Page 16 - RB96

INTERVIEW
WvL
We are very happy with the appointment of Italmatic as our Tech Distributor in Italy, but in addition to that, we value them as a quality supplier for our wheel weight programme and retread buffing blades. It’s a win-win partnership.
Currently we are working with +/- 65 Tech Distributors and +/- 30 Pang distributors spread around the EMEA region.
Meanwhile, we are also continuing to develop
markets in Eastern
Europe, opening up
more towards the former Russian states. In
addition to that,
although they are very
price conscious regions, we are trying to get more feet on the ground in Central and North African countries and in the Middle East region.
Historically, a lot of our new distributor contacts were always made through trade fairs (Cologne, Bologna, Dubai etc.). The Covid-19 situation has set us back a little bit in that respect, but we hope to see Trade Exhibitions opening again by the middle or end of 2021.
RB
The Truflex Pang brand is also part of the Tech stable of brands. How important is that brand nowadays and how does it fit into the company’s brand portfolio?
WvL
Pang has become more and more important for our business in Europe. Originally acquired by Tech HQ in 1998, it had already a strong “Brand Awareness” in Europe. Offered through a number of quality Distributors, it was known in many markets for its quality repairs, especially in retread environments.
It took a while to fully introduce the Pang brand into the Tech sales philosophy, but I believe, mainly through loyalty towards our strongly
preforming Tech Distributors, we have succeeded in fully integrating a number of Pang Distributors into our EMEA Sales network.
In countries and regions without any Tech Distribution, we survey the repair market,
successful in the sale of tyre repairs. At the end of the day, it remains a technical sale, and you need to inform the “end- user” about “how to use” procedures.
We have a fully equipped Training Centre in Belgium
offering training seminars on a regular
basis. These will resume as soon
as Corona measures are lifted. In the meantime, we have taken initiatives to offer our Distributors and End-User
customers on- line training
seminars.
We also have a Technical Trainer, who is visiting the larger Key Accounts and Distributors, executing practical repair demos and offering solutions for major section repairs in Truck-, Tractor- and OTR tyres.
For smaller repairs sessions we
follow the “Train
RB
And finally, Tech has had a strong presence in the UK for many years, including in Northern Ireland. How has Brexit impacted Tech’s business so far, what measures have you had to implement to deal with it, and how do you see it impacting business in the future?
WvL
Brexit might have been one of the arguments to move the Tech EMEA HQ to Belgium, but I believe the closure of the production unit in Lisburn and the further expansion of the Chinese factor y were probably more important reasons. Also, the aspect of bringing the product closer to our European customers through a central distribution point on the European continent, and the positive impact on deliver y lead times it has, was probably also a ver y important factor.
In terms of the specific impact of Brexit on our customers, extra costs will be limited and are under control. Depending
on the products there will be small import duties
calculated. Delivery lead times will increase due to import formalities in the UK. Meanwhile,
bureaucracy will certainly
increase. Our UK
suppliers are still working on export
formalities for import into the
EU. Because the final Brexit decision was
taken at a very late stage, not all exact procedures are yet known by all our partners. However, we are confident this will be under control soon.
make a
calculated choice, either using the Tech or Pang brand. Mainly we evaluate this depending on aspects such as the specific distributor candidate requirements, existing brand awareness in that specific region, market pricing etc. With a fully available Pang product portfolio and enough media and training options available, we hope to
appoint more Pang Distributors in the next few years.
RB
As a company you lay considerable
emphasis on the
fact that tyre repair
isn’t just about the
quality of the repair
products used. Just
as important is implementation of
quality training
programmes. Could you please give us some insight into how Tech approaches is issue of training, the facilities it has at its disposal and the programmes it can offer customers?
WvL
Our slogan has always been “Teach Each Customer How”. It forms the foundation for each company wanting to be
The Trainer” philosophy, and all our Regional Sales Managers are required to be able to execute small repair (nail hole) demos at customer locations. Meanwhile we are also certified by certain major tyre manufacturers to officially represent them during corporate training seminars, usually at their respective dealer locations around the EMEA region.
16 Retreading Business