Page 56 - RB-66-13-3

UNITED KINGDOM
and to grab up to 7per cent of the market. According to Richardson, DTM’s success has been based on the decision to position the company as an independent supplier of tyre management services that is playing a leading role in moving the industry away from treating tyres as a commodity towards a more focused asset management approach. “It is vital is to show customers that it’s not the up-front cost of the tyres that is important, but the number of tyres they buy over time”, he explains.
In establishing the business, Richardson aimed to compete with providers who were offering deals based on price, but to do so DTM needed access to meaningful tyre data in real time. The company therefore developed its own in-house software programme called TAMS, which acts as a portal accessible to the customer, the service provider, the casing management company and DTM’s own network compliance team. TAMS provides the fleet operator with secure remote access to a plethora of relevant reports offering total visibility of tyre contract performance. Areas covered include accounting reports, expenditure reports, vehicle reports, product and service reports, casing stock reports, KPI monitoring and roadside breakdown reports.
Says Richardson; “ Because TAMS was developed internally, it not only gave us ownership of the system but also gives us the capability to adapt and change quickly as well as supplying us with comprehensive data that we can turn into intelligence. Furthermore, we set all our KPIs at customer and location level, allowing us to provide highly individual solutions. It is vital we establish intelligence at that level”. There are other players in the market, such as Tyrenet and Truck Tyre Solutions who simply offer tyre management services, and these firms deal across the spectrum of retreaders including Bandvulc and Vacu-lug, but also Bandag and the smaller independent retreaders too. In the complex world of the tyre business Marangoni and Bandag retreaders provide fitting services to both the
Independent Tyre Dealers Network (ITDN) and also to Tyrenet – a breakdown service that competes with the ITDN – However, since there is direct competition between Tyrenet and Bandvulc and Vacu-Lug, Tyrenet has a closer affinity with Bandag retreaders where possible.
The long term future of the independent retreader is increasingly linked to the ability to not only serve the retread needs of the larger fleets, but also to be able to offer whole life tyre management services. This fact of business was indelibly stamped on the tyre industry when Bridgestone acquired Bandag at the end of 2008 and increasingly when a company launches a new tyre it includes in the design, features that enhance the retreadability of the casing and enable the sales teams to offer whole life tyre packages to the market. So, today, Michelin, Bridgestone, Goodyear and now Continental all offer whole life packages to the market, in house, whilst Pirelli, Hankook and others offer sub contracted services to complete their whole life package. This has the potential to close the market to smaller companies who do not have the economies of scale or the finance to exploit the market. However, those with the capacity are linking up with the secondary tyre manufacturers in a symbiotic relationship where both parties can benefit.
A knock-on effect of these contracts is that there is the potential for the retread suppliers to also link in to these partnerships. A new tyre manufacturer who wants consistency may not only do a deal with the retreader, but include its preferred retread materials supplier in the deal too. So, this development of the fleet tyre management sector could have a deep impact upon the whole retread supply chain. It may become critical for a supplier to be approved not only by the retreaders but by the retreader’s new tyre partner. In turn, if a new tyre manufacturer wanted global consistency, they could enter the tread supply market too, or buy a tread supplier, it is the next logical step, perhaps.
several tyre majors in the industry, revenues increased by 25.4 per cent compared to 2011. Each country in the Asia tyre industry is subject to a gamut of different factors such as automobile production, prices of natural rubber and crude oil and disposable incomes, and play an important role in determining their respective revenues. China was the largest manufacturer of tyres in terms of revenue.
The tyre market in China is comprised of various manufacturers that specialise in designing and producing tyres for a range of vehicles. Along with the presence of tyre multinationals, market in China is primarily driven by the performance of more than 500 domestic tyre manufacturers. Hangzhou Zhongce was the leader in China’s tyre space. Market revenues of Japan based Bridgestone have increased noticeably, making it the largest player in the tyre market in Japan. MRF was the largest tyre manufacturer in India on the basis of revenues whilst the tyre industry in South Korea was led by Hankook, which registered revenues of USD 3,798 million in 2012. Bridgestone dominated the Indonesian passenger car tyre market, while Gajah Tunggal accounted for the major share of the tyre market for motorcycles.
Major tyre enterprises all across Asia have been focusing increasingly on vertical expansions to curb the effect of unstable prices of critical raw materials, natural rubber in particular. Companies have been increasingly acquiring rubber estates outside their
operating countries and have also been developing alternate sources of raw materials. A major development in the tyre space has been the inception of tyre labeling by the European Union. With the introduction of strict manufacturing standards, numerous companies have had to incorporate radical changes in their tyre production so as to conform to the strict prerequisites for tyre exports to Europe.
The market for tyres in Asia is changing at a brisk rate. Technological advancements and demand of tyres across a wide array of vehicles as well as competitive pressures amongst tyre producers have been significantly changing the market.
The report covers all areas of the market, including retreading and recycling and describes expected market trends for the next five year period.
New Tread for the Urban Freight Vehicle Market
Growth to be Driven by Green Tyres
The fleet of so-called city freight vehicles has grown extensively due to restrictions regarding the circulation of trucks in urban centres. National figures provided by ANFAVEA – Brazilian Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers show that: from 2005 to 2012, there was a significant 213 per cent increase in sales and fleets of light commercial vehicles. As such, Vipal has launched a new tread for the retread sector for this type of vehicle: the VP430L. Developed to meet strength and performance requirements for tyres in urban centres, the VP430L is ideal in generating savings for transport companies when retreading their vehicle tyres. Exceptionally versatile, the VP430L can also be used on vans and pick-up trucks.
“It is important that users of City Freight Vehicles know that retreading tyres is perfectly viable for this type of vehicle and that they can make huge savings opting for retreading instead of buying a new tyre”, states Eduardo
Sacco, Vipal’s Marketing Manager. What happens is that, right now, over 25 per cent of City Freight Vehicle tyres are refused at the time of retreading. The main reason? Excessive wear. “However, before anything, it is essential to take good care of the tyre, periodically calibrating and removing it for retreading before reaching the limit indicator, the TWI. This is essential”, explains the manager. This is a direct response to the segment's requirements, a conduct Vipal insists on maintaining, constantly.
A key source for information about future tyre markets can be found in the “Asia Tire Industry Outlook to 2017 – Growth to be Driven by Green Tires” report, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the various aspects such as market size of the Asia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia tyre industry. The report discusses about the OEM, Replacement, export,
import, redial, green, bias and used tyres market. The report also covers the market shares of major players in China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia.
The tyre market in Asia, which is hugely driven by the sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. With the advent of new varieties of tyres and owing to an exceptional financial performance by
56 Retreading Business