Page 26 - CTB N14 - 2016-02

COMPANY NEWS
Tructyre Leverages on IT Strength and Training as it Continues to Grow
CommercialTyre
Management
and Fleet Business
In January Tructyre, the Hampshire based tyre management company, celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and, having recently moved into new headquarters, the company is now growing faster than ever before. According to Group Business Support Manager, Anne Sherwood, Tructyre now employs 184 people
the majority of South-East England stretching as far north as Banbury and as far west as Gloucester. In the East Tructyre has recently opened in Essex, which Sherwood says, is one of the company’s key geographical areas of focus this year.
“We have a total of 25 service centres,” she says, “and we work
become involved in the company’s recently announced tyre telematics programme. This is a two year government funded programme carried out with several other technology partners including RL Automotive, the University of Portsmouth and Catapult Sat Comms aimed at developing a tyre telematics system for commercial vehicle fleets.
A further area where Tructyre has made recent developments is in the introduction of a branded retread package called Re-Trak. The product is manufactured by Bandvulc and TTS and is available in four patterns. According to Sherwood, the Re-Trak product has been well accepted by Tructyre customers and is bucking the trend, which has seen
retreaders suffer recently, due to the low price of budget truck tyres.
“Many of our key customers are on tyre contracts,” she says, “so they are perfectly happy using retreads in conjunction with premium new tyres.”
According to Anne
Sherwood Tructyre is
focusing heavily on
optimising its IT capabilities. “Technology is the way forward,” she says. “There’s only a limited amount that can be done with prices to gain a competitive advantage, so its improvements in back office operations, which drive efficiencies. For example, all our technicians now have Samsung tablets.”
Sherwood also points to
the benefits the company
has gained since going
electronic with CAM,
which she says has
massively improved the
company’s invoicing
efficiency. “The e-jobsheet
system, the new multi-
language, digital tablet-
driven work exchange for
truck, bus and van tyres,
has halved our workload.
It’s made a huge difference. I‘m also chairwoman of the UniSerV User Group, set up by CAM to bring together users of the UniSerV platform to discuss the direction of the commercial tyre industry in capturing job information in real time and future proofing businesses with links to third party billing systems; reducing admin burden; achieving a paperless environment; and streamlining job sheet processing so that invoicing and payment is speeded up, significantly improving cash flow.”
The company’s growth in recent years has created the necessity for Tructyre to recruit, invest in and develop its employees at every level. With this in mind the company has recently employed a learning skills and development manager to help bring new skills into the company. “We operate industry-leading levels of training to make sure we have a skilled workforce, who strive to maintain and develop our commitment both now and in the future,” says Anne Sherwood.
“We insist that our working methods are fully compliant with EU and UK health and safety legislation. To meet this, we deliver the very best training possible for our technicians, who are extensively trained to License to Fit
Anne Sherwood
and its service team places around 500 jobs a day. During 2015 the company’s 112+ vans attended in excess of 20,000 tyre related breakdowns with an average arrival time of just 47.5 minutes – claimed to be 25-35% faster than other networks. In the light of Tructyre’s growing success, we decided to travel to Tructyre’s headquarters in Eastleigh to discover what makes the company tick and what developments are planned next. According to Anne Sherwood, one of Tructyre’s key advantages is its strength in key markets. The company focuses only on the truck tyre sector and does not get involved in car fleet or retail business. In addition, in 2012 the company acquired Ashford based Commercial Tyres, which gave it a core strength in the off-highway heavy plant tyre business.
Tructyre operates in an area covering
closely with strategic distribution partners in other areas of the UK such as BV+, Allround Tyres, Lodge Tyres and Tyre Maintenance in order to guarantee national coverage. Distribution partners are a part of our future, and it is a key part of our strategy to work with good partners in the right areas.”
In January Tructyre launched a new 24/4 service, offering 24 hour service Monday to Friday with their own telephone staff. According to Anne Sherwood, plans are afoot to roll this out to a 24/7 service, hopefully later this year.
Meanwhile, a further new development is the introduction during May of a new wheel alignment service called Tructrack, which has initially been established with two vans – one in the south and one in the east. Tructrack will operate separately from Tructyre’s other service vehicles, but will
with REACT accreditation, with Roadside Recovery endorsement. Our technicians are well supported too – all wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and are provided with scrupulously maintained and liveried Tructyre vehicles, equipped with calibrated and certified
equipment.
“We are rightfully proud of our employee retention rates – many have over ten years’ service, which we think is impressive given we've only just turned 20! Moreover, we consider our valued employees as the key resource to delivering our long-term business ambitions. With this focus on investment, we are justifiably proud to be the only tyre management company that has achieved Investors in People Gold accreditation.”
26 Commercial Tyre Business