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NETHERLANDS
The Blackline Ringtread is the top of the range, a real premium product that is appreciated by fleet customers looking for new tyre performance from their retreads
FRAPA – Independent and Proud
Frank Schouten showing some of the high quality retreads now offered by FRAPA using the Marangoni range of products
say that I was not swayed by the quality or the price argument. It just wasn’t working for FRAPA any more so we started moving towards another supplier.
“Of course Marangoni has the products and the equipment, and is able to give technical support. So now I have invested in Marangoni equipment and we are offering what must be the best quality precure retread in the market – the Marangoni Ringtread. For so long as Marangoni remains independent it will always understand the independent retreader better than any multinational corporation. Marangoni can supply the right materials at the right quality and the right cost, and they are flexible. “Our new arrangement also allows us to have a good quality budget line using Unitread and Galgo.” FRAPA has a huge advantage in the Benelux market as Frank is also a Profile Tyre Center member and FRAPA is the Profile Tyre Center Retread operation. “Having the
opportunity through Tyre Point Centers to ensure a maximum life from a casing. It also allows us to focus on retreading rather than selling as a core business element.” In the move away from Bandag how has FRAPA taken on the challenge of providing the right tyres at the right prices? “The bulk of our business is in the premium sector and here we have opted for Marangoni’s Blackline Ringtread and we romote it as out high performance standard product. This is the line that we want to see positioned as our premium products and it is more than capable if standing next to any premium retread from any tyre manufacturer. Our second line is Unitread and Kontur and we also have Galgo for high wear applications.
“There has been some movement towards the budget end of the market due to the economic climate, but a good profiler should be able to guide clients towards the whole life costs and the price per kilometre.
FRAPA is a long standing Dutch retreader based in Venlo. Venlo is a modern town within a stone’s throw of the border with
Germany, and about 30 minutes from Belgium. It sits on the River Maas and is in an ideal position to service industries in the surrounding countries, a point not lost on the businesses who have established operations in and around Venlo. This is not the Holland of dykes, windmills and tulip fields, this is the Netherlands of industry and transport links. The ideal location for a tyre retreading operation.
Frank Schouten’s FRAPA retread operation has a 45 year history in the business, largely as a Bandag franchisee. Frank is well known in the retreading sector and his split from Bandag is well known and it would be wrong to ignore the break in discussing the company.
“When Bridgestone took over
Bandag,” says Frank Schouten, “I was apprehensive of what was to come. FRAPA had been a loyal Bandag partner for many, many years and under the Bandag regime we had fantastic opportunities to develop our business and make money. I’ve been in the tyre business for a few years and I knew how the tyre manufacturers tried to dictate products and prices and how their rebate schemes worked, always to their advantage and rarely to the guys selling
to the end users. I was concerned that the same thing was going to happen when Bridgestone took over Bandag.
“From my point of view I was not disappointed. I am in business to make money for FRAPA, not Bridgestone, and they were not giving me that option with the prices they were talking about. Then they introduced Protread, and I have to
FRAPA produces retreads for the Profile Tyre Center chain and stock is constantly being turned over. The majority of stock is now Marangoni with some budget offerings from Galgo
position where we are the nominated retreader for Profile Tyre Center gives us a dedicated customer base throughout the Benelux markets. It means that we don’t go chasing fleet contracts or customers in the Benelux because to do so we would be competing with our own members. However we can sell freely into Germany. However, in partnership with Profile Tyre Center we can correctly advise on tyre management and direct fleet operators to ensure that the right tyres are in the right position on trucks and trailers. That gives us the
However, in a crisis it is a question of cash today and many smaller operators have gone for a cheap solution today and will return to a high quality long term solution when the climate is better. We are having to drive the market just now, but it will come back around and quality will win the day.
“It would be difficult for us to sell budget lines and then go back and try and sell the quality line without being dishonest with our clients. It is better not to cannibalise your own market.”
Has the growth of tyre manufacturer
22 Retreading Business