Page 14 - CTB n2 - 2013/2

FLEET TYRE MANAGEMENT
Direct Tyres: Delivering the Promise
Blackpool based Direct Tyre Management (DTM) has been one of the most prominent successes in the fleet tyre management market in recent years. Founded in 2004 by Steve Richardson, who had previously filled National Sales Director roles with both Motorway and ATS Euromaster, DTM already has turnover of £17 million per annum and claims 4% of the UK commercial tyre market. Now, following its recent
in real time. The company therefore developed its own in-house software programme called TAMS, which acts as a portal accessible to the customer, the
service provider, the casing management company and DTM’s own network compliance team. TAMS provides the fleet operator with secure remote access to a plethora of relevant reports offering total visibility of tyre contract performance. Areas covered include accounting reports, expenditure reports, vehicle reports, product and service reports, casing stock reports, KPI monitoring and
we make to customers”, says Steve Richardson. “We look carefully at what the customer wants but if necessar y we challenge their preferences if we think we can save them more money by approaching things in a different way. What is critical though, is that we do not promise what we can’t achieve”. According to Richardson, DTM’s two main USPs are the company’s 24/7, 365 day-a-year customer service centre, which handles ever y call (voice and time recorded) and the fact that DTM is an independent company and therefore not driven by unit sales or the pressure to sell a particular brand. DTM has access to 800 outlets nationwide, all of which
are subject to a stringent network service compliance agreement. According to Richardson the network includes outlets from almost everywhere with the exception of ATS Euromaster. Indeed, in the car
quality retreads. In August 2009 the company acquired Wigan based pre-cure retreader
Bestway Tyres and renamed it Direct Tyre Supplies, thereby assuring that DTM could offer a full cradle-to-grave service. In the meantime, production at Wigan has increased and the plant is now operating almost at full capacity. As a result, Richardson is now looking to set up a second plant, possibly by acquisition, and is also looking towards creating a mould cure retread solution. In addition, following the merger of DTM into the NRG Group, the company will be moving to a new head office facility in Skelmersdale in June.
Steve Richardson argues that the service offered by DTM is unique. “Others don’t offer the complete package as we do”, he says. “We don’t set out to be the cheapest, so we have to save the customer money. Indeed the difference between managed or unmanaged fleets can be as much as 20% in terms of cost. What we can say with some degree of certainty is that, if the market did not offer such scope for improvements in efficiency,
DTM will shortly be occupying a new a new group head office at the first Phase of the newly developed Oasis Business Park in Skelmersdale.
Steve Richardson, Managing Director of Direct Tyre Management.
acquisition by the NRG Fleet Services Group, Richardson is aiming to almost double turnover within three years and to grab up to 7% of the market. According to Richardson, DTM’s success has been based on the decision to position the company as an independent supplier of tyre management services that is playing a leading role in moving the industry away from treating tyres as a commodity towards a more focused asset management approach. “It is vital is to show customers that it’s not the up- front cost of the tyres that is important, but the number of tyres they buy over time”, he explains.
In establishing the business, Richardson aimed to compete with providers who were offering deals based on price, but to do so DTM needed access to meaningful tyre data
roadside breakdown reports. Says Richardson; “ Because TAMS was developed internally, it not only gave us ownership of the system but also gives us the capability to adapt and change quickly as well as supplying us with comprehensive data that we can turn into intelligence. Furthermore, we set all our KPIs at customer and location level , allowing us to provide highly individual solutions. It is vital we establish intelligence at that level”.
DTM’s structure is interesting in that the company has no specific sales people, only network managers who look at whether a customer is the right type of customer to benefit from DTM’s service and whether DTM can deliver based on the customer’s requirements. All sales are done by referral or by tender.
“We try to control the offer that
and van sector, the company even has service agreement deals with Kwik-Fit and National Tyres.
One area DTM has focused on in recent times is the retreading market, due to the need to have access to a regular supply of
companies like DTM would not exist. We have been successful because we have built up a business based on trust and on delivering the promise”.
14 Commercial Tyre Business