bktspecialreport augsept 10 tyreasia 100921053346 phpapp01

7/31/2019 Bktspecialreport Augsept 10 Tyreasia 100921053346 Phpapp01

1/856 POLYMERS &TYRE ASIA AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010

SPECIAL REPORT

ReseaRch-dRivenBKTmaRKeTleadeR

56 POLYMERS &TYRE ASIA AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010


2/8

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010 POLYMERS &TYRE ASIA 57

herever there are off-highway tyre

requirements, there will be BKT. It has

presence in most parts of the world. And

it is continually enlarging its global market

share. Despite recession and high raw

material costs, including that of rubberand carbon black, the Mumbai-based

company is able to maintain healthy

bottom lines because of its unassailable

market leadership in all tyre segments it

is in.

BKTs success story revolves around

innovative off-highway tyre (OHT)

development that is driven by quality,

competitive pricing, worldwide distribution

networks and service backups. It is one

of the few companies in the niche tyre

segment that spends 3-5% of the revenue

on research and development.BKTs ability to work from concept to

manufacturing in the shortest possible

time has made it the fastest product-

to-market industry leader. It has the

R&D, technological and manufacturing

capabilities to come-up with OHT solutions

for markets, whose footprint criss-crosses

115 countries. And it is still growing.

BKT produces 140,000 tonnes of tyres a

year at its three state-of-the-art factories

with 95% of the output shipped to the

highly-competitive export markets. Of

this 60% go to Europe and the rest to theAmericas, Middle East, Asia, Africa and

Oceania. With the opening of dedicated

BKT-North America Operations in Akron,

Ohio, it has expanded its considerable

presence in the US, Canada and Mexico

markets.

BKTs OHTs for agriculture, industry,

construction, earthmoving, all terrain,

lawn and garden vehicles are the

preferred choice because of its wide-

range, quality and price. It produces tyres

from 400 grams to 1700 kgs in rim sizes

of 5 inches to 51 inches. It is the preferredchoice of OEMs in agriculture machinery

such as John Deere, CNH, SDF, VALTRA

and in the industrial and construction

sector for equipment makers such as JCB,

Dynapac, Volvo and SAKAI.

BKTs production exibility has enabled

it to develop incredible market agility to

respond to consumer-focussed demand

any time anywhere in the world. It

produces conventional cross-ply tyres as

well as the most sophisticated polyesterradials, all-steel OTR radials and aramide-

belted run-at military application tyres.

From agriculture farms to deep mines,

BKT tyres are on a roll on the back of

customer condence it has built over the

years. It delivers quality products to the

exact customer requirements.

We have the engineering skills and

market sensitivity to turn out products

that the customer wants, says Vice-

President and Managing Director Arvind

Poddar. What we have is a unique mix

of market insight, in-house design studio

and mould shop, management focus

and resource allotment to new product

developments with competent teams to

carry out all these, he told Polymers &

tyre Asia.

BKT is a part of the Indian industrial

conglomerate, Siyaram-Poddar Group with

sales in excess of US$550 million. It has

presence in textiles, paper, garments and

tyres.

BKT manufactures Off-Highway tyres

(OHT) at three plants, including thenewest one in Chopanki on the borders

of Haryana and Rajasthan which opened

in 2006. It also owns a mould shop for

manufacturing its own moulds. Its fourth

plant in Gujarat state is expected to come

on stream in 2011.

Customer driven

BKTs greatest growth comes from its

best-selling tractor radial tyres Agrimax

that are in high demand as they cater to

modern farming practices. We offer a

complete range of farm radials in different

series and aspect ratios, Poddar said. Infact it has tyres for almost all conceivable

OHT applications that are developed in

line with customer demand.

He explained that the company has

built a powerful brand in the niche

OHTs segment that is boosted through

consistent delivery of quality products.

BKT is a trend-setting brand that is today

well-accepted globally, he said. It is its

wide-range of OHTs tyres that is mostappealing to different customers. The

company has 1800 stock keeping units

(SKUs) or tyre ranges - one of the highest

in the industry.

