Page 26 - The Tyreman 2019 - 2
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retreading
Eversafe Hold Open House to Demonstrate Investment at Ip
Malaysian tread rub- ber manufacture Eversafe, based in Ipoh, Perak, recently held an open day for invited cus- tomers and journalists, in order to demonstrate the company has made in its manufacturing facility over the last 2-3 years. The event held at the start of March, company had opened its fa- cilities to guests in this man- ner since 2010.
“The main purpose of the event was to show what we have done in terms of upgrades,” explained Managing Director Cheah Siang Tee. “We have ex- panded the capacity for precured tread and for custom mixing from top to - cantly upgraded our mix- ers and presses.”
According to Cheah, the company’s capacity is now 3,500 tonnes per month of which 1,500 tonnes is for precured treads and 2,000 tonnes for custom compounding. Key reasons for the investment included the desire to develop the company’s position in custom compounding as well as to allow it to expand its business in the retreading sector, especially in the key markets of Europe and Latin America.
Eversafe already does some business in the European retreading market but is now looking to expand both in precure and hot cure. With this in mind the company has
established a distribution warehouse in the European market (Bulgaria) through an arrangement with a local logistics company, which means there is stock available in Europe, allowing customers to order smaller quantities. In addition to Europe Eversafe is also targeting expansion in South America and Canada.
Cheah explained Eversafe’s strategy for gaining traction in these new markets. We are looking to provide an alternative to the traditional franchise brands,” he said. “The franchises make up 60-70% of the market, but this sector on its own is not enough for retreaders to sustain their business. They need other work, for example as a supplier of rubber to retreaders, who want or need to retread Asian casings but don’t want to use their franchise rubber on those casings. We don’t see ourselves replacing gaps as well as provide some solutions
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