Micheldever is continuing to build its motorcycle tyre wholesale operation with the recruitment of Paul Furlong as Motorcycle Brand Manager. Paul has 12 years industry experience in the motorcycle tyre niche, most recently working for one of the largest bike tyre wholesalers where he was responsible for winning and maintaining some of their largest accounts.
Euro Car Parts has launched a range of garage tools and equipment for the garage owner & auto technician. The range includes automotive hand tools, general tools and specialist tools. The extensive stock range is held at 60 branches of Euro Car Parts is available on a same day or next day delivery to any location in the UK.
Going by the name of Hercules, the brand covers LED Cordless rechargeable inspection lamps, Cooling System & Cap Testing Kits to 3 ton Professional Trolley Jacks, Wrench sets, Drain Keys and Auto Probes. The range is exclusive to Euro Car Parts.
East of England specialist Kingsway Tyres is making tracks for an all Mercedes-Benz fleet of vans. The firm has bought 10 Long-bodied Sprinter 311CDIs already this year, and now plans to convert its entire fleet of nearly 100 vans. Kingsway Tyres previously ran Mercedes vehicles, but then bought a number of vans from a rival manufacturer. It has now gone back to Boston dealer H and L Garages with a series of orders for high-roofed Sprinter vans and Sprinter chassis cabs fitted with dropside bodies by McComb Coachworks in Lincolnshire.
Kingsway Tyres offers a repair and replacement service for all kinds of vehicle tyres. A subsidiary of Bridgestone Tyres, it has a main base in Stamford plus 17 depots across the east of England; all of the vehicles are commissioned and fitted out at its Peterborough depot.
Snap-on has appoint Chris Behan (43) as UK general manager. In this role Behan will have responsibility for the sales service and administrative activities for both Hofmann and John Bean.
“Chris is a proven and seasoned sales leader in the UK having demonstrated general management success in expanding UK markets for German and US produced industrial products,” said Thomas L Kassouf, president, Snap-on Equipment. He joins Nap-on with extensive experience in the power tools sector having workted with A&M Electric, Atlas Copco and AEG. Most recently he acted in the capacity of general manager for fastener distribution company, Tornado Fixings.”
“I believe that the Snap-on Equipment heritage is second to none,” said Behan, adding: “My aim is to build upon the equity of both the Hofmann and John Bean brands to maintain a clear brand direction and differentiation within the UK automotive wheel and service equipment market. Going forward we will be unveiling a fresh marketing strategy to support our customers in the UK automotive market. I am entirely confident that the same quality products and customer service will be behind our energetic new look.”
Most new vehicles now come fitted with some type of tyre pressure monitoring system, and legislation calling for the compulsory fitment of such units is not too far off in some parts of the world. However merely detecting changes in tyre pressure could easily be viewed as a half measure – why not also correct the pressure?
The technology involved in the automatic sensing and re-inflation of tyres with insufficient pressure is not new. Military vehicles have employed systems doing exactly that for years, HGVs are often fitted with this type of technology and Pirelli designed a re-inflation unit for motorcyclists in 2004. But as yet automatic re-inflation systems have not found a place on mainstream passenger car equipment lists. Efforts earlier in the decade that appeared to promise the imminent arrival of re-inflation technology for passenger cars, such as Michelin’s TIPM (Tire Intelligent Pressure Management) system – originally marked down for a 2005 release – turned out to be optimistic thinking. Following Michelin’s ever-deeper involvement with its EnTire Solutions joint venture, founded in 2003, very little has been heard about its once vaunted TIPM system.
Thieves have stolen £7,000 worth of equipment from a tyre centre in Bletchley. The offenders forced a container door at what is believed to have been Bletchley Tyres in Buckingham Road. They stole approximately 46 new tyres, including two fork lift truck tyres, worth nearly £6,000, before breaking into a company van and stealing tools worth £1,000.
In Woking a tyre outlet became the target of an arson attack early on Monday April 16. The fire, lit in front of Hi-Q Tyre Services destroyed a Peugeot motor scooter and a Rover car parked in the forecourt, and a company sign was also damaged.