BKTs market leadership only added to

its responsibility to constantly track the

needs of its growing customer base, said

Poddar. All its manufacturing plants are

working in full capacity and the fourth one

would double the capacity.

These modern plants can produce

complete lines of bias and radial Off-

Highway tyres that cater to the specicneeds and standards demanded by the

various geographical markets. In fact

BKT is already REACH-compliant since

Nov 1, 2009, two months ahead of the

requirement by the European Union under

the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation

and Restriction of Chemical regulations.

In fact our R&D on an average works

with 60 different compounds on a regular

Known universally as BKT, the Mumbai-based Balkrishna Industries Limited is one of the worlds

top off-highway tyre-solution providers. It is growing at dizzying pace in the 115 countries it sells

its products to. Its eyeing to garner 10% of the world market in this speciality tyre segment by

2015. What is noteworthy is BKTs ability to produce a mind-boggling range of tyres in 150 newsizes every year with record-beating low turnaround time of just 8 to 10 weeks - the fastest mind-

to-market product development in the industry. Its R&D focus and good manufacturing practices

have taken it to the top of the global market, which is serviced by its excellent distribution and

backup service networks

By KS Nayar

I N S I D E

P 59

GloBalTReadpRinT

P 61

dominaTinGThe maRKeT

P 62dRivinG pRoducT

innovaTion

P 63

noRTh ameRicafoRay pays off

W


3/8


basis that are all in compliance with

global standards and regulations, says

Dilip Vaidya, BKTs Director Technology

(see accompanying story). It is relentlessly

working in close coordination with the

marketing department to get customer

feedback so that products could be

tailored and manufactured at blistering

speed to cater to the emerging demand.

BKT has its ears to the ground.

In order to ensure high standard of quality,BKT has set up a sophisticated test centre

with modern equipment, including those

that are used for endurance-testing.

Besides in-house testing, BKT regularly

conducts tests under international

regulations outside India as well.

As BKTs engineering and development

centres constantly draw on customer

feedback, these are reected in product

improvement on a continuing basis.

This has also helped in its commercial

Executive Director Rajiv Poddar

Executive Director Anurag Poddar

KTs success story

revolves around innovative

off-highway tyre (OHT)development that is driven

by quality, competitive

pricing, worldwide

distribution networks and

service backups. It is one

of the few companies in

the niche tyre segment

that spends 3-5% of the

revenue on research and

development

B

SPECIAL REPORT

success as the company is using its

exible manufacturing prowess to produce

products to meet changing demand

patterns within short time.

When BKT set up Indias rst OTR RadialTyre plant at its Chopanki manufacturing

location, it was a reection of its incessant

obsession to become the market leader in

all segments of the product portfolio.

It also closely studies the geographies

where it wants to enter. As about 95% of

its tyre production is exported--of which

70% is sold in Europe--BKT has tied up

with reputed tyre testing rms for indoor

and outdoor testing to ensure that the

products cater to local regulations.

It, therefore, was no surprise when BKT

won the prestigious innovative product

certication by Unione Nazionale

Costruttori Macchine Agricola (UNACOMA).

The Italy-based organisation, known as

the National Union of Agricultural Machine

Manufacturers, founded in 1945. It

represents Italian makers of tractors,

agricultural and gardening machinery,

components and, through COMAMOTER,

earth-moving machinery.

Segment leadership

Over the years, BKT has strived to leave

its tread imprint in all the segmentsit has entered. It is in the agriculture

segment that the company remains on the

top as its products dominate this sector,

where it offers tyres for tractors, trailers,

implements and other farm equipments.

Although BKT is a relatively new entrant

in the tractor radial segment, its Agrimax

range of radial tyres has become a

runaway success in all markets it has

entered. Market research has shown that

it is on top of customer recall in a very

short period.

Its radial tractor tyres are available indifferent series catering to every tyre

operations from the most sophisticated

row crop tyres for vineyard tractors to

forestry segments.

With the world recovering from recession,

BKT is looking at sectors where growth

is set to come back quickly. In the

infrastructure development sectors, BKT

sees good growth and is already there to

serve the surging market for construction,

industrial and earthmover applications.

