With impeccable timing during the current cold snap, Pirelli and the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy have got together to help learner drivers become more aware of the risks of hazardous driving conditions.
Pirelli has supplied the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy’s fleet of A-Class cars with Pirelli Cold Weather tyres to help raise awareness of the importance of preparing your vehicle before the onset of wintery road conditions.
Those wishing for a greater mastery over the tyre business may benefit from a new bespoke training course Bridgestone UK is starting to roll out. The tyre maker says it intends to create industry-renowned ‘tyre geniuses’ with expertise across all aspects of the tyre sector through its training, which it calls the Genius Training Development programme. According to Bridgestone, the Genius Training Development programme is the first of its kind to provide a clearly defined development structure and is the most comprehensive of its type within the industry. The programme was launched on 31 January, with 30 people from a broad spectrum of tyre companies taking part in the inaugural training sessions.
Mitas has cured the first test tyre at its new Charles City, USA facility, which is currently in the testing phase. “Mitas can make tyres in Iowa,” said Pavel Charvat, president and plant director. “This test tyre is the first tyre produced by Mitas on the American continent. Now, Mitas is tweaking the machinery, streamlining processes and training workers for the Charles City plant to be ready for serial production in April.” The exact date of the official opening of the plant and start of serial production will be announced in due course.
Snap-on is running the seventh and eighth in its series of highly successful TechEd seminars – ‘Basic Engine Diagnostics’ and ‘Air Conditioning & Climate Control’ – the first six of which have attracted well over 25,000 paying attendees over the past five and a half years.
Ian Harris, 27, has joined The Bandvulc Group the UK’s leading independent retread tyre manufacturer. He joins from a local company having gained previous commercial B2B skills in a different market.
Commenting on his appointment Harris commented: “I am delighted to have joined Bandvulc. My family has had an association with the company as my father worked here for 25 years. The role is exciting as it involves all aspects of the commercial activity which is a much wider role than I had previously.”
Snap-on Tools has announced the appointment of Lisa Law as its new UK franchise manager. In her new role Law will be responsible for growing and improving the quality of the Snap-on network of franchisees in the UK. She will also be responsible for regulatory and compliance issues with regard to the existing successful Snap-on Tools business format, which has seen them as previous winners of the BFA Franchisor of the Year Award sponsored by The Daily Express and HSBC Bank.
BeeBee Garage Equipment are the latest recruits to the expanding Trade Garage Equipment Group. BeeBee is aiming to become the key player in the garage and MOT equipment market in the Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex areas. Sales & Service Manager of BeeBee Garage Equipment Nigel Clarke, explained the reason for joining the group. "We at BeeBee have been impressed by the way the Trade Garage Equipment Group have grown and established themselves as the leading players in the UK garage equipment market. We like the way they operate with national coverage but with a local service; this fits in perfectly with the way we do business and we see a great opportunity to benefit from the wide experience and expertise of the group members.
Alignment machinery manufacturer Hunter has been recognised for its technological innovation at SEMA. The company was presented with the 2011 North American Frost & Sullivan ‘Technology Innovation Award’ for its Elite TD alignment system. The award was presented to Hunter executive vice president Nick Colarelli by Frost & Sullivan programme leader Stephen Spivey. The system is distributed in the UK by Pro-Align.
The Tire Industry Association has posted the newly released charts from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration on its website. Commercial truck tyre service providers in the US are required by 29 CFR 1910.177 to have a copy of these charts in every service area, which includes mobile service trucks. Previously a two-chart set, OSHA added a third chart so the procedures for demounting, mounting and inflating single and multi-piece assemblies could be addressed separately.
Bosch Aftermarket, the division of the German company responsible for supplying diagnostic garage equipment, training and the Bosch Car Service network, has appointed Dominic Moran its new country sales manager for the UK and Ireland. Moran, who begins in the position on 1 January 2012, moves to the UK from his current Aftermarket role as regional sales manager for the Bosch Group in Australia; he brings with him, notes Bosch, significant experience from previous sales roles within the consumer hardware and automotive sectors.
HiQ reports having hit a memorable milestone with the ATA accreditation of its 100th fast fit technician. The tech that gave HiQ its ‘ton’ was Matt Robinson from HiQ Frome; he was congratulated for passing the qualification and accepted an award marking the milestone at HiQ’s national franchise conference in Surrey.
Pirelli & C. SpA has reported that in the nine months ending 30 September 2011, the tyre manufacturing group saw "all economic indicators improved over the period," with revenues growing by 17.9 per cent to 4,265.8 million euros and profitability – understood as the ratio of the operating result to sales – by 10.6 per cent.
It isn’t easy attracting new staff to the world of commercial tyre fitting; indeed both leading and independent service providers report finding it difficult to recruit young, enthusiastic candidates. But for its part Tyre Maintenance is committing to partner with one of the UK’s leading training organisations, Remit (Retail Motor Industry Training).
Bridgestone reports its ISO 14001 certification for all its European tyre plants has been completed one year ahead of its own internal target. The final certification was granted to its commercial vehicle tyre retreading subsidiary, Lincolnshire-based Bulldog Remoulds Ltd, in August 2011. This means that, some 12 years after the tyre maker began its European certification programme, all 13 Bridgestone Group plants in Europe employing more than 50 people are now ISO 14001 certified.
The Dunlop Tyres Motorcycle division has announced that its former design engineer Mark Sears will take up a new role as product support manager from 1 October 2011. Sears has 23 years of experience with Dunlop, having joined the company as an apprentice in 1988. He replaces Bryn Phillips directly in his latest role.
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