The fire was extinguished by firefighters at 3.30am. An estimated £1,300 damage was inflicted on the vehicles. The fire is believed to be connected to activities in a neighbouring alleyway that is used by youths selling and taking drugs. Hi-Q manager Ian Cameron told a local newspaper, the Woking News and Mail, that “I would imagine it is the kids that hang around in the alleyway there. We have problems with all the drug-taking that is going on there.”
Mr Cameron, who owned the destroyed scooter, believes the arsonists set fire to a protective cover placed over the scooter and the fire spread from there to the Rover parked alongside. The Rover belonged to a Hi-Q customer.
On April 1 Michelin Aircraft Tire Company in the US launched a promotion through its Authorized Service Centers intended to lure potential customers over to the French brand. The “Upgrade to Michelin” program tempts customers with an 20 per cent instant rebate should they choose to convert all the main landing gear tyres on their aircraft from a competitor’s brand to Michelin. Those converting all main and nose landing gear tyres on their aircraft will receive a 25 per cent discount on the purchase price of their Michelin tyres.
Terry Schultz, director of general aviation sales for the Michelin Aircraft Tire Company believes that the program “challenges existing centres to utilise the tools and resources we have designed to expand their sales and receive rewards in return.” The offer covers purchases of Michelin AIR X, Michelin Air, and Michelin Aviator products.
D Marsh Company, Inc. has announced an agreement with Uni-Select, Inc. to supply its line of NIflate99 Nitrogen Inflators. “Replacing air in tyres with Nitrogen is becoming big business for our customers,” said Denis Brault, Uni-Select National Tool & Equipment Manager. “D Marsh Company is the leading manufacturer of inflators that use 99.9% pure Nitrogen. Costs of their inflators are much lower than Nitrogen generators,” he added. Uni-Select will offer five NIflate99 Inflator models.
D Marsh Company, Inc. is a privately held company with headquarters in Marne, MI. Uni-Select is Canada’s second largest distributor of automotive replacement parts, equipment, tools and accessories and through Uni-Select USA, Inc.; the company also provides service to customers in the United States where it is the eighth largest distributor.
UK based supplier of tyre industry electronic data capture technology Pneu-Logic Ltd has entered into a joint technology development and marketing agreement with American UHF tag reading technology supplier Advanced ID Corporation. The agreement will lead to an integration of the two company’s tyre identification and inspection technologies, and it is hoped their combined effort will provide the tyre industry with the first commercially available fully mobile means of delivering unique tyre identification and inspection to business systems in real time.
A unique new commercial tool is set to transform the way companies go about acquiring other businesses, according to its developers. VIBE, which has been devised by Plimsoll Publishing, draws on a database of information covering virtually every company in Britain and Northern Ireland. It shows at a glance if a company is ripe for takeover – and why.
Atlas Copco has received conditional approval from the anti-trust authorities to acquire the Industrial Division of the ABAC Group. It had a turnover in 2006 of approximately 190 million euros and some 650 employees. The estimated operating profit margin in 2006 was around 10 per cent. The acquisition is scheduled to close on 2 April.
(Akron/Tire Review) Snap-on won seven 2006 Technicians’ Choice Awards from global consulting company Frost & Sullivan. The awards, which measure the tool preferences of automotive technicians in the U.S. and the U.K., will be formally presented at Frost & Sullivan’s annual 2007 Best Practices Awards Banquet on Feb. 7 in Anaheim, Calif.
As Harvie Prema enters its third year under new ownership the company’s planned expansion continues with the employment of a new sales manager, Mark Prince. Prince joins Harvie bringing with him a vast level of experience from the Tyre industry. Additionally, new area salesmen Neil Clatworthy takes responsibility of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Berkshire. Richard Stevenson will service the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Neil Bale will represent South London, East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent and Surrey.
A recent survey from Norbar Torque Tools has revealed a worrying lack of awareness of the importance of properly maintaining torque-controlled tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers, with 24 per cent of respondents admitting that they never calibrated their torque tools.
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