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TURKEY
Manufacturing at Akar Makina
segmented range to the market. We offer base line, mid range and advanced lines with European quality levels, and stress that we are not competing with budget Chinese or Indian equipment manufacturers”.
“Our key benefit is our flexibility and our fresh approach to doing business,” he continues. “We don’t push to sell any particular type of machine and we certainly don’t try to persuade the customer to take the most expensive option. We simply advise according to need and then engineer the plant. We can even provide a service whereby we will do the design work so that the customer can get the machine manufactured locally. The key point is that we offer our customers a complete solution. We can offer process know-how, training, liaison with service providers, information on rubber, consumables etc. – a comprehensive support package - but we don’t interfere with customer decisions and advise against over-sophistication where it is not required.”
Akar Makina has built up an impressive list of references in recent times. The equipment is homologated by Michelin/Recamic, whilst a CNC buffer and spreaders have been installed in the new ContiLifeCycle plant in Hannover. Recently, Mercedes Benz has chosen Akar’s 240C CNC Buffer for installation at their Stuttgart,
Germany plant. Projects with independent retreaders have been carried out in a number of countries, even as far away as Tasman Tyres in Greymouth, New Zealand.
Akar Makina, in fact, has made considerable progress in export markets in recent years, especially in North and South America, through its partnership with Shamrock Marketing Inc., who are the company’s sole agents for both regions.
process to ourselves. We have a very close fit with them. Our aim now is to replicate this in other regions and we are looking for far- sighted people with similar values to ourselves. We always stand behind our products and our approach is that, if we make customers happy now, those clients will benefit and will stay with us over the long
term. We
Sadettin Ak says will look to offer the market an alternative in a market currently monopolised by other brands. The new AKR 550 cushion gum extruder will be aimed at retreaders making more than a thousand tyres a month and will be launched during 2015.
Also scheduled for launch in 2015 is the AKR 170 automatic builder with extruder and tread preparation unit. The customer will therefore be able to buy the extruder unit and builder unit separately or together.
In addition to their position in the truck retreading sector, Akar Makina is targeting the crucial OTR retreading market. Here the company provides a full range of equipment, including an upgrade package for truck retreaders who want to get into the OTR segment. Akar’s OTR offering is split into four packages – Smartpack, Midpack, Orbipack and UltraOrbipack, the first two aimed at the pre-cure market, with the other two aimed at Orbitread users. The Smartpack is aimed at up to 34” precured retreads, Midpack caters for up to 51” precured. The Orbipack and UltraOrbiPack, meanwhile, allow for the manufacture of up to 51” and 63” Orbitread tyres respectively. According to Sadettin AK, Akar’s orbitread line has been very well received by potential customers. Similar to the truck tyre
retreading, Akar offers
18 Retreading Business
“Shamrock
Marketing, which
supplies consumable
products for the industry, is a great partner for us,” says Sadettin Ak. “When current MD Doug Conley Jr took over the helm the company became more international and has therefore undergone a similar growth
also focus closely on responsiveness
and follow a policy of getting back to customers
within 12 hours.”
In terms of product innovation, Akar Makina says it has a number of key projects lined up for the coming year or so. Firstly, the company is launching a new cushion gum extruder aimed at high volume retread plants, which
comprehensive
OTR packages including
CNC Buffers and autoclaves.
Once again Akar will have a strong presence at the Autopromotec Show in Bologna this year. Akar will also be exhibiting at Tyrexpo Asia in Singapore and Tires & Rubber in Moscow, Russia.