Tamil Nadu based L G Balakrishnan & Bros (LGB) tyre retread subsidiary Super Transport (P) Ltd says it is currently working on a strategy to operate its retread plants to their maximum capacity.
Tamil Nadu Retreader to Expand Coverage
“We have three retread sites with around 3,500 capacity in total, but we are currently producing about 2,500 tyres in a month only,” said V R Venkateswaran, Asst, General Manager, Super Transports (P) Limited. “We are now working on a strategy to further increase the size of the market by serving almost double the area we are covering right now,” he added.
The company’s three plants are based in Karur, Namakkal and Dindigul in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. “We are working on increasing the market size from the current 100 km to 175 km in order to increase volumes,” said Venkateswaran.
The Karur and Dindigul based sites retread about 700 tyres each per month, whilst the Namakkal factory retreads about 500 tyres each month. Namakkal retreads only truck tyres, while the Karur and Dindigul plants retread both truck and LCV tyres.
As part of its strategy to cover each market segment, Super Transports is also planning to focus on small and individual customers instead of focusing solely on the large fleets. “The objective is not merely to increase volumes but also to find customers that pay on time,” he explained.
As part of a modernisation process, Super Transports has already switched from steam bonders to electric chambers with each production unit being installed with one 8-tyre chamber and one 2-tyre chamber in case of emergency.
Super Transports source all its tread rubber and consumables from Elgi in addition to plant machinery supplied by the Coimbatore headquartered firm in all the three plants.
On growth plans, he said, “We were down by almost 30% last year but hope to improve by 20% this year.”
