WALNUT CREEK, Calif.—Marangoni Tread North America Inc. has signed two more retreaders—White's Tire Service of Wilson, N.C., and West End Tire (1990) Ltd. of Winnipeg, Manitoba—to its Ringtread precured retread program.
The new licensees bring to seven the number of Ringtread retreaders in the U.S. and Canada.
White's Tire Service expects its Ringtread production in Wilson to be operational by January 2001. White's Tire will add the Ringtread production to its existing Marangoni mold cure and White's bead-to-bead mold cure production at the Wilson plant, according to President Ed White. "This gives us an additional premium precure offering," he said, "and a full program with Marangoni."
White's Tire's Bandag plant in Goldsboro, N.C., is unaffected by the move. Mr. White declined to say what level of output the company expects to have from the Ringtread line. The company does not anticipate having to increase its workforce to accommodate the new production, he said.
West End Tire is adding a Ringtread production line to an existing Hawkinson mold cure line at its Winnipeg retread plant, and will expand overall retread output to about 200 tires a day, said John Husiak, manager of retreading.
The company added Marangoni to have a premium precure process to complement its existing mold cure business, West End Tire President Andy Collet said.
To accommodate the new line—which should be operational by February—West End Tire is more than doubling the size of its Winnipeg plant, to about 13,000 square feet, Mr. Husiak said.
Among new equipment will be Marangoni's Leonardo automated buffer, which is capable of handling 135 tires per shift.
West End Tire serves commercial customers in Manitoba from its own two stores in Winnipeg, and it distributes retreads through 28 other single-store dealerships throughout the province. The company carries Michelin, BFGoodrich and Bridgestone new tires.
Separately, Marangoni Tread has appointed Bill Sweatman as executive vice president. Mr. Sweatman has more than 20 years' experience in the tire industry, including 13 with Bandag Inc. and seven with Michelin North America Inc.