Finnish retreader switches to Marangoni

PORI, Finland — Finnish retreader Lujakumi Oy has agreed to switch its retread production system to the Marangoni Ringtread spliceless process, ending a nearly 50-year relationship with the Bandag system.

Lujakumi Oy Managing Director Hanna Maja cited the need for offering a product that offers lower rolling resistance and higher mileage for the company's decision to convert its Pori retread plant to Marangoni's processes, primarily the Ringtread process.

Lujakumi has been a Bandag system retreader since 1968.

"In our sector…customers are demanding higher efficiency from the products we supply and install,…" Ms. Maja said, stressing the need to provide increased performance and low costs per kilometer to its customers.

"That's the reason why we have taken the decision to use the premium Ringtread system from Marangoni," she said. "Going forward, we will be able to satisfy the demand from fleet customers to meet the need for improved quality and better efficiency…."

The company also noted that reliable grip and traction are key factors in the Finnish market due to the severity of the weather in winter.

The company, which belongs to Point S dealership network, did not disclose the Pori plant's capacity, nor the expected investment in converting the facility to the Marangoni systems. The plant has 30 employees.

The company was established in 1954 by the Lujala family and continues to be managed by the family's second generation, Marangoni said. Today it supplies a large independent customer base around Finland and Åland, the Swedish-speaking archipelago in the Baltic Sea.