Page 20 - CTB n3 - 2013/3,

RETREADING
Direct Tyre Sales: Focus on Premium Quality Retreading
Marangoni,” says Hinks, “and the Ring Tread product provides us with a unique sales pitch”. Ring Tread is different to traditional tread strips used in pre-cured retreading in that the tread is supplied as a complete tread ring, which means that it has no joints and fits to the casing without tension or deformation. Direct Tyre Sales is now the largest Ringtreader in the UK.
Direct Tyre Sales’ focus on quality has seen the company make significant investments in machinery since since the end of 2010. At that time the company has bought a fully automatic Leonardo 2500 buffers and a Ringtreader 2000 building
from Wigan. Outside that area nationwide coverage is assured through Thornleigh Freight Ltd who provide a 48 hour delivery service.
Many of the company’s tyres go through to customers of the parent company, Direct Tyre Management (DTM), which has recently moved to impressive new offices in Skelmersdale. Together with DTM, Direct Tyre Sales has developed its own in-house casing system to help the company track the life of casings through the factory.
From the booking-in stage at the initial receipt of the tyre, Direct Tyre Sales give the tyre a unique casing
Direct Tyre Sales factory in Wigan
Tyre building on DTM’s Ringtreader machine
When Steve Richardson decided four years ago to purchase an independent retreading business in Wigan, he did so in the knowledge that the traditionally conservative tyre services industry had been lacking innovation and true customer focus for many years. His plan was to develop the retread plant as part of his existing tyre management business and to combine the two companies to create a more customer focused tyre services business that could offer a full range of new tyres and retreads.
The retread plant commenced trading under its new name of Direct Tyre Sales in 2009, since when the business has been transformed from a medium sized retreader to the second largest pre-cure retreader in the country. The company can now arguably claim to be the UK’s fastest growing retreader, producing 22,000
retreads per annum, double what it did in 2011-12.
Overseeing the investment that has taken place at the Wigan factory is Production Manager, John Hinks. “The last four years has seen a continuous and sustained improvement in our plant and product line,” says Hinks, who has a BSc in Quality Management and who has been heavily involved in the development of the company’s quality management system. “As an independent retreader our emphasis has been focused on premium quality retreading.”
With this in mind, the company has increased and strengthened its relationship with Marangoni, with 90-95% of production being Marangoni’s Ringtread product, the remainder being made up of Marangoni tread strip. “We have a very good relationship with
machine. This was supplemented with a further buffer at the end of 2012.
Sales at the company are handled by Dave Fletcher, who is an ex ATS national Sales Manager and is now looking to grow truck tyre sales
reference number. The casing can then be tracked through the various production stages within the factory allowing detailed reports to be run on the tyre’s history and its pass and failure rates.
The casing carries its unique casing
Buffing a tyre on the Leonardo 2500 buffer from Marangoni
Production Manager, John Hinks
20 Commercial Tyre Business
through the strength of the performance of the tyres the company produces as well as utilising the strong route to market which the company has established over the years, both locally and nationally.
This sales effort is supported by a completely national coverage. DTM has four delivery vehicles of its own, covering a one hundred mile radius
number right through to customer invoicing so that at any point the customer can track his order through the factory and view the history of the tyre.
Says John Hinks: “This new innovation will help us track stock more efficiently, provide customer reporting and history logs and increase productivity throughout the factory.”