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REIFEN ESSEN
Billas – Moving into Retread Supplies
added, was very strong and very positive with large Israeli fleets block buying retreading. As an example he quoted that the main Israeli bus fleet operates some 4,000 buses, which all run on retread tyres, thus providing a steady demand for retread materials in the home market.
As far as Europe is concerned, Amnon reported that, whilst business was steady, the economic issues in
Europe were restricting the market at the moment. Uncertainty over the Euro was harming business, and austerity programmes across Europe had slowed down development and as a consequence the market was flat. However, he was happy to tell retreading Business that Ein Shemer was continuing to serve its existing clients throughout Europe despite the current financial crisis.
Billas, the Turkish rubber processor and manufacturer of two wheeler tyres, has moved into retread supplies and took a stand at Essen to promote their products and meet new clients,
both as customers and suppliers. The company is still exploring the market and is a small Turkish producer based in Izmir, but it has plans to grow both to serve the Turkish and the Middle Eastern and North African markets. Materials available from Billas include hot cure and cold cure materials extruder rope, cushion
gum, wicking pads and a range of 24 pre-cure treads for truck and OTR application under the Maxigold brand name.
Ein Shemer – Beating the Odds
This correspondent once visited an Israeli company and the very first thing they did on making a presentation was highlight the countries that they could not deal with. Essentially, they showed an isolated state that had virtually no trade with its neighbours, so had to strive to export.
Times have changed but essentially the story remains the same for Israeli- based Ein Shemer who have become specialists in supplying rubber products to the domestic market, covering such diverse areas as low pressure hoses, seals and profiles, industrial products and tyre
retreading materials including camelback, orbitread strips, cushion gum tread gum, extruder rope and of course a diverse range of tread patterns.
Amnon Mor, Ein Shemer’s export manager told Retreading Business that the 2012 show was a big improvement on the previous event. There were perhaps fewer people visiting the stand but the quality of contact was higher and he had greater hopes of increasing business after the show. In fact, one new client had placed an order at the show.
Amnon also explained that the company now had clients in the
Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, and also served the Palestinian territory: Though, currently, he reported that the Jordanian fleets were having some difficulty as a consequence both of the economic climate and local difficulties in neighbouring Syria, whilst Iraq had not yet truly recovered its trading role. The Domestic market, he
B&J Quality Plus
Andreas Muller was keen to highlight the introduction of the B&J Quality Plus branding for the company. “This is a device to show our customers what we are doing every day in terms of quality. It is not just about the products, but it is also about the communications and the service that we offer. Quality plus is what differentiates B&J from the competition.
“Quality Plus lists our standards and what we can do for our customers. It opens us up to the customers and shows them how modern we are. The Company operates to meet customer expectations, and that is shown in out plan for Quality Plus, on the factory side we aim for the best possible supplier selection, we pre-check all incoming goods and we operate in an economic and environmentally friendly way with full recording and traceability, process control, backed up by lab tests, training and final inspection for all goods leaving the factory.
“On the office and sales side of the business we aim for responsible management, personal contact with feedback and evaluation, on time delivery and availability, with information and support on products and services that we offer. We also aim for a high level of communication that includes product training for clients’ staff and a unique service network for our products.
“All this is set out on our web site
and in our 2012 catalogue.”
Asked about the show, Andreas was happy to be present, “We don’t come to the show expecting to sell off the stand. Yes, we take a few orders, but these shows are about people time, meeting clients and suppliers all in one convenient location. It is more of a social gathering than a hard sell campaign. We can be a little relaxed, our clients can sit back and take some time out with us. We don’t put any pressure on people at Reifen. Sometimes we get someone wanting to buy off the stand and we have to say sorry, these are display items, if you want to buy them from the show then you need to come back on Friday when we are packing up, but really, we don’t put the products on show with the aim of selling here. We want to just meet people and tell them about our quality of service.”
One of the key points about product quality that puts B&J ahead of the competition is the development of a fully automated production process. A series of robots manufacture the carbide wheels ensuring complete uniformity, as Andreas Muller puts it, “Robots have no Monday mornings or Friday afternoons. “ He adds, “There have been no job losses as a result of the automation of the plant, staff have been relocated, or have retired, but no-on has been paid off. The staff see the investment in the robotics as an investment in their future at the company.”