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COMPANY PROFILE
employs 500 staff working three shifts, six days per week, and produces an incredible 500,000 hot cure retreads per year.
Michelin’s retread operation is 98 per cent hot cure. That is a huge differentiator in a market where competition from pre-cure is intense. Jean-Luc Marchet, European Retread Marketing Manager for Michelin explained, pre-cure is an opportunistic business. People can enter the sector with a low level of investment and the process and the quality can vary from one pre-cure operation to the next. The economic crisis has given the pre-cure retread operations a lift, but hot cure will remain our core production area. “There are some markets where precure is more important. The Nordic countries prefer the Recamic cold cure process but the market share is stable and hot cure Michelin Remix will remain the core business of the retread division
Hot cure offers a complete tyre rebuild. The process revitalises the casing, and the end product has a visual appearance similar to that of a new tyre. “Here at Michelin,” says Marchet, “We use the same technology for retreads as we do for new tyres. The same patterns, the same compounds; a Michelin retread will perform exactly as the new tyre does.
“We have been retreading since 1966 and today no new tyre is released from Michelin’s commercial tyre division without there being a built in reatreadability. We know when each tyre is at its optimum level of use for regrooving and retreading. It is an holistic approach we do not consider the retread as an added extra, it is part of the new tyre offer.”
“The post use inspection of casings has always been important in developing the technology for new tyres. It is equally important in helping us develop the best retread offer possible. It allows us to develop moulds that meet the deformations in the casings.
“You have seen how we inspect the casings and repair them. We have a 90 per cent acceptance rate for casings. We believe that is higher than any of the
competition. These figures are based on the results of around 1 million casings that we have checked as part of a
control process.”
Asked where Encore fitted into this bigger picture, Jean Luc replied, “Encore will run for those wishing to use other manufacturers’ casings in the Michelin process. It is exactly the same as we run with Pneu Laurent in France. We have a solution for everyone who is looking for a quality retread.”
With the advent of labelling, and the coming requirement for rolling resistance, improved fuel consumption and lower by pass noise, did Michelin think that this would impact upon the lower end of the market? Would it help improve quality across the retread sector and thus improve perception and market acceptance of retreading?
Jean Luc Marchet was guarded, “We are
looking at the opportunities. Today there is nothing in the plans but we will be working towards 2017. It all depends what the actual rules will eventually be.
The difficulty is that the rules need to find a balance between the major manufacturers and their retread operations and the local retreaders who deal with a wide range of casings. I am not sure at this stage how this will all work out. The ETRMA is working on a study but at the moment there is no official position. However, there could be an opportunity for developing retreading.”