They already constitute almost 40%

of BKTs turnover. Seizing growthopportunities BKT has also substantially

expanded product range to include

OHT for heavy earthmovers, compactor,

graders and underground mines.

With its expertise in radial industrial

tractor tyres, it has launched a series of

all steel radial OTR tyres sub-branded as

Earthmax. Along with agriculture topper

Agrimax and forestry tyres, BKT Earthmax

enjoys a unique marketing edge.

As Poddar said BKTs growth graph is

continually moving up because it has built

strong customer trust based on its quality

products and services. This is reected in

its sales turnover of over US$ 300 millionin the year 2009-10.

Adding to the market acceptability,

besides timely delivery, is BKTs powerful

brand appeal. Its a brand thats been

well-accepted by global OEMs, which has

ensured that BKTs sales will cross its

target of US$400 million in the current

nancial year ending March 2011.

BKTs stupendous achievements

have been possible because of the

managements vision to leverage its

cost-competitive product-development

capabilities to make OHT ranges to everysegment of the market. The company

relies on intensive market research to

satisfy customers demand.

Innovation is in our corporate culture,

said Poddar. Both marketing and

technology teams have been specically

trained to remain open for continuous

learning, he said.

All the data and information gathered

from the market are exchanged among

marketing, production and R&D

teams. These inputs go into product

development, improvement of existing

lines and evolve new niches.

There is no wonder for BKTs phenomenal

growth in its chosen market segment.


4/8


One of the worlds fastest growing off-highway solution providers, Balkrishna Industries Limited,

known globally as BKT, continues to surge ahead enlarging its worldwide market share. In

order to cater to its widening consumer base, it is expanding its OTR portfolio to live its dream

to become the largest and comprehensive makers of speciality tyres for a wide-range ofapplications from agriculture, mining to construction and forestry segments in the Americas,

Europe and Asia-Pacic. In this interview Managing DirectorArvind Poddarunveils the growth

strategy of the consumer-centric company. Excerpts from the interview

GloBal TReadpRinTith almost 30% compounded annual

growth rate, BKT is expanding at

considerable pace globally. What do you

think are the key factors for such growth?The main reason for our tremendous

growth has been our focussed strategy

on product range. We have today a

wide-range of off-highway products.

We continue to focus on this segment

where we offer consistently high quality

products. We have built strong customer

trust because of our products and

services.

What are the products that you think

have been showing considerable growth

geography-wise?

The greatest growth comes from BKTs

tractor radial tyre sub-branded AGRIMAX.

We offer a complete range of Farm

Radials in different series and aspect

ratios that nd varied applications. Adding

to the market acceptability, besides

quality, is BKTs brand appeal. Its a brand

thats been well-accepted by global OEMs

also.

One factor that the markets consider

as your forte is your ability to respond

quickly to customer needs as your product

portfolio demonstrates. How do you

ramp up production to cater to specic

demands as I understand that you have

developed the technological ability tochange moulds quickly?

It is made possible because BKT has

capable teams at all plants in production

and technical departments. We have

developed efcient and trustworthy

production systems that are enormously

exible. We also make continuous

investments in capacity augmentation.

We also have an ingenious system that is

evolved for running small lot productions.

In terms of technology, BKT is known as

a great innovator with your R&D keeping

its research programmes that are closelyknit with the marketing department. How

has this seamless connection evolved

and how it is being leveraged for product

development?

Its in our corporate culture. Both

marketing and technology teams have

been specically trained to remain open

for continuous learning. All information

gathered from the market is duly

exchanged between both teams resulting

in product improvements as well new

developments.

What are the major technology trends inthe OHT sector globally? What are the

future trends that you foresee, say in a

ve-10 year time-frame?

We believe that markets are moving

towards radialisation due to its obvious

benets in terms of tyre life, fuel-

efciency, more productivity, less soil

compaction etc, I see end users getting

more concerned not only about their

vehicles but also for tyres. And they will

choose a tyre that offers good value

for money. BKT meets all these market

demands.

