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AUTOPROMOTEC
Right -Robson Araujo, President of VMI South America and Herbert Bonhof, Sales Support
company was promoting was a car tyre orbitread builder, and they were not alone at Bologna in offering car tyre builders. It seems that car tyre retreading is far from dead, and given the level of interest in the field by equipment manufacturers it seems that there is still life in the sector after all.
In Italy, this appears to have been boosted by the arrival of a winter tyre law in some northern regions of Italy, and this has boosted investment in the sector, partly
because of the need for higher quality end products, but also because the rationalisation of the sector over the years has dramatically reduced the players, many of whom had decided to opt for truck and 4x4 tyres only. This new market for retreaded winter tyres has given the sector a much needed boost.
Orbitread Italia offers a range of Orbitread tyre builders for both truck and car sectors.
its length. Tyres retreaded with materials from such presses will be out of balance. We can help retreaders avoid that issue by ensuring a level and even tread. That quality is all important as the quality that goes into the tyre is seen in its
performance and characteristics as a finished product. As Europe looks to ever stiffer quality specifications, SASPOL is in a position to help retreaders and tread manufacturers meet those specifications.”
Hules Banda in High Spirits
TRM Goes for Car Tyre Builder
Mexico was represented at Auropromotec by Hules Banda and the effervescent Heriberto Romero and his agents representing Slovakia and Romania; Eastern Europe being a key developing market for the Mexican tread producer.
There was nothing new at the stand, just a positive view of the industry and the knowledge that whatever happened Hules Banda were able to meet the market with minimal costs
direct from Mexico.
On visits to retreaders around Europe Retreading Business has seen Hules Banda treads in the store rooms, sometimes even in places promoting themselves as representing big name suppliers. Hules Banda meets a market need for cost conscious buyers and the company does so with a flair that is helping it gradually grow market share in Europe.
TRM displayed a prototype Black Swan car tyre builder at Autopromotec. Still in the development stages it should, when available, offer a fully automated and rapid car tyre builder for the retread sector. Expected production is about 15 tyres per hour on average.
The operation is almost fully automated with the operator loading the tyre and pushing a button to start the operation. This, believe TRM, is the future of car tyre building, following where it went with truck tyre building.
VMI Expanding Opportunities
VMI attended Autopromotec and Retreading Business spoke to Robson Araujo President of VMI South America. Araaujo was able to say that VMI was finding the market very positive with interest in the developing markets for ever better quality equipment. This was a market that the VMI Group was
incresingly able to meet the demands for.
In South America the largest market remains Brazil, but Robson Araujo said that markets such as Argentina and Chile were growing fast and there were opportunities to see market development throughout South America for VMI.
SASPOL Keeps it Straight
With the boom in the precure sector SASPOL, the specialist in tread press manufacture, has seen some positive times as there has been an increase in pre-cure tread manufacture. Of course, that high has been offset by the ubiquitous Chinese competition and as always, the challenge was quality over price. “We have to compete with products from the Far
East that are often lower priced than we could produce. However, our strength is in our quality. We can guarantee that with our machines treads will be even along their full length,” said SASPOL’s Davide Dondena.
“The design of some of the Chinese machines can result in an unevenness in tread thickness along
28 Retreading Business