Years of work in the field of tyre recovery and in the tyre industry as a whole has earned Michelin Tyre PLC managing director Jim Rickard a lifetime achievement award from the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA). Rickard is the first ever recipient of this award from the association, which he received at the recent TRA annual dinner in front of more than 100 distinguished guests from the tyre recovery industry.
As a regular exhibitor at the Brityrex Show, Southampton based Supertracker will once again be present in Manchester in October, this time introducing a recently launched Steering Angle Reset Tool which was released in May. Sharing details of its Brityrex exhibition stand, the firm said this tool has been developed in direct response to the industry's increasing popularity for steering angle sensors on modern vehicles. This latest Supertracker product allows the user to reset the sensor to the correct wheel alignment settings and ensures that any stability control electronics to operate correctly.
Manbat is exhibiting at Brityrex 2010 in Manchester this October with the express intention of making the tyre trade aware of the excellent profit opportunities that battery sales offer the tyre industry. Manbat’s marketing manager, Myles Pemberton explained: “Many sectors of the aftermarket do extremely well out of selling batteries, but the tyre trade lags far behind. However, if shouldn’t be this way because of the sheer number of vehicles, each of which is a genuine sales opportunity, that pass through the average fast-fit on a daily basis.”
According to Pemberton, the purpose of exhibiting at Brityrex is to speak with tyre professionals and explain how they can start selling batteries if they don’t offer them at the moment, or “how simple it is to increase sales and therefore revenue,” if they currently only sell a few.
Hankook Tire has established a Global Education Center in Korea, a facility it says is intended to “collaborate and foster the company's production system.” Located within the tyre maker’s Daejeon plant, the new centre is intended to enhance the skills and abilities of staff working in production and other positions at factories in Korea, China, Hungary, as well as in plants Hankook intends to set up in the future. Through the Global Education Center, Hankook Tire expects to strengthen collaboration between members of its global production network, thereby ensuring production quality is of a unified standard.
Michelin is holding the Bath Stone Group as an example of the value of opting for quality, premium tyres. According to the tyre maker, the Bath Stone Group is benefitting from a change in tyre policy that has seen tyre longevity on its underground loader shovels rise by 800 per cent, thereby significantly increasing productivity at its Stoke Hill Mine.
Cam Systems has appointed Kate Neill as pre-sales consultant to drive the launch of its new commercial tyre product suite. Reporting to Steve Daly, commercial director, her appointment is intended to enhance the organisation’s expertise and ensure client expectations are exceeded at all times.
Cheshire’s Oulton Park was the latest venue for the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, hosting around 35,000 racing fans. Among those fans were more than 25 of the North West region’s top tyre experts, attending the Dunlop BTCC Masterclass; an exclusive course for technicians run by the same Senior Engineers that service the Dunlop tyres for BTCC stars such as Jason Plato and Matt Neal.
Kwik-Fit is has announced plans to invest over £100,000 in installing computer training stations to support staff in their learning and development programmes at branches across Scotland. The investment comes as the company begins a recruitment drive, looking to take on up to 100 new staff in Scotland. 40 of these are expected to be employed in Glasgow and this week Kwik-Fit will be holding an open day at the Fielden Street centre for those interested in learning more.
Paul Boulton, operations director at Kwik-Fit, who originally joined the company as a fitter, said: “The skills of our staff are the most important factor in our commitment to first class customer service. The new training centres are just one way in which we ensure our employees can fulfil their true potential within Kwik-Fit. Our staff have the opportunity to rise all the way to the top of the business, and the fact that the management team includes people who started as apprentices is testament to that fact.”
Liberia based Firestone Natural Rubber Company (FSNR) recently worked with a team from Children’s Surgery International to provide 142 free operations on underprivileged youths at the company’s Firestone Medical Center in Duside. The 300 bed hospital, reopened in December 2008 after being destroyed during Liberia’s civil war, provides free health care to Firestone Natural Rubber employees and their families plus health services to the wider community.
Ayce Systems, one of the country’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of SMART repair systems to the motor industry has moved its Yorkshire headquarters from Skipton, down the Aire Valley, to larger premises in Keighley. As well as providing considerably more office space the modern building is said to have “much better meeting and training facilities.”
Manchester United’s legendary Old Trafford ground turned into a ‘Theatre of Road Safety’ ahead of the game versus Tottenham on Saturday 24 April with some very special guests in attendance to help launch ‘Play Safer’. Developed by Kumho Tyres and the MU Foundation, in conjunction with Greater Manchester Police, ‘Play Safer’ is a new football skills and road safety training programme for children aged five to 11 years. ‘Play Safer’ is said to be the only programme of its kind in the world as it uses the skills of professional footballers – such as vision, awareness, anticipation and control – to teach kids about road safety, which makes it a fun, effective way to save lives. There are 10 road safety skill cards to collect in total, featuring tips such as ‘Control it like Berbatov’ and ‘Play it safe like Van der Sar’.
Bridgestone’s Biker’s Club network of motorcycle tyre dealerships has a new business development manager. Neil Barrett will be working alongside sales manager Andy Whitehead to support all dealers and to facilitate their business development through promotions and a comprehensive training programme. He has 20 years experience in the motor and tyre trade. The appointment is described by Bridgestone as “a significant investment to further support and grow the Biker’s Club network.”
Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) has European MOT group, CITA. “MOTs are a high priority for independent garages, therefore it is vital that the RMI plays a full and active role in CITA, The leading European body for vehicle inspection,” said Steve Coles, the RMI’s Head of MOT Technical Operations.
Launched in 2009, BFGoodrich’s Mud-Terrain KM2 proved to be an excellent brand on which to learn new off-road skills when a 4×4 neophyte from Tyres & Accessories tried out the rubber in muddy Warwickshire countryside (see Related News). Now, TV chef Richard Fox and actor Neil Morrissey have used the product to hone their skills with off road driving experts Yorkshire 4×4 in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, in preparation for their next TV adventure heading out to Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Yorkshire 4×4 delivered the training using the newest addition to their fleet, a 2010 110 TDCI Land Rover Defender, which was fitted with BFGoodrich Mud Terrain KM2 tyres to replace the original equipment road-biased tyres.
Conservative estimates from Supertracker place the daily number of wheel alignments carried out using its equipment at around 18,000. Therefore the company has no doubt that training in the correct and most efficient use of the machinery has never been so important for the industry.
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