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MALAYSIA
Executive Director Ong Shaw Hua, one of the founders of Big Wheel Green Tyres.
With 40 years of expertise in the retreading industry, the company believes in quality, from the selection of material and equipment to casings. “Quality is important as it assures safety, reliability and durability,” said Ong. “This is one of the main reasons that we can survive during the bad times. We have time-proven quality. We adhere to stringent quality control in our production, and all of our products complies with Malaysian Standard MS224, which is approved by SIRIM Berhad.”
Ong admits that the company has been affected by the current economic downturn, but claims that it is able to cope with the situation. He attributes this to the strong relationship with customers and the reputation the company has earned over the years.
“There is still a demand for retreaded tyres,” he commented. “For a truck that is equipped with
22 tyres, the operator will not use all new tyres as it is too costly. According to the regulation set by Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Malaysia (JPJ), the front tyres must be new and the others are optional; thus, many operators choose to use retreaded tyres to save costs. If the tyre casings are well maintained, they can be retreaded multiple times. In our factory, we have tyres that are retreaded five times, and the performance is still as good as that of new tyres.”
In addition, Ong says the company has crafted its own niche by becoming the only retreader in Kota Kinabalu to produce off-the-road (OTR) retreads. “There are several retreaders in Kota Kinabalu, but nobody else has the expertise and equipment to do this. In Borneo, we are the only retreader that can retread and bring to market OTR tyres from 30 to 34 inches,” he added proudly.
Truck tyres account for 50 per cent of Big Wheel’s total production, which shows the higher demand
from this sector that mostly serves the plantation industry. “We generate our own casings as well as import some from Japan. We account for about 70 per cent of the Kota Kinabalu market and the remaining business from other parts of Sabah, with a small volume from Sarawak. At present, we have 12 lorries to collect casings and transport our retreads,” said Ong. To provide customers with a one- stop service, the company also provides new tyres, as it is the distributor of Giti tyres in Sabah. Big Wheel Green Tyres was originally known as Big Wheel (Sabah) when it was set up in 1978 as a tyre shop. Its first retreaded tyre was rolled out from a rented
Sepanggar, Karamunsing and Penampang. The company’s name was changed to Big Wheel Green Tyres in 2005 to reflect its ambition to expand outside Sabah.
Moving forward, Ong says the company will continue to focus strongly on quality and believes that this should be the way to compete. “It is also important that we keep on improving in retread tyre management and technology,” he said. “For instance, we were the first retreader in Sabah to introduce a ‘job’ card for each tyre. On this card, we record the complete life of the tyre, from the time it is sent for the first retread, placed in a vehicle, repairs and the number of retreads until it is discarded. This gives us a
factory on 6th February, 1980. At that time, the company only had one hot cured production line. In 2013, it purchased the current premises in Sepanggar Bay, Kuala Menggatal and opened three tyre retail and servicing outlets in
good understanding of each tyre and allows us to provide all the data that our customers need to determine the actual cost associated with tyres in their fleets,” he concluded.
75 Years of Dedication to Retreading
B&J Rocket celebrates a multitude of milestones in the development and supply of highly efficient grinding and buffing tools for the tyre retreading industry.
www.bj-rocket.com