One of your major thrusts is the north

American geography, where you have

built full-edged operations with veteran

marketers. What are the key initiatives

Arvind Poddar

that they have taken to further deepen

BKTs market penetration? Do you see

any variations in market preferences

there compared to the Asian trend?

Denitely our investments in North

America have been at right time and its

yielding results. Our team there is well

experienced in this territory and we are

expanding our footprints gradually. Of

course the demand patterns are different

in North America compared to Asia as

farm sizes there are too large demanding

larger equipment with bigger tyres.

What do you think are the role of

distributors in widening BKTs reach in

Europe and the Americas?

We at BKT believe that distributors are

integral to our existence as they are our

rst connection with the market. Our

all time intent and objective is to grow

along with our distributors in respective

markets. And we have been successful in

this endeavour.

As you look at emerging market trends,

do you think the world has come out of

recession? Do you think there will be a

W


5/8


pick up in the mining, construction and

agriculture sectors?

At BKT, we never had a recession.

Rather we took last year as a period of

opportunity and we actually grew ourbusiness and planned for expansion.

Similarly farming was all- time high world

wide. However, we did see some dip in

mining as well construction but both these

sectors are now bouncing back.

What kind of economic growth that you

expect that would boost demand for

tyres for off-road applications, including

agriculture, industry and construction,

earthmoving equipment?

Other than Europe, we feel all other

areas are opening up new projects on

infrastructure, mining, housing etc.

Also more new investments are being

earmarked for farming as food will see a

shortage in the coming decade - so we

feel there will be ample demand for BKT

products.

Now that you have established a base

in Akron providing market and service

support to BKT distributors. What are the

major features of this network?

The establishment of the North American

ofce is an example of our emphasis

on relationship-oriented approach in

doing business. BKT is offering complete

programme from A to Z based on service,

integrity and quality which constitute

BKTs core values. At Akron we have asales team of ve professionals and two

people to take care of the administration.

What are the production facilities that

you have built over the years in India that

could cater to the rising global demand

for BKTs wide range of products?

Having started with Aurangabad (in the

western Indian state of Maharashtra)

plant in 1988, we have added two more- Bhiwadi in 2002 and Chopanki in 2006

(Rajasthan) to cater to our customers

globally. As our existing facilities are

falling short due to rising demand, we

are already working on a new greeneld

project at Bhuj, Gujarat that will double

our capacity.

Does your mould shop produce

moulds based on designs you develop

or according to customers specic

demands based on their drawings and

specications?

All the mould designs are made in-house.

We have all the infrastructure as well

competent technical teams. At times we

do coordinate with our customers for theirspecic requirements that need to be

incorporated in our products.

You produce a range of bias and radial

farm tyres. Do you envision a gradual

shift to radial as it is claimed to have

fuel-saving advantages and better

retreadability?

Of course we see a gradual shift in farm

tyres from bias to radial but it cannot

happen overnight across the world. Many

a markets, due to small farm holdings

or soil conditions as well as a lack of

knowledge, will continue with bias tyres.While radial tyres do offer fuel efciency,

Im not sure about retreadability as

tractor tyres remain on vehicles for many

years causing gradual damage to casing.

What are your strategies to become an

OEM leader globally?

BKT has been a preferred choice for all

leading OEMs globally. Our overseas

ofces have been effective in catering toglobal OEMs and Im sure all the good

work of Team BKT will bear fruits in times

to come.

What is your focus on developing the

China market?

So far we havent focussed on China.

We are aware of its potential as a huge

market and we will get into it also soon.

Besides ISO, what are the global

standards to which your products are

made to conform?

Besides ISO 9000, we have also beencertied for ISO14000. We benchmark

our products and production processes

against the best in the world.

How many sizes are you developing

annually?

We at BKT develop 120 to 150 sizes

annually. We have the engineering

capability to meet the exacting demands

of our customers worldwide.

BKT is said to have the fastest turnaround

time in New Product Development, which

is a world record. How are you able to

accomplish such a feat?

