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INDIAN RUBBER EXPO
car tyres in one minute, offers a number of savings, resulting in a payback in a maximum of two years. To begin with, the machine automatically applies sidewall rubber through its two sidewalling units so that labour cost for sidewall has now been reduced to zero. The fact that the sidewall doesn’t need cement further reduces costs, helping keep matrices clean and making a contribution to the environment. According to TRM, companies using the Black Dragon can expect to save 20per cent in sidewall veneer, mainly in the shoulder area of the tyre. Overall, says TRM, the machine can carr y out the work of 3-4 people. The machine is suitable for car and truck tyres but in the first instance has been bought by a number of Europe’s leading car tyre retreaders
The Marangoni Sfera 3003 is a complete inspection unit designed for larger retreaders using Marangoni’s Ring Tread System. The key benefit is that it has three heads, which allow the tread and the sidewall to be scanned at the same time, meaning the tyre does not need to be rotated and therefore reducing inspection time.
One of the new machines being promoted by SD Meccanica is the Crater Tyre skiving machine. This is a fully automatic skiving machine in which the skiving is carried out by robot. The operator only has to supervise the operation and carry out the load/unload process. Benefits of the machine include less worker turnover due to the elimination of the dirtiest and most unpleasant aspects of skiving, better quality standards, time saving, a decrease in post- production waste, increased uniformity of process and a decrease in worker injuries. Average production of the Crater Tyre Skiver is 10 tyres per hour based on a 385/65 R 22.5 casing requiring 10 skives.
One of Matteuzzi’s latest innovations is the Tilting Rotator 45, a skiving station aimed at larger retreaders for whom labour efficiency and worker safety are paramount. The tilting rotator was originally supplied together with a skiving unit but it is apparently more popular as a stand alone unit.
As well as being used for skiving, it is also useful for putting reinforcements on the shoulder area of tyres. Icouldgoon,butIthinkitis clear from these few examples that the latest technological innovations in retreading are aimed at reducing production time and therefore increasing efficiency as well as improving working conditions for retread operatives.
A key area, though is the area of inspection and it would be remiss of me to continue without giving a mentioning the importance of shearography.
A retread is only as good as the casing it’s on and for that reason it’s true to say that the three most important aspects of retreading are INSPECTION, INSPECTION and INSPECTION. (Initial, secondar y and final.) Many medium retreaders not only in developed countries but also in many other less developed countries are using shearography now.
Entr y level shearography equipment now comes in at around 70,000 Euros, which is still a fair chunk of money even for a medium sized retreader. With casings becoming scarcer it’s no exaggeration to say that one of the most important areas of technological development in future will be in the area of how to develop affordable inspection technology for SME retreaders. So we’ve now had a look at what’s happened in the major developed markets in the last few years. Let’s look know at what’s likely to happen in India. Radialisation in the rest of world currently stands at around 70per cent. However, this figure has traditionally been much lower in India. The latest figures I have is that radialisation in the truck market is about 14per cent but it is now growing apace. It was only 1per cent in 2005 but grew to 5per cent in 2008, 10per cent in 2012 and is expected to hit 20per cent by the end of this year and 50per cent by 2020. There have been a number of reasons for the slow rate of change in India – poor road conditions, truck overloading and a general ignorance of the benefits of radials being just some of these reasons. However,
there are now several reasons why radialisation has started to grow.
Firstly, there has been a growth in the share of multi-axle trucks with the catching up of the concept of 'hub & spoke' transportation.
National Highway Projects, especially the Golden Quadrilateral Project coupled with the improved condition of the road network in general is conducive to growth in radials as well as the growth of retreading.
Government action on overloading is starting to have an effect.
There has also been a response by domestic manufacturers to the success achieved by cheap Chinese radials, forcing local manufacturers to develop the radial sector.
There has also been a major effort by the major international manufacturers to educate with regards to the benefits of radial tyres. This has been backed up by the announcements of major investment plans for radial plants from the likes of Michelin and Bridgestone.
All this suggests growth for the retreading industr y.
However, a large proportion of the retreading industr y is disorganised. The question, therefore is how to create a modern retreading industr y India that meets the quality requirements of a quickly evolving radial tyre market. Clearly the only way forward for
study course that is approved by the City and Guilds of London Institute called the Certificate in Retread Process Workshop Practice. This course has been successfully run by larger retreaders in the UK for their staff. The retreaders run
sessions once a week with their operatives based on the RMA’s technical manual. At the end of it the workshop operatives obtain a formal qualification in retreading from a recognised educational body. This course is open to retreaders anywhere in the world and ever y year retreaders from developing markets are taking the course. On the subject of retreading machiner y, as I’ve already indicated, some will take on state of the art equipment, which is good. However, the majority won’t and will aim for more economic but perfectly adequate equipment. As I’ve already mentioned many good equipment suppliers have excellent ranges of equipment adapted to the requirements of developing markets. But, I emphasise, it’s the training and correct use of that equipment that’s vital.
Also vital is customer education on issues such as tyre maintenance, overloading and the awareness of cost per mile. There is a need for tyre manufacturers, dealers and retread material suppliers to get this message across to the end users.
And this brings me on to my final point. Every major retreading market has a need for a strong and professional trade association to represent the interests of the retreading industr y, consisting not only of the new tyre manufacturers but also the quality independent retreaders and the leading rubber suppliers. The retreading industr y needs a professional representative body to lobby the Government to introduce necessar y legislation, to liaise with the relevant government bodies for the introduction of standards, to educate and train retreaders, fleet users, drivers etc and to provide positive PR for the retreading industry.
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the Indian retreading industr y to work towards the strengthening of the organised sector and the elimination of back street retreading.
So what is required?
Well – in the first instance legislation. Radialisation and tougher legislation will help enhance and strengthen the retreading industr y for those who wish to embrace change. Central to this is the introduction and maintenance of a retreading standard with product certification through drum testing, company certification through ISO 9001 and employee certification through accredited training courses or via training courses from tyre manufacturers or leading tread rubber suppliers. In the UK the RMA runs a self
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