News details
New Bandag Dealer in Austria: Edler Reifen GmbH
09/29/2011 
Austria’s largest tyre retreading company, Edler Reifen GmbH & Co KG of Bruck an der Mur, has been the new Bandag franchisee since the beginning of July. Founded in 1929, the company manufactures retreaded tyres for commercial vehicles and earth-moving machinery at its Kapfenberg production plant on the basis of latest state of the art technology.
With the help of a strong partner, Bridgestone aims to further strengthen its market position as premium supplier of retreaded products of the brands Bridgestone Retread and Bandag in Europe. As Bandag franchisee, Edler Reifen GmbH & Co KG will be manufacturing Bandag and Bridgestone Retread products and marketing them in Austria. For this purpose, Bridgestone will be providing the company with a comprehensive package consisting of retreading materials, machinery, technical service, training and sales support.
The fusion of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. with the world market leader for retreading solutions “Bandag Incorporated” in the year 2006 brought together half a century of outstanding know-how in cold retreading with the technologically high standard of quality development of the world’s largest tyre manufacturer. The resulting use of the combined resources of the premium tyre and retreading technology provides customers with optimum and efficient products for every situation.
A mutual kick-off event in Bruck an der Mur at the beginning of July saw the employees of Edler Reifen and Bridgestone give the start signal to launch a successful and long-term strategic cooperation on a partnership basis.
“Retreading” is used for all commercial vehicles in haulage, passenger conveyance and the construction industry, as well as aircraft. When the original tyre tread has worn away, the remaining tread is removed using a special Bandag production process and a new tread vulcanized onto the tyre using Bandag bonding rubber at a temperature of around 100°C – and in this way lengthen the service life of the tyre. The “tread” is that part of the tyre which maintains contact with the road surface. The retreading process provides the customer with the possibility to exploit the value of a new tyre in full by reusing the original carcass and, consequently, optimize the cost per driven kilometre. This makes retreading a substantial component of successful tyre management. In addition, the efficient use of existing carcasses contributes to the conservation of raw materials such as crude oil, while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions – which itself is a benefit to the environment.