Langley-based retreader Fine Tread & Tires (Canada) Ltd is preparing to move from rented premises to its own site. The company is finalising a new Langley location and plans to relocate by year-end. “We are also mulling expansion and plan to buy one more set of plant machinery to double the capacity at the proposed new site,” said Sikander Singh Randhawa, while discussing the company’s next move.
Fine Tread Plans Retreading Capacity Expansion
Randhawa moved from Nairobi, Kenya, with more than two decades of experience in the business. His family still operates a retreading unit there under a similar name. Fine Tread initially operated from a 5,100 sq ft plant, using the cold process to retread semi-truck and trailer tyres. It later moved to premises twice that size in Langley, bordering the Cloverdale area of Surrey, British Columbia, to serve its growing customer base.
Fine Tread now plans to move from rented premises to its own unit later this year. Randhawa also operates a multi-brand tyre dealership in Seattle, United States, and travels to Vancouver on weekends to manage the retreading business.
The retreader plans to add another set of machinery to boost production and is in contact with suppliers in the US and India, including Coimbatore-based Glisten.
Explaining the reason for the expansion, Randhawa said: “A major retread franchisee plant shut down operations some time back, and customers are looking for an alternative, opening growth opportunities for us. Our capacity expansion will fill the void for the customers.”
According to Randhawa, the franchisee now serves its Vancouver customer base from a more distant plant, increasing lead times for local customers.
The site currently retreads 600 tyres per month, around 46 tyres per day, below the 1,000 tyres per month it produced when it opened in 2007. “We have a single 23-tyre autoclave, which can retread 70 tyres in two shifts,” said Kirat Dulk, sales manager at Fine Tread.
Fine Tread sources tread rubber and consumables from Vipal’s US-based site. The plant consumes about 25,000 pounds of material each month and between 300,000 and 400,000 pounds annually, depending on retread volumes. It offers more than 100 tread designs for drive and trailer tyres.
The retreader is also extending its market coverage by 300–400 km in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, which it expects to bring additional volumes to the plant. “We will now unlock various new areas, which were not covered earlier, like Vancouver Island and up to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, and this is also a reason for expansion,” said Dulk.
Fine Tread offers fleet services and management to help customers streamline their tyre programmes. “We deliver value by providing quality products and even customise as per the requirements of the customer, which helps us to survive in the highly competitive market.”
Besides retreading, the Langley facility sells retreaded casings and new tyres from most major brands. It also offers wheel alignment for commercial trucks, trailers, cars, and pick-ups. Its services include tyre installation, wheel balancing, special repairs, and mobile tyre services.
“We are more than just a retailer or reseller and have hundreds of fleets, private operators, and groups as our clients across Western Canada and keep the rubber on the road on thousands of movers, trucks, and trailers. In fact, there is nothing too big or too small for us to assist you,” said Dulk.
The presence of low-priced Chinese tyres in the Canadian market challenges the retreading sector. “But we continue to challenge their presence with our quality. We continue to survive from the time when tyres were retreaded four or five times to today, when an old branded casing’s price has dropped from CAD 100 to just CAD 20, and customers prefer their tyres to be repaired and not retreaded. We continue to grow and expand with customers who understand retreading and remain loyal to us,” said Randhawa.
