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POLAND
in Poland, but we only buy them after they have passed the shearography testing. If they have faults they are returned to the supplier. We only use casings that pass our three stage inspection process; pressure, visual and shearography.”
Argum tries to reach out to all sectors of the market from on/off road through to long haul. “Regionally,” says Pilek, “we try to create the best solutions depending upon the segment we are meeting with. Sometimes it is easy, the on/off segment is just looking for cheap tyres. Long haul though needs more attention and we need to be careful in what we offer. We need to make sure that the right quality of long haul tread is offered to a market that has experience of retreads supplied throughout Europe.”
ensure that the retread process is of the highest quality. We have to have ver y tight control of the whole process. It is important not to lose that quality and we try to be as close to the competition as is possible, If we can be sure that the customers are looking after the casings we can save that casing and it will be good for a second life.
“A few years ago retreaders were selling more tyres as retreads including casings. Some invested in capacity. We decided to invest in quality. Now we have the technology and we can say that our quality is very good. The best proof that we have of this is that we have not lost a single customer despite attacks from the competition and from the Chinese tyre sector. The decision to go for quality over capacity was the right one for us. “The squeeze on the retread
on the doorstep what sort of opportunities were there for exports?
“We used to export to Belarus, “said Pilek, “but nowadays it is too risky. The currency is a problem and of course dealing with Russia is under embargo until there is a resolution to the Ukraine situation. Export is a ver y risky business and not something we are actively looking at in the meantime.
“A few years ago we used to export to the East but with changes in the economy we stopped exporting and also stopped importing casinfs to push our CoC business. The result was lower production but the share of CoC has become much more important and more accepted, avoiding the expense of importing casings and holding stock.”
So, where does Argum go from here? How does the company grow? “There has to be room for growth. The retread share of the aftermarket has plenty of room to grow and develop. Tyre management as is seen in the West is not so developed here in Poland, so we need to grow through delivering the best service that we can. We will serve our clients and we will open our service outlets to better meet
Opony Motor
The norm in retreading is for the industry to be consolidating, often a polite term for contracting. However, in Poland, despite the
their needs.
“Argum also has room to develop
on site, we own the property and have room to build warehouses, perhaps new plant buildings but first we must build the business. Capacity at the existing plant is around 20,000 units per year and currently we are operating at 50 per cent of that capacity, with around 700 – 800 units per month. It would be easy to increase production considerably by employing just three or four more staff. The only thing holding us back just now is the market.
“2,500 tyres per month would be too risky at the moment. The risks in the economy are too high. If the economy starts to grow and business for the end user increases, then so too will our sales and we will up production to meet that growing market.
“It is important for us to control costs, so we don’t carry big stocks and we can increase our capacity to meet market demand. We have to try and be as flexible as is possible. “Our goal is to utilise the assets that we have and the casings that we have direct access to and reach the highest possible quality that can be supported by the market.”
the tyre and wheel market a few years back and has developed a successful local retail tyre and wheel outlet in Biaɫystok in North Eastern
Marcin Lenarciak (right) with Marangoni’s Marek Wrazen
As ever, the main challenge to developing the market is the presence of cheap Chinese tyres. The demand for retreads in Poland is still low compared to the UK and Germany, even compared to the use of retreads in the Czech Republic. This is partly historical and down to the poor reputation linked to communist era production and of course to poor quality retreads that plague every market in its initial stages of development. So, with an aftermarket share for retreads being around 27 per cent, certainly not more than 30 per cent according to those Retreading Business spoke to, how does Argum deal with the challenge of developing the market? “There is only one solution,” said Pilek, “Against the Chinese tyres we have to use CoC and do it well. We must offer the right product, with the right performance and it has to be good value for money. That is the only solution.
“It is very important to manage the quality of the retreads that we produce. We need to have the right quality of casing, the right quality of retreading materials and we must
including casing sector cut margins for that market. However, the CoC sector retained its margins. One competitor came into the CoC market with a price 30 per cent lower than our own, however, the customers have remained loyal due to the level of quality and the service that we provide. Price is always one factor and we try to compete but we will not enter a price war where we make no margin. Quality and service are our key selling points. We try to be close to the customer and as a result we have been able to retain a network of loyal clientele. We not only have reliable customers we co- operate with them to ensure that we have the right solution for their needs.
“We maintain our clientele through quality and service whilst trying to be competitive on price, but that price has to relate to the quality offered.”
Retreading Business could probably predict the answer to the next question, but we had to ask, regardless. With the markets of The Ukraine and the Russian Federation
challenges the industr y faces and the relatively low market penetration there is still enough business potential to attract new players to the sector. Opony Motor is one such player.
Owner, Marcin Lenarciak entered
Poland, close to the Belarus border. Biaɫystok is a city of 300,000 people and it is in the throes of modernising and becoming modern thriving city on the eastern frontier of the European Union. It is this development, the move to become
32 Retreading Business