Ironhead Rubber Technologies has opened its first truck tire retread plant in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
From the beginning, Ironhead’s objective has been to build a retreading system capable of challenging the best in the industry and offering dealers an alternative to the big three multi-national retreaders, the company says.
Marcel Leclair, president of Ironhead, reports the company utilizes an 11-step retreading process that results in a quality product at a competitive price. Included in the company’s quality control process is nondestructive inspection and shearography technology to identify abnormalities in tires.
A proprietary retread plant operating system developed by Ironhead uses barcodes to track every tire through the retread process. The system not only provides data used to manage quality and productivity in the plant, it also is capable of generating valuable reporting information that can be used by fleet supervisors to manage their retread program and casing banks.
In addition, Ironhead has designed and engineered a complete line of application- and compound-specific tread patterns. The lineup includes patterns such as the DR850 designed to deliver the highest level of traction in snow and ice, the DC375 engineered with an extra deep tread for long cycles in on/off-road applications, and the DL815 our premium line-haul service drive pattern, designed for long mileage and a smooth, quiet ride.
Ironhead’s 21,500-square-foot facility employs six retread technicians with a combined 88 years of retread experience, the company notes. The plant has been designed and equipped to process 220 retreads in a 10-hour work day with administration and production staff numbering 20 employees.
“Dealers want a quality product with prompt and consistent turnaround times to meet the needs of their customers. Everything we have done has been governed with those specific needs in mind,” says Leclair.
