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ITALY
Giampaolo Malatesta
New Investments and Range Extensions at Malatesta Pneumatici
MAE: Investments
in Technology the Catalyst for Growth and Product Range Expansion
In more than thirty years of existence, the MAE brand of envelopes, curing tubes, bladders and other consumables for the retreading industry has become one of the most established and
of outer envelopes in 1995.
The move into the envelope market, the product line for which MAE is now best known, occurred in the 1990s, when the market for envelopes started to develop. The
Anagni, Italy based retreader Malatesta Pneumatici has announced a number of planned additions to its range of passenger car and 4x4 retreads and well as a number of factory investments designed to improve product quality.
According to Matteo Malatesta, new projects include a new line of all-season tyres for passenger vehicles, offering a more open, all- season style. The new pattern, which has been designed together with the mould producer, will be ready January and will be available in 8-10 sizes.
In addition, the company has developed a new line of studdable winter tyres, conceived and designed in partnership with the company’s distribution partner in the Baltic States, and has also extended its range of off-road tyres Kaiman and Koala in larger 16” and 18” sizes for UK and US markets. With the US in mind Malatesta Pneumatici have possessed a DOT number for selling in the US for the past six months.
Further developments include an expansion of the company’s range of solid tyres with the addition of a range of no-marking tyres as well as a move into the rallycross market thanks to the development of a new rallycross compound in conjunction with Cooper-Avon.
In addition to the new product developments, Malatesta Pneumatici is also making a number of factory investments
and changes designed to improve overall product quality. Firstly, the company is investing heavily in casing control and has a new shearography machine on order, which is planned to be installed within the next five months. In addition to this, the desire to improve product quality has led to the decision to balance all production, and with this in line new balancing machines have been placed on order.
Malatesta is also carrying out important work in the area of compounding development, thanks to the company’s testing laboratory (Malatesta is one of only two or three passenger retreaders to have a comprehensive in-house testing lab. According to Matteo Malatesta the company’s research is enabling them to provide lighter and better quality tyres, with wet grip tests carried out with winter compounds achieving grip ratings of B and C.
Malatesta Pneumatici are also introducing stricter guidelines for casing selection, using only premium branded casings and introducing restrictions on age and brands. According to Matteo Malatesta, part of this continuous product improvement process will also include the introduction of labelling for some passenger retreads.
best-known brands on a global level. Since the company’s move to new and expanded facilities in 2008, the company has made significant steps forward in terms of technology and product quality, allowing it to further cement its role a one of the leading global players in the retreading sector. We recently visited the company’s headquarters in
Anagni, 50 km south of Rome to find out more about the family-owned company’s latest developments.
MAE srl was originally founded in 1980 by the Malatesta family in the small town of Montecompatri, 20 km south of Rome. Initially, the company ran a small plant of 2,000 sq m in size, producing technical articles for retreading. Over the years the company expanded into bladders and inner envelopes, before developing a range
company achieved rapid success, selling as many as 40,000 units in 2001. A plant expansion was completed in 2008 followed by the decision to relocate and reorganise the company.
At that time, the remanufacturing operations were reorganised under the name MIG srl, an acronym for MAE Industria Gomma.
26 Retreading Business