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CHILE
Irenesa Meets Market
Challenge with Diversified
Inside the Irenesa factory in Santiago
Product Range
Santiago based retreader Irenesa is among the most established retreaders in the region, having been active in the retread sector for around 50 years. At its height the company, which achieved success by introducing the Flexcure system into Latin America, was manufacturing 2,700 retreads per month in Santiago in addition to having a plant in Concepcion. Today, however, the company makes about 1,000 truck retreads per
month plus a number of OTR retreads. Despite the challenges of the market, though, the company is not standing still, and according to General Manager, Jordi Nieto Seron, the company has developed a highly diversified range of products to help it maintain its success
In the past at various times Irenesa has sold new tyres from Firestone, INSA and Pirelli, but is now a Goodyear dealer. The company also sells Sailun new tyres to its price-
oriented customers. In retreading the company took out a Bandag franchise 20 years ago, but now is a Galgo retreader, purchasing a container each month direct from Mexico. The plant employs 24 people manufacturing pre-cured retreads on a COC and stock retread basis. The company operates through 16 sales points spread through the country from Antofagasta in the north to Puerto Montt in the south.
This brings us to one of the key challenges for Irenesa, the need to provide a huge range of different patterns and sizes, due to the wide diversity of market demand in Chile, ranging from mining tyres in
the north, to forestry tyres in the south and transport tyres in the metropolitan region around Santiago.
In total the company stocks 20 types of design and three compounds for each design. This means that the company needs to keep three container loads of tread rubber in stock at any given time to make sure the company can meet the diverse needs of the market. Irenesa also produces some specific lines such as for the beverage sector where the company retreads bias tyres with a special sidewall protector to prevent against broken glass. The company produces 90- 100 tyres a month for this sector.
Jordi Nieto, Manager of the Irenesa retreading plant
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