Page 72 - Retrading Business N102 2022-03

KARNATAKA TYRE TO INSTALL ELGI 2-SERIES LINE IN SHIMOGA SITE
Shimoga based Elgi franchisee Karnataka Tyre Agencies is planning a plant upgrade with Elgi’s new 2-series line. The new line would likely to be operational by January 2023,” assured Johny Joseph, Managing Partner at the Shimoga based site. The dis- trict of Shimoga is located in the middle of the South Indian state of Karnataka. The plant caters to the markets of Shimoga and adjoining districts of Chikamagalur and Chitradurga. All the three districts toge- ther have a retread market of about 2,600 tyres in a month.
Karnataka Tyre Agencies was invited to the Dealer Conference organised by Elgi at Coimbatore and was delighted that the retread major is introducing a series of ini- tiatives in the near future that strengthens as well as transforms the existing franchi- see network apart from expanding the product portfolio on the machinery side.
Explaining the benefits of the 2-series line, Joseph said, “The 2-series line is compact and simple in design, easy to operate with low maintenance. It is capable of retrea- ding wide range of light truck and heavy truck casings in a bead diameter ranging from “14” to “24.5”.”
Currently, the Shimoga plant is retreading about 4,000 TBRs annually on two twin tyre autoclaves. “In the new line, the plan is to install two 4-tyre autoclaves and al- most double the plant capacity,” said Jo- seph.
“A key advantage is that we will be able to operate the plant with less headcount. La- bour is a huge issue in the retreading sec- tor as people are no longer willing to join the industry,” he added. “We can operate the 2-series line with 35% less labour and almost double the production.”
Johny Joseph, Managing Partner, Karnataka Tyre Agencies