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COMPANY NEWS
is perhaps ‘the’ Bandag franchisee that everyone can look at to see how the system should work.
“We invested in new plant seven years ago,” adds Reginald. It would be fair to say that most of the plant still looks new today. That stands testament to the housekeeping at LBB. We had the opportunity at that time to move our business elsewhere but after looking at what was available and taking into account our histor y, we decided to commit to Bandag. The staff understand the Bandag way and we are a family business and we consider what our staff believe to be right. They were happy with Bandag and it works for LBB too.
“We work largely with customers’ own casings, and we offer a 15 day turnaround on retreads. We do still have to buy in casings, but where we manage the tyres we can address the issues of loading and tyre pressures. We take responsibility for managing the casings. However, our challenge at the moment is to educate the Belgian transporters. Many of them still insist on buying new tyres, and we have to prove to the market that they can get a second or even third life out of a casing and reduce cost per kilometre.”
How has the economy impacted on LBB? Has there been a drop in demand, or has the drive for economy developed interest in retreads? “In the past, we would regularly retread around 20,000 tyres per year, that has dropped to 16,000 – 17,000 during the economic crisis. I’ll admit, it took us by surprise. We thought that the poor economy would benefit retreading but the market went to cheaper Asian or Chinese tyres. There was not enough focus in the market on quality and price became the dictating factor in tyre choice. However, we also know that these competitors are improving the quality of their tyres and that is levelling the playing field as with quality comes increased cost. But retreading is also improving and our rolling resistance is improving too. “Our big difficulty is that casing quality has suffered. People run tyres longer, they shuffle stock to maximise use, and the
casings we get have a higher level of injury than in the past. Plus not all of the budget tyres are suitable for retreading so we have to locate more ‘new’ casings.”
“on the positive side, we have some considerable contracts. The coach companies, Lijn in the north and TEC in the south of the countr y all use retreads and they give us a high volume of business. These operators have seen the benefits of retreading and they understand the added value,
so that gives us a
solid base to
work from.”
How does the
relationship with
Bandag work for
LBB? Is it hugely
beneficial? “Over
the years we have
been spoiled by
our relationship
with Bandag. The
headquarters and
the training
centre is in
Zaventem, about
an hour away.
The tread plant is
35 km along the
road and the
European
warehouse is half an hour away. For us it is a practical way to operate, in the event of us having an issue we have immediate access to the experts, we can get new stock ver y quickly. And of course we all speak the same language, which is a huge factor in doing business anywhere.
“We use the Bandag facilities to train our staff and we keep
ever yone up to date on the technology, the equipment and any trending issues in the market. We are ver y close to Bandag and we run a model factor y.
“Our staff are all proud to be Bandag trained and they take pride in their work, they have a confidence about what they are doing. We have an open door policy and Bandag can bring any guests they wish to Hasselt without prior notice and they will see the plant operating as it always does. The training from Bandag ensures that our staff are confident in what they are doing. They are used to visitors and they are happy to show
their skills and their understanding. When Bandag bring potential clients around our staff are more than happy to discuss the equipment or the practices they utilise with confidence.
“We use the Bandag Masterclass and we renew our staff training on a regular basis. It is a condition of employment that they must pass the exams. If they fail and cannot upgrade their mark, then we have to let them go. Most staff perform very
“Niche markets give growth opportunities; Tyrefill is one area for us. We have invested in training and are now looking at developing the market for this application.
“We also have a rim reconditioning unit. This is another area where we can see progress. It is a win win situation where we can serve the transport companies and also sell them retreads on their reconditioned rims. We can turn around a complete wheel and
Prepping tread at LBB, note the high level of cleanliness
18 Retreading Business
well.
Bandag and Rema Tip Top work together and all our repairs are also carried out to Rema Tip Top standards, and the same criteria apples to Rema Tip Top training, all candidates must pass the exams.”
What are the opportunities that LBB can see for the future? Where do you go from here? “Well, in the retread sector we have the volume to do well and we expect to see the market improve to fill our capacity. However, we need to do some lobbying and improve the market share. In the modern market we can only see slow overall growth. So the only way to increase business is to increase market share. We are more than satisfied with Bandag, and the new Protread brand allows us to offer something to the budget conscious sector of the market, whilst still offering a Bandag quality. The Alliance Excellence programme rewards us for doing a good job, there is more to come from that scheme I am sure.
rim set in 20 days. This is a great service for the market and a good opportunity for LBB. “The one area where we could see some development is in a wider sharing of knowledge on casings, loadings, weights, TPMS. There are opportunities to share experience with other Bandag franchisees without stealing business from each other. That is not about talking up business but looking at ideas where everyone can see a benefit.”
Has the Bridgestone takeover had any real influence on your arrangements with Bandag? “Well, to be fair,” says Delmarche, “initially we heard nothing from Bandag or Bridgestone and it was a little disconcerting. However once the structures were arranged and people put in place communication between Bandag and the franchisees improved greatly. It isn’t just one way communication either. They also listen to us and act on what we tell them. There are still disagreements from time to time