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AUTOPROMOTEC
Leandro Rigon explains that Vipal will be establishing a dedicated factory for exports
Vipal’s new VT160
Vipal to Establish Dedicated Factory for Exports
help foster a quicker response to customer demands.
Vipal has been a pioneer in terms of supplying the retread market in Brazil, and indeed the company claims a 40 per cent share of the local retread market of 7.7 million tyres. There are 250 authorised Vipal retreaders in Brazil, but the company has been active in the export market since 1996 and now claims to account for 80 per cent of all Brazilian pre-cured tread exports. The company has 4 distribution centres and 48 authorised retreaders in Latin America – the distribution hubs being in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. There are also two distribution centres in North America – in Florida and Virginia, three in Europe (Spain, Slovenia and Germany) as well as one in Australia.
The V520 for rough conditions on and off highway
and off highway
countries, taking into account Vipal and Ruzi brands. The company’s aim now is to consolidate its global presence and expand.
“This is an important decision that Vipal is taking regarding the foreign market,” said Vipal’s new sales and marketing director, Plinio de Luca, who has been with the company
Hans Jorg, project manager at Roline commented; “The RFID implementation from Motorola and Ferm RFID Solutions allows us to track every tyre from the beginning of its life to the end. The RFID label and RFID Patches has given a boost to our inventory control system.
Inventory-checking, a job that was once time-consuming and error- prone, is now carried out accurately in a matter of minutes, because the tags can be read by the Motorola
scanners at a long range.” On 28th July this year Vipal will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The Brazilian retreading materials manufacturer used the occasion of the Autopromotec exhibition in Bologna not only to celebrate this milestone, but to announce to the international market plans to transform one of its plants into a dedicated export factory.
Vipal currently produces 18,000 tonnes of tread rubber per month at three factories in Brazil, two in Nova Prata and one in Bahia in North Eastern Brazil. According to International Business Manager Leandro Rigon, who announced the development to a packed room of customers and the international press, one of the factories in Nova Prata will be reprogrammed to focus specifically on exports. This, he pointed out, will allow the company to increase production capacity and
In Europe, the company holds prominent positions in Spain, Bosnia, Croatia, the UK and Portugal and claims a 15 to 25 per cent market participation in these
The V520 for rough conditions on
since January. “We will be able to provide all the required structure to serve with excellence over 90 countries around the world,” he added.
During the show, Vipal announced the introduction of two new pre- cured treads. The VT160 pattern is specially designed to optimize the traction of heavy vehicles in the snow. Manufactured to have greater durability under stringent conditions, this self-cleaning tread stands out for its grip potential on roads with snow and/or ice.
Also new is the VT520, suitable for use under severe conditions on paved or unpaved highways. The tread has a dual direction of rotation, offering outstanding traction, and is designed to be self- cleaning, which gives the tyre casing greater protection against damage. Ideal fitments are on short and medium haul applications.Tech Europe Celebrates Loyalty and During the week of Autopromotec 2013, Tech Europe took the opportunity to recognise the contribution of a number of loyal distributors who had reached milestones in terms of service and distribution.