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NEWS
Goodyear to Close Wolverhampton
After what seems like a long and protracted death, Goodyear has finally done what many in the industry long expected it to do. It has decided to close its facility at Wolverhampton.
The West Midlands plant had, in recent years, been replanned and the retread line fully modernised as Goodyear tried to capture lost ground in the retread sector. It had been slow to follow Michelin into whole life tyre management, and by the time Goodyear reinvested in Wolverhampton and the retread Facility, independents such as Bandvulc and Vaculug had also entered the tyre management arena, often acting on behalf of Goodyear’s new tyre competitors. The plant first established in 1927 once employed some 7,000 staff, it had been reduced little by little to a mere 330 employees. Now, according to Goodyear, it will probably be completly shut down by 2017.
Erich Fric, managing director of Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK, said: "We understand the impact the closure of Wolverhampton would have. We will honour our responsibilities and will do everything we can to support all employees who are affected.
"In the face of ever-increasing competition, we carefully considered several options. "However we believe these proposals are needed to strengthen our competitiveness and ensure we have a sustainable business." This is part of a restructuring to make Goodyear more competitive in the face of growing competition from
imported tyres from the Far East. In Germany, passenger car tyre production at Wittlich is also to end.
Meanwhile, in France the long drawn out attempt to close the Amiens plant drags its way through the French legal
system. According to Goodyear the closure of Wolverhampton is required to help strengthen competitiveness in the face of a challenging business environment, increased competition, and currency headwinds." The firm said it was improving efficiency by transferring the production of commercial retreaded tyres and compound mixing carried out at Wolverhampton to other plants
in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This follows on the removal of Dunlop Motorsport from its historical site at Birmingham. From a manufacturing context, Goodyear is retreating from the market.
Goodyear, like its competitor, Continental, plans to service the European retread sector from a central retread facility in Germany. It will collect casings from its dealers across
Europe, ship them to Wittlich, where they will be hot cure retreaded, and then sent back to the dealers, whether they be in Portugal, Bulgaria or the
North of Scotland. Local authorised retreaders will continue to offer the pre-cure package to their immediate
markets, whilst acting as collection agents for the casings for hot cure.
Retreading Business
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Retreading Business is pleased to announce that readers of the magazine are now able to access the latest news stories from the retreading industry on their smartphones thanks to the launch of the Retreading Business App.
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The app is also available for iPhone , iPad and iPod touch. This version can be downloaded from the App Store at the following url: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ retreading-business/id992866113?ls=1&mt=8.
Finland Shows Growth in Retread Sector
Figures released by the Finnish Tyre Association Autonrengasliitto show that truck tyre retreading showed a 2 per cent growth rate during 2014, with sales growing
from 165,622 to 169,064 units. Truck retreading in Finland is carried out more or less exclusively using the pre-cured system.
The fortunes of the light truck and passenger segments on the other hand, were not quite so positive. Light truck retreads fell by 7
per cent to 1,468 units whilst passenger retreading suffered a significant 20 per cent decline to 77,939 units.
AIRP Pushes Retreading in Italy
Italy is perhaps becoming one of the most openly environmentally conscious countries in Europe. One might say that this is a counterbalance for past transgressions. Nonetheless, the Italian media is full of news and articles about “il ambiente” – the environment.
AIRP, the Italian retread and repair association declared some positive figures for the press for 2014. AIRP claims that retreading offset the disposal of some 31,705 tons of used tyres in 2014. This was a result made possible, they claim, by using advanced technologies that guarantee the production of
retreaded tyres with characteristics similar to those of new tyres. They validate this by stating that retreaded tyres are subjected to the same endurance, load and speed tests as new tyres.
The ecological balance and economic reconstruction of tyres in Italy is claimed by AIRP to have saved 107.2 million litres of oil. There was also a lower consumption of other raw materials by 30,641 tons.
Publicity by AIRP to promote retreading can only be a positive move for the industry, and perhaps other national organisations need to take a lead on helping promote recycling and retreading.
General Manager Appointed at Dunlop Taikoo
Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres has appointed David Shen as general manager.
Shen joins the tyre distribution and retreading facility, based in Fujian Province, China, from aircraft engineering company HAECO-Xiamen, where he had been senior manager of business improvement and lean development.
In total he has more than 17 years’ technical experience within the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul industry.
“David brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help us build on our success in the Asia Pacific region,” said Ian Edmondson, chairman, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres.
Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft
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