Pirelli announces new truck tyre policy in UK

Bruntingthorpe, UK -- Pirelli UK has announced a new strategy in the truck tyre sector. The approach will be rolled out to the rest of the Pirelli organisation over time.

Pirelli chose the UK to introduce the new strategy because it is the most sophisticated market in Europe, said Annick Monseux, marketing director responsible for truck at Pirelli Tyre SpA. Monseux has been in post since the beginning of June.

The approach brings together products and services that have been developed in the last couple of years. The key part of the strategy said Monseux is Pirelli's network of truck tyre factories around the world: in Brazil, Turkey, Italy and most recently in China.

The second element is a range of tyres built partially on Pirelli's 2nd-generation MIRS for truck machinery and using a range of new technologies. It also includes a custom-built web-based tyre management and control system called B2Fleet which will be free to fleet operators. The third part of the strategy is modernising and adapting the Driver network of tyre dealerships.

The new tyre was introduced in September 2005 and is called the Amaranto. It is available in steer tyre (FH85) and drive axle (TH85) styles, notably in sizes that reflect the greatest volume and fastest-growing parts of the UK market.

John Greaves, Pirelli Tyres UK truck manager said the new tyre is made partially on the MIRS system and partially on traditional tyre-building equipment. He said it uses a new mixing technique to deliver better dispersion and has a spiral-wound belt for better casing life. Spiral winding is a key part of the MIRS approach to tyre construction. The combined effect of these and other technologies, he said, is to deliver 10 percent better mileage in the FH85 product and 25 percent better mileage in the TH85 for drive axles.

The web-based tyre management and invoicing system is designed to eliminate paperwork from the process of managing and ordering tyres. It uses electronic data capture techniques to track individual tyres and casings, though Pirelli was not ready to announce that RFID chips are part of their data capture system. Monseux said RFID would very likely be a part of the system in the future.

Adrian Plews, Pirelli UK fleet service manager, confirmed that the web-based B2Fleet system is free to Pirelli customers, but added that the hardware used for data capture would be a cost to fleets. He added that Pirelli will work with dealers and fleets to ensure a smooth implementation of the approach, and that may include support for equipment.