DLS and Continental: A ‘force multiplied

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DLS Retreading and Continental: A ‘force multiplied’

New dealer and tire maker work together to capture Carolina retread market share

By Lori L. Mavrigian

DLS Retreading Inc. opened the doors of the f rst all-new ContiTread licensed truck tire retreading facility in the United States last month.

T e 16,000-square-foot retreading shop in Fort Mill, S.C., is part of a 72,000-squarefoot commercial building and will not only produce and sell Continental ContiTread f at precure retreaded truck tires, but also of er new Continental and General truck tires. T e facility has 11 service docks.

Vice President and General Manager Scot Snyder, a 25-year veteran of the truck tire and retreading industry, says the new facility could not have been created without the partnership of Continental Tire the Americas Paul Williams (left), Continental’s executive vice president for truck tires, LLC’s Commercial Vehicle Tire business unit. worked closely with DLS Retreading’s Vice President and General Manager

“We have truly worked together as a team, Scott Snyder to get the plant up and running. and what makes this most intriguing is that Continental has taken a year to work with our family, providing Snyder started his new business by buying an empty wareresources and capital, to make sure that we could get into this house. DLS Retreading, the f rst of Continental’s licensees in market successfully.” the U.S. to build a retread facility instead of switching processes

Continental made a commitment to DLS Retreading to in an existing plant, is the result. provide the engineering, marketing and sales support needed “Paul knew I was intrigued with the retreading industry,” to succeed in South Carolina, which is one of the fastestsays Snyder. “I started talking with him about a year ago to growing economies in the southeast U.S., says Paul Williams, see if there were any opportunities in the market for someone Continental’s executive vice president for truck tires. South like me. And here we are, one year later.” Carolina was ranked tied for second highest real gross domestic T roughout his career, Snyder has had extensive experience product (GDP) growth rate in the region for 2012, according with two other retreading processes, Bandag and Michelin to a June news release by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Americas Truck Retread Technologies (MRT). Snyder had Bureau of Economic Analysis. worked for Berlin Tire, Tire Centers Inc. (TCi), which was

“We’ve been commit ed to help DLS Retreading with this purchased by Michelin North America Inc. in 1999, and new venture from the beginning, not only because they are Snider Tire Inc. “T is venture is a good opportunity — the close to our headquarters in Fort Mill, but more importantly, right place at the right time.” because they understand the benef ts of providing retreads T e building is wholly owned by DLS Retreading. Conthat meet the needs of the market with the same performance tinental provided help with the design and layout of the and designs as the new tires,” says Williams. retread facility, which currently takes up about a quarter of

T at proximity to Continental’s HQ (about four miles) has the building’s f oor space. created a synergy, says Williams. “We’re a force multiplied.” T e “Plant conversions take about two weeks,” Williams explains. plant also will be used as a training facility for new employees “T is building was an empty warehouse — a clean sheet of as well as a showcase for potential ContiTread licensees. paper, so to speak. T e whole process took a lot of time, but

once we got all the permits in order, everything happened very quickly.”

Snyder signed the ContiTread franchise agreement in May, and the company has moved from zero tires on June 1 to building 60 tires per day with one curing chamber. “T e Continental staf was here the whole time,” Snyder says. “T ey were very instrumental in get ing it up and running.”

Here are some facts about the DLS Retreading facility and its location:

• It is located in Lancaster County, S.C. • It represents an investment of $2.5 million in capital and equipment. • DLS Retreading received economic incentives from

Lancaster County for a f ve-year period beginning in 2013. “T e state was good to us. T ere were motivations for us to be where we are,” Snyder says. • T e retread shop currently has one inspection station, shearography, one buf ng machine, two tire repair stations, one tire builder, one curing chamber and

Mat euzi G100 inf ation testing equipment for f nal inspection. When fully mature, the shop will have the capacity to produce 300 retreaded truck tires per day with three curing chambers.

“Growth depends on the amount of f eet business we sign on,” says Snyder. “At the end of 12 months, we should be doing about 150 tires a day. Employees will be added incrementally as needed for the retread process. We currently have six in the retread shop, and a total of 13 employees. At the end of year, we should have 50-plus employees.”

Continental has nine ContiTread retread facilities in the U.S. T e company recently opened its f rst shop in Canada. It has 10 in Mexico, three in Ecuador and a couple in Brazil. It plans to open another two to three more in the U.S. over the course of this year.

Williams’ goal is to sell one retread for every new Continental or General truck tire sold. He also wants an 8% to 10% share of the U.S. retread market; he estimates Continental has a 1.5% share, twice what it was just one year ago.

“Continental is a top tier truck tire, and everyone wants to

The state of South Carolina worked with company owner Scott Snyder to offer incentives to create a new retread facility in Lancaster County, which has the potential to employ at least 50 people by the end of the year.

John Barnes, manager of ContiLifeCycle – the Americas, says one thing that differentiates Continental’s process from other retreading systems is that inside and outside envelopes are used on the tires before they go into the curing chamber. This create even pressure, he notes. The tires are cured at 260 degrees Fahrenheit for 2.5 hours.

try their solution of new tires with matching retreads,” says Snyder. “Now we’re here to help prove to these local f eets, with Continental’s support, that Continental is an excellent

choice for their life cycle needs.” ■