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COMPANY NEWS
KRAIBURG Holds Third Retreading Summit Meeting
More than 70 attendees from eleven European countries met from 23 to 25 June for the 3rd "Retreading Summit Meeting" held by Kraiburg Austria. This year the conference was held at the Hotel Gut Brandlhof, close to the Drive Technology Centre of the Austrian automobile, motor¬cycle and touring club (ÖAMTC) in Saalfelden, Austria. Current business topics were discussed: Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, Director of the BRV, and Stefan Mayrhofer, second Director of Kraiburg Austria, gave an overview of the current legal and market position in Europe. Christoph Priewasser, Kraiburg Austria Product Manager, presented the status quo as well as test results regarding the labelling requirement with the "3 Peak Mountain Snow Flake Symbol" (3PMSF). The afternoon provided an op¬portunity to get to know the tyre management software, OptimTyre, as well as the PneuTel tyre pressure monitoring system, which have been developed by Kraiburg partners. Kraiburg also demonstrated the quality of its tread in practical application.
Looking at the needs of the end customer
After a short greeting
by Thorsten Schmidt,
the Kraiburg Austria
Director, Stefan
Mayrhofer gave an
overview of the
European tyre
re¬placement
market. He showed
how the percentages
of precured
re¬treads, mould
cured retreads,
imports and new tyres
have been
develop¬ing, using
sales figures from
before the crisis in
2007 and after the
cri¬sis in 2012 and
2016: imports have
increased by 80
percent since 2007. Sales of new tyres fell by around 30 percent between 2007 and 2012, but have shown a slight increase since then. Precured retreads sales fell slightly between 2007 and 2012, but have
decreased in turn¬over by around 70 percent since then. Mould cured retread sales initially fell by around 20 percent, but have since largely become stable. From the perspective of the retreading specialist, precured retreading is in an in-between position. In the past, purchasing was mainly price-based – however, the price war against Asian dumping deals is not proving to be successful. At the same time, positioning as a premium product is in¬creasingly difficult, since these applications are mainly covered by mould cured retreads. Kraiburg Austria therefore recognises the need to look at new areas of business. "The needs of end customers must be in¬creasingly central to our thoughts and actions", said Stefan
tool was rejected. Ca¬sing neutralisation and focusing on the influence of patterns and pro¬cess, as suggested by BIPAVER, were also rejected. This is because the calculated values have no bearing on the existing rolling resistance label for new tyres. The proposal to determine a rolling resistance coeffi¬cient for the whole tyre is currently being examined. This would comprise a general average value of the carcass part, accessible to all, as well as a component of the tread process part, which would be added on. "How¬ever this examination goes, the European Commission's objective is to protect small and medium- sized businesses", Hans-Jürgen Drechsler emphasised. He also spoke about personnel changes at
Mayrhofer, who announced that Kraiburg Austria is actively working on these issues.
Europe wants to protect small and medium-sized businesses
The labelling used in the industry is still on the agenda after six years. Hans-Jürgen Drechsler gave the attendees an update on the labelling requirement. The main point of discussion is the influence of the casing and its treatment in the "rolling resistance" category. Given the measure¬ments performed by the ERTRO (the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation) on casings, in which a potential range of measurement re¬sults for rolling resistance covering three label classes was identified, an initiative for a labelling law based on a software
the BRV and gave an update on the Association's activities at European level. Among other things, he referred to the mandatory introduction of the "3PMSF" from 2018, as well as the funding provided for this.
Winter tyres make driving safer and more economical
“3PMSF” was the keyword for Christoph Priewasser. The tyre symbol certifies the traction and braking properties. Since this is linked to a per¬formance test of retreads, it says far more than the classic "M+S" mar¬kings. The Kraiburg Product Manager began his presentation by cla¬rifying when it will become mandatory for tyres to have this symbol. This symbol covers winter road
64 Retreading Business