A tyre warehouse and distribution facility leased by Cooper Tire & Rubber in the USA sustained damage during a tornado just over a week ago, and as a result is currently out of operation. The site in Albany, Georgia was damaged on 22 January, and customer orders are being rerouted to other facilities.
Cooper Tire Europe has opened a new 211,000sqft UK warehouse, with the capacity to store 400,000 tyres, in Swindon. Cooper stores Cooper and Avon brand tyres at the Spectrum Building, with the new facility already being fully operational. The Spectrum Building, designed by British architect Norman Foster, first opened in 1982 and was used as a backdrop in the James Bond film A View To A Kill in 1984.
Increasing sales can create pressure at specific points along a company’s distribution chain, and Heuver Tyrewholesale reports that sales growth over the past year did just that at its warehouse in Hardenberg, the Netherlands. According to the wholesaler, capacity issues “endangered the delivery times promised to customers.” In response, Heuver Tyrewholesale examined the layout of its warehouse, and has installed a tailor-made storage rack that increases warehouse capacity by 3,000 square metres.
As owner and operator of the largest dedicated automotive stock holding and distribution centre for automotive emission control products in Europe, Klarius has embraced virtual warehousing as a route to efficient stock management. Charles Greaves has been managing director at the Staffordshire HQ for several years and shares his first-hand experience with the benefits of the system.
When looking for new premises for its expanding wholesale operation, Grouptyre member ETB looked no further than across the road from its existing site in St Austell. The 35-year old family-run company services tyre retailers across the South West, Mid and South Wales and the Midlands from its four warehouses which are located in Worcester, Exeter, Bridgend and St Austell.
Harvie Tyres has relocated its team, warehousing and logistics operation to a new sales and distribution hub in Blackpool, following two years of planning and organisation. The new offices, ample warehousing, modern conference facilities and customer/staff car parking has received positive feedback from customers and employees. Harvie states that the facilities offer a significantly enhanced working practice and significant logistical improvements.
The warehouse at one of the two Michelin factories fully dedicated to the production of BFGoodrich tyres will more than treble in size through a US$8 million investment. Michelin North America shares that the warehouse of its BFGoodrich factory in Tuscaloosa (Alabama, USA) will increase from 29,000 square feet to 92,000 square feet (8,550 square metres). This expansion will result in a storage capacity more than nine times greater than at present. Construction work on the project begins in August and is expected to be completed early next year, with the enlarged warehouse operational in the second quarter of 2017.
Exol Lubricants has introduced an additional eight-head Masterfil filling machine at its Wednesbury facility, enhancing the efficiency and production capacity of small pack products. The Adelphi Masterfil is designed to offer flexibility of filling volumes, handling both low and high viscosity liquids. The machine’s adjustable nozzles enable the fill of products with variable speed filling capacity.
Independent tyre distributor and one of Grouptyre’s 10 member EG Wholesale has opened its new warehouse in Partridge Green, West Sussex. Colin Obbard, operations and logistics manager said, “It has been a long time coming finding a suitable location for an expanding wholesale operation.” Grouptyre states that “continued investment” by members, “such as new warehousing, is one of the primary reasons for the continual growth of the company, who consistently strive to offer more to the retailer.” EG Wholesale is a division of a motor trade group that has petrol stations, convenience stores, property rentals and workshops. The family run business has been in business for over 40 years with a turnover of £48m and 230 members of staff.
Having previously been a relatively influential part of the UK truck and bus tyre business, Kumho has spent the last year or so rejuvenating its distribution, products and personnel in this area with a view to relaunching this part of its portfolio in line with the growth of the wider company. That’s why Tyres & Accessories visited the company’s large Lutterworth, Leicestershire distribution centre in February in order to learn more.
Grouptyre opened new warehousing facilities in Tyne and Wear in September, joining other recent additions in Aylesbury, Brentwood, Leeds and Worcester over the last 12 months – a busy period for the company. In addition to this investment in its physical infrastructure, 2014 also saw the wholesale group launch an improved e-Commerce facility, Tyres Online, on which more information is presented in the Online Tyre Business section of this issue.
Pirelli has opened an expanded warehouse facility at its Carlisle factory. The move is part of a continued commitment by the company to make significant investment at the Dalston Road site. The new extension, built onto an existing unit, will provide much needed additional storage space for the premium SUV tyres that are manufactured there.
Singapore-based Stamford Tyres has officially opened its new £15 million Commercial Tyre Centre and warehouse at its headquarters in Jurong. The company says this new complex supports its existing facility at the site and will have a staff of 85 people. The all-new centre was constructed at a cost of £12.2 million, while a further £2.8 million has been invested in equipment, including six service bays for trucks offering ‘full life cycle’ facilities along with eight loading and unloading container bays.
It is now two years since Starco’s solid tyre factory in Sri Lanka entered operation. The first product line manufactured there was the premium Tusker range, and this was joined by the Unicorn standard line-up this year. Starco reports that the complete Unicorn range is now in stock within its Central Warehouse in Germany and available for next-day delivery to many locations.
Netherlands-headquartered off-road tyre company Magna Tyres has appointed Latvian wholesaler SIA Latakko its exclusive distributor in the Baltic States region. The two companies had previously enjoyed what Magna calls a “steady and fruitful business cooperation” over a period of several years, and based on this positive experience both companies agreed an exclusive dealership in order to boost the sales of Magna mobile crane tyres, earthmover tyres and port handling tyres in the Baltic region, particularly in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
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