As with most retreaders in Malaysia, Gummitread predominantly provide pre-cure retreads, despite also having one hot cure mould.
Gummitread Develops its Own In-house Patterns
It’s hard to argue that Gummitread could be better positioned going forward with Chan Boon Liat managing the plant’s operations. The manager falls back on a wealth of experience in the retreading sector that consists of six years working for Kit Loong Commercial Tyre and four years with a rival retreader, before starting his five-year term at Gummitread.
Gummitread Sdn Bhd, based in Sungai Puloh, are located close to Port Klang and mostly make use of imported and customer owned casings. Like most retreaders across Malaysia, Gummitread import the majority of their casings from Japan, and as a result of this mostly manufacture using eminent brands such as Bridgestone, Falken and Toyo.
Chan Boon Liat explained to us that there is a “big quality issue with casings.” This, the plant manager clarified, is mostly borne out of the pay structure for truck drivers in the country.
“Most drivers are paid by trip in Malaysia and therefore with this structure it should come as no surprise that drivers are encouraged to focus on making as many trips as possible,” he elaborated.
With this type of wage determination system, and when time and quantity are prioritised ahead of quality and service, it is only natural that the resources you work with are not treated adequately and that the final output is below what is envisaged.
Delving into the background of Gummitread, you will discover a tyre operation that covers several facets. To start with, the retreader’s parent company Yong Sing Loong is a well recognised tyre wholesaler in the region providing car and truck tyres over the last 30 years. During the company’s development, the owner’s son came out of the business and founded an operation selling more new truck tyres, casings, importing auto parts and stocking retreads.
Nowadays Gummitread has 15 workers, including two office staff, two in sales, one in maintenance, and two drivers to collect casings, with the remaining staff being employed in production. The retreader operates with only one shift, beginning at 7.30am and finishing at 3pm.
This shift pattern has led to Gummitread producing approximately 2,000 retreads per month, which Chan Boot Liat claims represents about 60 per cent of the company’s full production capability. “In some months we are little above the 2,000-piece benchmark and some months we are a little below. It goes without saying, but this is heavily impacted by demand.
As with most retreaders in Malaysia, Gummitread predominantly provide pre-cure retreads, despite also having one hot cure mould. Chan Boot Liat revealed that “approximately 95 per cent of production is pre-cure with only 30-40 hot cure retreads being manufactured per month”.
As for machinery and materials, it should come as no surprise considering Chan boot Liat’s history with Kit Loong to hear that Gummitread benefits from a complete portfolio of Newera retreading equipment which is headlined by a 22-tyre autoclave that boasts a curing time of 2 hours 30 minutes. On top of this, they are also supplied by MAE, B&J and Ho-Com to service their client base.
In addition, Chan Boot Liat spoke at great length about the product options Gummitread offers as well as their commitment to high levels of quality control, revealing to The Tyreman that the company always offers three to four options for customers, with one of them being Gummitread’s own in-house pattern.
Boot Liat explained, “we developed our own in-house pattern, which has unsurprisingly become an in-house advantage for us since this pattern is completely unique and can’t be found anywhere else on the market.”
These unique patterns are then supported by an independent high-pressure test conducted by Gummitread. These tests are not required by law, but Gummitread carry them out to ensure quality and performance. If the products do not reach the performance threshold required of them, they will not reach the final user.
The future for Gummitread is one littered with challenges, but also one that presents opportunities, as seen by the fact that the retreader will be changing locations in 2020.
“We should be moving to a facility that is double the size of what we have now,” explained Peter Soon Kok Eng. “The completion of the new site should be finished by March, as we look to move in at the end of April.
“We are analysing the need to add new machines to our portfolio. For instance, we want to produce as much as possible but we struggle to pick the tyres up quickly. This would be an instant way to improve efficiency.”
Gummitread 为2020年增长做好准备
Gummitread因Chan Boon Liat管理工厂运作而得以稳步向前迈进，显然是毋庸置疑的。在Gummitread服务5年的他拥有丰富经验，曾在吉隆商用轮胎公司服务6年，接着在竞争者那里待了4年 。
位于双溪毛糯的Gummitread私人有限公司，临近巴生港口，主要采用进口和客户自己的胎体。一如大部分的马来西亚翻胎业者，Gummitread的胎体大多数来自日本，采用大部分业者所使用的著名品牌如普利斯通、飞劲及东洋。
他解释说，胎体存有巨大品质问题，而这主要是因为国内卡车司机的薪酬结构造成的。
“在马来西亚，大部分的司机薪资都是以旅程次数多寡来计算的。这样一来，司机为了多赚点都会尽可能 跑多几趟。”
在这样的薪资制度下，最优先考虑的是时间和次数，而非品质和服务。如此一来所使用的资源自然不会被妥善处理，最后的结果就会比预想的来得低。钻研Gummitread的背景，你就会发现该公司的轮胎业务涵盖多个层面。该公司的母公司Yong Sing Loong是这个区域里著名的轮胎批发商，在过去的30年里提供轿车和卡车轮胎。Yong Sing Loong业主的儿子，在该公司的发展期间，自己出来创业，销售新卡车轮胎、胎体和进口汽车零部件，以及销售翻胎成品。
今天Gummitread拥有15名员工。其中包括两名办公室文员、两名销售员 、一名维修员及两名收集胎体的司机，其他的则是生产部员工。目前工厂只有一班次，从早上7时30分开始到下午3点结束。
这样的生产方式让Gummitread 每月生产近2，000条翻胎，而这据他说占公司总产能的60%。“在某些月份，我们生产比2，000条多一点点，有些月份则低于2，000条。产量的多寡与需求息息相关不言而喻。 ”
就如大部分的马来西亚翻胎业者，Gummitread主要提供预硫化翻胎，虽然该公司也拥有一台热翻硫化模具。他透露，每月有近95%是预硫化翻新，只有30-40% 是热翻。“
至于机械和原材料，知道他与吉隆轮胎过去的关系的都不会感到讶异。Gummitread采用的正是现代所提供的翻新设备，像是能在2小时30分钟里一次硫化22条轮胎的硫化罐。此外，他们也采用MAE、B&J 及Ho-Com的产品为其客户群提供服务。
他也在专访中告诉《轮胎世界》有关该公司所提供的广泛产品和他们致力于严格的品质控制。他们为客户提供三至四种不同的翻胎款型，其中包括他们的自有款型。他解释：“我们研发自己的翻胎款型，而这个款型如今成为我们的内部优势，因为该款型非常特别，无法在市场的其他地方找到。”
这些特别的款型都经过Gummitread的高压测试。虽然政府没规定这项测试，但是该公司这样做是为了确保翻胎的品质和性能。如果产品不符合他们所要求的品质标准，就不会被送到终端客户那里。Gummitread的未来挑战 虽然多，商机也同样不少，因为他们将在2020年搬迁到新地点。
“我们会搬迁到一个比现有设施大一倍的工厂。”Peter Soon表示。新厂预计可在3月完工，而我们打算在4月底搬到那里。我们也正在分析购买新设备的需要。我们想要尽可能生产更多的翻胎，但是我们却挣扎着如何在工厂中快速地将轮胎移到机器设备那里。而这正是立马改善效率的方法。”
