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INDIA
Prakash G Toshniwal, Executive Director, Vijay Tyres Pvt Ltd
(a district in Rajasthan). Both proposed areas are some distance away from the current base, but Vijay Tyres Executive Director Prakash G Toshniwal considers that both sites could be manageable. Toshniwal added; “The Bijapur market has reached stagnation point, where volumes are remaining the same, therefore, we are planning to move to other states in neighbouring districts or even as far as the north-western state of Rajasthan.“With regards to the proposed sites in Gulbarga and Udaipur, we are likely to commence operations in 2020 in one of the locations,” he stated. The Bijapur based retreader says it plans to open the same capacity plant as the existing facility. The current site was opened as an Elgi franchisee in 1983 and retreads 450-500 tyres each month. The plant now retreads half of what it used to do around five years ago as the market has shifted towards radials from bias tyres. “The
Bijapur plant used to retread more than 700 tyres per month, but over the years bias tyres have been replaced by radials. Production has dropped as radials come for the first retread later compared to bias tyres.” The Bijapur plant can retread around 2,500 tyres per month with four operational autoclaves of 2, 4, 5 and 8 tyres respectively along with four buffers and builders. The company also retreads around 80 OTR tyres per month. “We have converted steam- based moulds to electric for retreading OTR tyres recently,” said Toshniwal. Recently, Vijay Tyres began to use Elgi’s Ultra series inner and outer envelopes launched earlier this year. The company’s franchisee network is increasingly adopting the new envelopes as they are claimed to increase productivity, cost per km and offer improved product finishing. “Now the tyres look like almost new after the retreading process,” he confirmed.
(Himachal Pradesh) facility, opened in 2004, caters to the domestic market, while the site at Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), started in 1983, focuses on exports. The Gwalior site has operated since 1996 and serves both the domestic and export markets. The company is driving the tyre repair segment towards the speedy adoption of branded tyre care products. “We are successfully running a module named ‘Swavlamban’ (Self- reliance) in partnership with the tyre manufacturer Bridgestone. We have trained around 700 people in tyre care in two phases. The third phase is likely to commence by the end of 2019,” said Singh. The module would strengthen the bond with the fitters at repair centres.
The rubber firm is further
the company’s branded patches, as the compound used by Unipatch is claimed to be superior in quality compared to local non-branded patches.
“We are also promoting the fact that our size 5 patch is equal to locally-made size 7 patches for tyre repair,” added Kunal Chaudhry, Joint VP, strategic planning & export, Unipatch Rubber Limited.
Currently, the company offers patches in 10 sizes for nylon tyres and 30 sizes for radial tyres to repair injury sizes of up to 12 inches on nylon and 19-inch injuries on radial tyres. Its product range on the tyre repair side includes – tube repair, bias, radial and tubeless tyre repairs. Unipatch markets products under the brand name Omni, across 30 countries in Africa, CIS, Middle
Brig. Gurmeet Singh, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Unipatch Rubber Ltd.
Unipatch Conducts Tyre Care Training Modules with Tyre Producers
expanding its relationship with tyre producers to bring more of their clients’ workforce into its tyre care programme. “We have been talking to Apollo for quite some time with regards to commencing a training programme at their exclusive outlets as well as supplying a consumables range. Recently, the modalities have been finalised, and the programme will be starting from next month.”
The programme would cover commercial vehicle zones, Apollo Radial Repair Centers (ARRC) and Apollo Certified Fitters (ACF). ‘Our focus is on education, awareness and skill-building to follow proper repair processes after identifying the right injur y size as precious human life is involved when a vehicle is moving on the road,’ explained Singh. The company is also advising that fitters at repair centres should use
East and SAARC.
The company also supplies to its JV partner under the TECH brand name for markets in the USA, EU, China and ASEAN.
On domestic turf, Unipatch distributes its range through a network of 600 distributors, and 6,000 dealers spread all over India. In addition, it has tie-ups with tyre companies like Michelin, Apollo, Ceat etc. as well as automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and various state transport undertakings and armed forces. Unipatch was set-up as a joint venture between the Khemka business house of India and Technical Rubber Company, Ohio.
Rubber companies in India are increasingly focusing on the tyre care market as awareness regarding the maintenance of tyres improves. There is a growing realisation among large/small fleets and personal vehicle owners that vehicle performance can be enhanced if tyres are taken care of properly. Tyres represent, alongside fuel, a sizeable investment, especially on vehicles travelling longer distances.
Delhi headquartered Unipatch Rubber Limited introduced repair strings for tubeless tyres about a year ago. Gradually string sales
are picking up on the strength of the company’s efforts to strategically hold training programmes with tyre producers. “We have added a separate string manufacturing unit at the Gwalior site (Madhya Pradesh) to cater to both the domestic and export markets,” informed Brig. Gurmeet Singh, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Unipatch Rubber Limited at the Tyrexpo India show in Chennai.
Unipatch markets its product range under the brand name ‘OMNI’ and operates three manufacturing sites. The Nalagarh
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