Page 54 - RB-66-13-3

UNITED KINGDOM
Vacu-Lug’s Dave Alsop
It is all go in the Vacu-Lug office as the team get to grips with the company’s VFM system
Tyre Management in the UK and the Role of the Retreader
Until relatively recent times, retreading has not really been a sector of the truck tyre market that has been the centre of attention for most new tyre manufacturers in Europe. Michelin, of course, is an exception, being the only one of the key manufacturers to have had a long term retreading policy as well as bring a pioneer of the whole life costs approach to tyre sales and management. Goodyear had retread operations but they were not really a focus of the business. Others dabbled, Bridgestone had its Qualitread operation, and Conti had agreements with retreaders to produce retreads for them where they had dialled retreading into a tyre contract. Pirelli did have a retread operation in the UK, but they chose to sub contract retreading back in 2004. However, Michelin aside, the field had always been open for independent retreaders to sell to independent truckers and local fleets alike, but the market has been changing and in recent years the likes of Bridgestone, Goodyear and Conti have taken steps to secure their retread market.
The truck market in the UK, Germany and France, at least, had been going through a transformation, fleets were becoming larger and the number of operators fewer. Large fleets tended to follow a central buying policy. This led to a shift in the market that supported those retreaders capable of supplying high volumes of consistently high quality product. In the UK that played into the hands of Michelin as the key retread manufacturer in the market, plus two independents, Bandvulc and Vacu- Lug, plus of course, Bandag. Goodyear seemed to be slow off the mark, but a revamp of their operation at Wolverhampton put them back on the map and Treadmax retreads are
now an integral part of their sales package to fleets. Bridgestone acquired Bulldog, the third largest retreader in the UK and followed that up with the acquisition of Bandag. Pirelli had already sub contracted to Vacu-Lug. Conti had an agreement with Bandvulc to produce Conti-Re mould cure retreads and with Marangoni for pre-cure retreads. Increasingly, the fleets wanted a one stop package. They wanted a total tyre management offer, with all their services coming from one source with one invoice point. This played into the hands of the big manufacturers and, with the gradual demise of the manufacturer owned equity networks, a new breed of specialist fleet management companies. However, not to be closed out of the market, Bandvulc stepped up to the plate and established its own fleet tyre management service, the Bandvulc Tyre Contracts division. This now has some 23 Key Partners whose services it manages through its ‘Gateway’ programme. The Gateway portal assists key partners in their management of Bandvulc Tyre Contracts business and provides them with ‘tools’ with which to enhance their own operations and sales. Galahad Gateway enables checks regarding vehicle history, tyre policy and numerous other facts at the flick of a button, allowing partners to spend more time on service and less on paperwork. It also provides them with access to useful downloads such as marketing information, brochures and updates as well as various forms and procedures. Customer sales packs are accessible through the portal as well as information on new and retread tyre ranges supplied by or through Bandvulc, together with pricing, availability and ordering. Another new innovation is the development of Bandvulc’s unique
SWORD programme. This new app. enables fleet inspections via android phones and tablets eliminating the need for a PC. Inspection data entered through SWORD links directly to the Galahad fleet list meaning no additional admin is necessary. A further feature is the ability to view inspection progress of a fleet from a mobile. Since September 2012 some 96,000 tyres have been inspected through Galahad SWORD and the system is designed to manage even the largest BTC fleets.
A team of in-house
programmers is key to providing this bespoke software and
work is ongoing to further develop and secure Galahad SWORD. “Our new SWORD software package is the latest and most advanced system on the market. It has been developed by working in conjunction with some of our key partners thereby ensuring
that we provide them with something they are keen to use and which they and the end-user benefit from greatly ”, comments Ryan O’Connell, Director. “Considerable investment has also been made to ensure the system is as safe and secure as possible”, he adds.
It is key to competing in the fleet market that retreaders can also offer a new tyre package, and retreaders such as Bandvulc and Vacu-Lug have taken on new tyre distribution contracts, with Boto and Westlake respectively. This puts them on a level playing field with the new tyre manufacturers and they can meet the same whole life tyre requirements as Michelin and Goodyear.
Vacu-Lug has long held contracts to retread for Pirelli and has recently added Hankook to its fold of mainstream tyre manufacturers using the company to provide their retread services – Bandvulc has a deal with Giti to handle its retreading requirements. In the meantime, however, Vacu-Lug has also followed the requirements of the market by developing its own fleet tyre management system.
VFM (Vacu-Lug Fleet Management) is
54 Retreading Business