.2 million vehicles. The first involves 1.06 million LHS, 300M and Concorde models in the USA and 135,000 in Canada, after an investigation revealed that seat recliner bolts may loosen due to premature wear. Recall number two involves 23,000 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 diesel trucks, for reprogramming of the engine control software. The final recall affects 11,655 Chrysler and Plymouth Prowlers and replacement of the lower ball joint on the front suspension which may be in danger of separation because of corrosion.

18th February 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Agrees to Purchase Up to 1,000 Design Licenses

Michelin has agreed to purchase up to 1,000 licenses of SolidWorks three-dimensional computer-aided design (3D CAD) software to design new tyre manufacturing machines. Michelin expects SolidWorks to reduce its tyre manufacturing machine design time significantly throughout its global operations. It will also use SolidWorks to convert existing 2D designs to 3D and effectively communicate designs with customers, suppliers, and different departments in the company.

5th November 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Software Saves For Hayes Lemmerz

Software supplier MSC, working with Hayes Lemmerz, has reduced time and materials costs in automotive wheel manufacturing and design by using its MSC Acumen and MSC Fatigue software to perform durability analysis. Software simulation has allowed the design of lighter, longer lasting products which can save millions of dollars in manufacturing, maintenance and warranty costs. Khosrow Namdarian, senior structural analyst with Hayes-Lemmerz, stated “The advantage is that if you make 4 million of just one aluminium part per year and can save a quarter of a pound of aluminium per part, that adds up to one million pounds of aluminium saved in materials costs on just one part.”

18th April 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Modelling Software Devised By Sumitomo

In conjunction with the Japan Research Institute, Sumitomo Rubber Industries has developed tyre modelling software for car manufacturers. It is based on SRI’s existing DigiTire virtual design technology and features a simplified display that makes it simple to calculate properties such as tyre load.

20th March 2002/by Tyrepress Editors

E-Business Partner For Michelin USA

Michelin North America has selected Modern Media, a e-retail software specialist to develop its B2C initiative in North America. Michelin North America Inc’s Debra Track said, “Modern Media will help us create a platform that will allow us to go after a new generation of consumers that don’t necessarily use traditional media in their shopping habits”. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

Software For The Tyre Trade

Despite all the joint-ventures, take-overs and mergers within the tyre industry, the number of tyre brands, types and dimensions offered by tyre trade is continually rising. As customers’ demands are increasing too, it is no longer an easy task to sell black round rubber tyres. Additional services, covering car service as well, are required more than ever before. Where the tyre trade could easily lose track, simple computer software could solve the problem. However, we have realised several times, especially within our series of visits to tyre trade sites – and recently at a shop in Dortmund – that there are still some “dinosaurs” among the dealers who prefer file-card boxes, lists, card indices and similar things to computer files, not only for placing an order for a potential customer but for stocktaking. This is not automatically a disadvantage, but it raises the question if it is an exception or, if on principle EDP is not as accepted in the tyre business as in other business sectors. “Within the tyre trade EDP goes without question” so say the software producers, while developing new challenges such as integrating internet and e-commerce into their programmes. In interviews with some suppliers, NEUE REIFENZEITUNG has been looking into this and other trends concerning EDP and the tyre trade.

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors

With Good Marketing You Can Be Successful

HMI (short for Trade Marketing Initiative) is a special relationship between the tyre trade and the industry, offered in Germany only by Goodyear. The marketing programme has been widened over the past year; for example the long-awaited Tyre Soft 2 software is now available at long last. At the annual meeting in Sonthofen, Mr. Zubanovic, managing director of Goodyear Handels Systeme GmbH, expressed little concern despite the problems the organisation is facing. He said that the tyre trade has to go for growth and seize every opportunity to expand – dealers who do not will prove to be uncompetitive in the long run. Goodyear MD Jarro Kaplan, who is president of Goodyear Eastern Europe, pointed out that teamwork with Goodyear is beneficial because it “always guarantees the trade a good year.”

30th November 2001/by Tyrepress Editors