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MALAYSIA
Kit Loong Optimise Casing Flow with New enTire Plant Management System
Kit Loong operates a multibrand retread system
The Malaysia based Kit Loong Commercial Tyre Group has announced that it has developed an innovative and unique retread plant management system in conjunction with Australian software development company, Vehicle Management
month retread plant in Kota Kemuning, allowing the company to optimise the use of casings and to manage production processes in the most efficient manner possible.
Says Kenneth Teh; “How a retread performs is based on the technology
programme, is
pushed through to
the in-house enTire
Retreading System.
At no point is
paperwork involved
and no re-inputting
of the data is
necessary.
There is also a
check-in, check-out
system at each stage
of the production process so Kit Loong can work out how long each tyre has spent in each phase of the production process. They can therefore work out the cost of each stage of the process.
At the Data Digitisation Centre the various brands of casing are automatically grouped into the system and then graded according to condition by trained inspectors. Once this stage is completed tyres are tested in one of the company’s two shearography machines and graded as a pass, borderline or fail. This also helps Kit Loong decide on how the tyre will be used.
Kit Loong operates a multibrand system of retreads with a range of different tyres (and qualities) for each application depending on customer demand – some with and some without shearography depending on the level of the product being
Kenneth Teh
Corporation, the developers of the entire tyre management software. The system has been implemented into Kit Loong’s retread facility in Kota Kemuning near Kuala Lumpur and a new joint venture company has been established to market the system on a worldwide basis.
According to Kenneth Teh of Kit Loong, whose group includes tread manufacturer Kayel and equipment supplier Newera, the new joint venture company will be called Entire Tyre Management Technology Sdn Bhd and will market data management packages through a division to be known as Entire Tyre ID Logic. The company will market the software system on a leasing basis based on a pre-pay concept based on a fixed number of tyres and will integrate the system into customers’ plants as per customer requirements. The system will be launched on the open market in 2014.
In the meantime, the unique system continues to be implemented and refined at Kit Loong’s 6,000 tyre per
of the casing, the injuries to the casing, the retread process utilised and the material used. As part of our system the various brands of casing are split into five groups of brands according to quality and then graded A to G depending on the condition of each individual casing. The idea is to utilise our stock of casings as much as possible and to identify where to use them in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. The challenge was to integrate this system into a single production line and to use the system not only for tracking the casings but for supporting the management of our multi-tier product strategy.”
The casing management system at Kit Loong is electronic from the start. Collectors input the casing data onto a mobile tablet and when they come into the sorting warehouse they are fed into four sorting lanes and then synchronised to Kit Loong’s server at the company’s Data Digitisation Centre. At this point the data, initially on the Microsoft Dynamic NAV
sophisticated. For example the company is trying to integrate the grading system into the enTire software slowly, allowing the software to calculate the best way to use the casings. The challenge next year, he adds, will be to differentiate between the various processes in the repair and buffing stages, to combine differentiated levels of buffing/repair with the various casings and to automate that process too.
The company’s production room is the centre of the process of analysing how the system operates. The software allows the production manager to control product flow by brand, even allowing him to streamline premium brands through the company’s top technicians. It is also capable of analysing individual workers and analysing their productivity according to hour/month/time of day etc.
The whole process at Kit Loong is going high tech. This is the production control centre
KL Casing Inspection area
20 Retreading Business
marketed. There strict acceptance criteria for each brand and the software enables them to allocate casings to each product group in an optimum manner.
The company also has a list of downgrade specifications which they agree with each individual customer. If a larger repair is found in mid- process a trained operator can change the status of a casing at the Downgrade Station.
According to Kenneth Teh, the whole system was introduced in August 2012 and is gradually becoming more
According to Kenneth Teh, the system is ideal for large volume retread plants and will be marketed as such when the system is launched to the market. Kit Loong’s retread plant at Kota Kemuning currently produces 6,000 retreads per month with 21 workers. The ultimate aim is to get this to 20,000 tyres per month by increasing the number of shifts.