Tire Cologne to host retreading conference

COLOGNE, Germany — The organizers of The Tire Cologne — the biennial tire industry exposition set to debut in 2018 — have added a one-day "Global Retreading Conference" to the event's agenda.

The conference, being organized in partnership with BIPAVER, the European Retreading Association, will take place May 29 at the Cologne Congress Centre North, the opening day of The Tire Cologne.

Admission is free, but advance registration is necessary, according to Koelnmesse G.m.b.H., the event's organizer. The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the convention center's Rheinsaal.

The retreading conference will focus on current developments, market data and best practice examples and discuss the potentials and future of the retreading industry, Koelnmesse said.

Among industry notables expected to present at the conference are: Ralf Frohwerk, global head business development at SLM Solutions G.m.b.H. of Lübeck, Germany; Stefan Dengler, managing director at SDS Systemtechnik G.m.b.H. in Calw, Germany; and Detlef Witt, head of global product management at RemaTipTop A.G. in Poing, Germany.

The conference also intends to present regional market reports for Europe, North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia and India, with presentations from: Tim van der Rijken, general secretary of BIPAVER and VACO, Leiden, Netherlands; David Stevens, managing director, TRIB; Leandro Rigon, representative of ALARNEU and international business director for Vipal Rubber, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Chris Bloor, executive director international marketing and sales for Giti Tire Global Trading Pte. Ltd., Singapore; and Paulose Varughese, director Midas Treads Pvt. Ltd., Kottayam, India.

In addition, Koelnmesse is planning, in cooperation with the trade magazines "Retreading Business" and "Tyre & Rubber Recycling," to host a "Recycling Forum" with presentations daily throughout first three days of the show's four day run, May 29-June 1.

The presentations, which will take place in a dedicated Retreading and Recycling zone in Hall 9, will focus on the tire industry's influences on the environment and vice versa.

The Tire Cologne is organized by Koelnmesse and the industry sponsor, the Bundesverband Reifenhandel & Vulkaniseur-Handwerk e.V.(German Tire Retailers and Vulcanisation Trade Association).

The 2018 event is the inaugural Tire Cologne exposition. It is seen as the successor of the biennial Reifen show, which ran for decades in Essen, Germany, but which is no longer a stand-alone exhibition.