Gemeni Machine Works manufacturers of tyre retreading machines serves domestic market in a vibrant way and intend to step into Europe and US markets. The plan for targeting Europe and the US markets is on the cards which will soon become staged. Every process in US and Europe market is automated and that style and technology have to be emulated to hit both the markets and the ground works are uprooted. Having gained 3 decades of experience in the market the company is capable enough in the industry with very good insights on nuances too. The push is now on the varied geographies of US and Europe and the company is hoping to replicate the same success story in the overseas market.
The reason behind the tyre retreading industries flag high is that retreading is both financially and environmentally friendly. The former is vouched with the spent on the retreading and the retreading manufacturers claim that the retreading takes one third of the cost of virgin tyres. As everyone knows disposal of tyres is a major havoc to the environment the retreading of tyres is always a safe bet and if the quantity of retreading increases the quality of environment increases and are directly proportional to each other. The mileage of the retreaded tyres are considerably high and experts claim that if the casing of the tyres is good, the mileage can go upto 75-80% of virgin tyres.
“We are a 25 year machine manufacturing company commissioned more than 350 tyre retreading plants globally. We have bagged Government orders too and have supported JK tyres franchisee. We do not restrict our physical presence to a certain radius but will be training operators globally no matter where they established themselves,” said Viginesh, Director, Gemeni Machine Works. He continued saying that, “Hitherto we supply machines to Africa, Middle East and Asian countries but have not tasted Europe and US markets as they have their own technology inputs. The technical intricacies of their retreading have to be imbibed to leap in those markets. But those are not rocket science for us and we have already signalled green to try those markets and will soon bag orders from those markets too.” averred Viginesh.
The machine builder has dedicated service engineers who will take care of the installation, commissioning and training the operators and supply them with the mandate tools and consumables added Viginesh. Given the requirements, the company takes all the hassle from the design of the plant layout till the optimisation against the needs and requirements of the customer. Not only do the machines emblazon the Indian markets but also get exported to 15 other countries like Italy, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, Fiji, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nepal, Mauritius, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Egypt. Fully automated machines have not hit the Indian market as the need of the same did not ignite thus far the Indian brains.
The choice of electric chamber paves a pivotal role in opting the retreading machines. The electric chambers are available from 2 tyres to 16 tyres ( 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,16) which could output approximately 6-48 (6,9,12,15,18,24,30,36,48) tyres respectively. The figures bracketed shows the availability of chambers against the volume of tyres produced in a 10 hour shift. The retreading plant set-up does not stop with only 1 machine and gets changed according to the needs of the customer. Minimum 6-7 machines need to be installed for successful commissioning of retreading tyres business but the number of machines vary depending on the clients’ requirements.
“Retreading market in India is astounding and the quirky advantage of retreading is that the retreaded tyres consume only one third of oil against virgin tyres. Most of the oil is found in casing and by means of this the spent in the oil is drastically optimised.” Soon after bagging an order the company starts manufacturing machines, install and commission the same in the client spot. “The sale of machines does not end our service to customers as we are indulging ourselves in training the operators and impart them the machine education to handle with better care which in-turn increases the longevity of the machines.” opined Viginesh.
To highlight very few players are competing in retreading markets and this market should be termed as oligopoly. The price of the machines are highly competitive and would not expect major price rise with respect to these machines as the company serves secondary markets and not supplying machines to virgin tyre manufactures. Speaking about the plant capacity Viginesh remarked that, “We have machines which would output 200 tyres/month to 2000 tyres/month. Based on the needs of the customers our machine design and other parameters will differ.”
Commenting on the number of times of retreading the tyres Viginesh disclosed that as long as the casing is strong a tyre could be retreaded as many times as it can be, but on the contrary if the casing is not supportive even one level of retreading is not recommended and the suggested retread thickness is 1.6mm. Asserting on companies such as Michelin, Continental and Goodyear viginesh remarked and concluded that these companies have their own technology to retread tyres and slowly these technologies will be tapped by us also.
