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was relatively quiet. This, in turn, meant that overall response from exhibitors was mixed. For every exhibitor that reported good business with quality clientele, there was one who bemoaned the lack of footfall at the show. With the Latin Expo Group contractually committed for four more annual events, it is now crunch time for CEO Gustavo Lima, and he and his team now needs to at least maintain exhibitor numbers and increase footfall if the show is to have a long term future. If the North American retreading industry wants the benefit of an annual meeting place for the sector, then it is incumbent on suppliers within the industry to support the show.
topics ranging from the SmartWay programme and the impact of cheap imported new tyres to challenges faced in the labour market and views on the suitability of wide based tyres in the US market. Others speakers at the conference from the retreading sector included Brian Brasch from Paul E Hawkinson Co. who talked to us about his experiences on the TV programme Shark Tank (the US equivalent of Dragons Den) and Kai Tan of Nam Bee Rubber, who discussed why conditions are currently favourable to do business in South East Asia.
In addition to the main conference programme there were a number of educational training sessions held at
mould cure competition was won by Portuguese retreader Recauchutagem Nortenha whilst the pre-cure competition was scooped by Canadian retreader Techno-Pneu
from Rimouski, Quebec. The OTR contest only attracted one entry – from Community Tire of St Louis, Missouri.
Jose Gomes of Recauchutagem Nortenha celebrates his company’s success in the mould cure section of the Miss Retread Contest
Robbins Intros
Direct Sales Strategy
Envelope and curing tube manufacturer Robbins has announced a change in its marketing strategy with the news
switched to phone support, which has enabled us to provide extra cost savings, which is of benefit in the current climate where retreaders are
Robbins’ Managing Director Terry Elgin
Overall, the organisers need to be praised for the amount of effort gone into creating a range of activities aimed at attracting visitors to New Orleans. The conference programme organised with the input of the US based trade journal Tire Business, proved to be successful. The Retread Panel held on the first day of the show and chaired by David Stevens of TRIB was particularly well attended. The session, which included a panel consisting of key US retreaders Bob Majewski (Sumerel Tire), Jeremy Benton (Blacks Tire Service), Bill Waerzeggers (Pomp’s Tire) and Mike Phelps (Raben Tire) discussed
the show. Andrea Benincasa from Matteuzzi gave a training session in Spanish on retreading equipment whilst Edd Burleson from Central Marketing gave the English language version of the same presentation. Meanwhile, Doug Conley Jr from Shamrock Marketing spoke on QR Technology and the benefits of shearography and Bill Mohler from Elgi Rubber talked about envelope care and maintenance.
Last but not least, the annual Miss Retread Contest, another traditional event inherited from the Louisville show, provided an interesting diversion on the second day of the exhibition. At this year’s event the
Sustrend to Use JCM Methodology to Validate Carbon Assets of Retreading
that the Muscle Shoals, Alabama based company has started to sell its products direct to retreaders in a bid to help retreaders to become more competitive in the battle against cheap imports.
“It’s about providing a wider range of opportunities to the market,” explained Managing Director Terry Elgin. “We came to the conclusion that some of our retread customers want to save money and don’t necessarily want the added value services offered by a distributor. With these customers we have
having to battle on price against cheap Chinese new tyres.”
Despite the move to direct selling, Robbins have made it clear that they will continue to work closely with distributors as well. “We accept that some customers will want the
added service offered by our distributors, and we will continue to support that. Indeed, we have been pleased to note that since the announcement of our direct sales service we have seen an increase in the activity of our loyal distributors,” said Elgin
The show was well supported by the main suppliers to the retreading sector
52 Retreading Business
Sustrend, the environmental consultancy company based in Chile, has announced some further developments in its project to generate value for the retreading process by helping to create national standardisation models for national retreading industries, which will then enable individual national retreading industries to create carbon assets and sell them on the international carbon
markets.
During a discussion held during the North American Tire and Retread Expo in New Orleans, Sustrend’s Tomas Clarke and Daniel Rojas, Secretary of the Chilean Retreaders Association ARNEC was now planning to use Japanese JCM Methodology to validate and value the assets created by the retreading process. According to Clarke, Sustrend has