Bandag advances the art of the retread

At its recent 2019 national franchise conference, Bandag Southern Africa revealed an array of new products and its new corporate branding.

In keeping with global alignment, the rebranded company – the largest independent retreading franchise network in southern Africa – has been positioned as “forward-thinking, contemporary and modern”.

“Bandag’s new tagline is Built for Better. Bandag continues to invest in building the best retreaded tyres and does this by focusing on sustainability, reliability and profitability,” the company states.

To support its forward vision, Bandag also unveiled new products and services. The first is the latest offering in Bandag’s Application Specific product range: the BDM1 directional tread design. This is a regional drive design that can take on severe road conditions and still deliver on sustainability, reliability and profitability, says the company.

BDM1 was tested under local conditions and outperformed two of Bandag’s already trusted tread patterns. Some of the features of BDM1 include tie bars for increased stability, wide and open shoulders for improved resistance to lateral stresses and a high void ratio for improved resistance to penetration by foreign objects. The directional tread aids in offering increased traction when needed as well as longer wear.

With a high adoption rate of Bandag’s ProApp (more than 50 percent of the one-million tyres inspected by Bandag and its franchise network during 2018 were captured electronically), the company has launched ProOOSTA Mobi to enable electronic analysis of scrap tyres.

ProOOSTA Mobi works seamlessly with Bandag’s existing online and mobile applications to enhance the information gathering process. Users will find in-app intelligence aiding this process through cross-module integration.

Finally, Bandag launched TEG 2.0. With the aim of minimising rubber waste, TEG 2.0 provides a grinding process for tread edges and, in so doing, provides a noticeable reduction in tread edge off cuts. This enables franchisees to become more sustainable while providing a benefit to the environment.

At the conference Bandag also announced the change in name of its Value Range from Axia to ProTread by Bandag. The company also launched PRO-TR2, which is a super single-tread design for regional trailer applications. PRO-TR2 features mini wings and cuts at 12 mm, and is designed for the value end of the market.