As I said earlier, we have the engineering

skills and market sensitivity to turn out

products the customer wants. What we

have is a unique mix of market insight,

in-house design studio and mould

shop, management focus and resource

allotment to new product developments

with competent teams to carry out all

these.

Can you give a glimpse of your testing

facilities, which are said to be world

class?

Besides state-of-the-art testing lab, we

have also added ultra-large diameter

endurance testing facilities as well contact

patch pressure distributor monitoring

systems. Our testing capabilities are

further enhanced due to our association

with outdoor testing tracks in Europe.

What are your initiatives in achieving

economies of scale so that product

development and manufacturing costs

could be pressed down?

While we understand the advantages of

small runs, we have never left our sight

from economies of scale. Today, we draw

a very ne balance between both these

aspects due to our specialised software

as well experienced team on planning and

production.

SPECIAL REPORT


6/8


BKT is one of the favourites of stock-pickers because of its consistently robust growth in sales

and prots. Even during the recent recession, BKT has been rolling ahead with condence

reporting strong sales across 115 countries. Its marketing department has been in over-drive

catering to remarkable rise in demand for its wide-range of off-road tyres from agricultural,

industrial, construction, earth moving equipment to lawn and garden tyres

dominaTinG The

maRKeT

... continued on page 63

t is all about value proposition, quality

and wide product portfolio that have

made BKT a marketing success story even

in times of recession. It is uniquely suited

to partner with the best in tyre-trade and

be an integral part of the supply chainof OEMs, says Rajesh K. Vyas, head of

Marketing.

We offer tyres meeting stringent

specications and take up special R&D

challenges that come up. We are able to

meet custom-made development needs,

he told Polymers & tyre Asia.

BKT offers the widest range of tyres in

each segment, he said adding that good

quality tyres at very competitive prices

have made the company the preferred

choice of customers worldwide.

We make aggressive commitments to

meet and adhere to all our customers

specic requirements with emphasis on

timely deliveries, he said. BKT has the

capability to develop 150-160 new sizes

every year. In fact it has the technological

infrastructure to develop new sizes

within 8 to10 weeks on nalisation of

specications.

It is BKTs quick response time and

single- point contact for all marketing and

development needs that has made the

companys customer-focussed marketing

a runaway success, he said.

The company makes continuous

investment in R&D and offers complete

transparency in all aspects of the

business. We offer clearly-dened

warranty terms and conditions for quick

settlements, he said explaining the policy

that has helped BKT retain its customer

base.

On how BKT is able to achieve economies

of scale that has made it one of theworlds top competitive OHT makers, he

said that there are several factors that

contributed to making the company a

dominant market player.

BKT is meeting market demands as a

single source supplier of agricultural and

industrial specialty tyres, he said adding

that it is well known for having one of the

most extensive ranges in OHTs major

categories.

The main reason for the companys ability

to retain customers is its commitment

to work closely with them by developing

new sizes and designs to quickly react to

changing market.

BKTs experienced team is backed up by

state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities

wherein it is ensured that the highest

quality products are manufactured. A

marketing and customer service team

dedicated to offer complete marketing

support further backs up its entire

product portfolio.

BKT advantage

Explaining the advantages of connecting

with the BKT, he said that the company

offers many value propositions over its

immediate competition. We offer not only

the widest range of OHTs, but also have

the ability to make the products globally

available, he said.

Adding to its advantage as a market

leader is the proven performance

capability of BKT products that backs

up its value for money proposition. Italso has the worlds fastest design and

development cycle for OHTs.

We have to our credit Triple A ethos,

which means Agility, Accessibility and

Attention, he said. We are one of the

few companies in the world, which is

able to quickly design and produce OHTs

according to specic market demand.

Elaborating that in order to address

specic requirements of the markets

across geographies, he said BKT remains

active in the eld seeking necessary

information before as well as after we

have launched our products there.

BKTs sales as well technical teams

work in tandem with global distributors

to gather the necessary insight into the

market so that it can come up with the

right product.

Due to these unique attributes and

development and marketing prowess, we

have been able to evolve such a large

product range and keep customising

products to suit specic markets.

Explaining how BKT analyses the marketdemand from farm to mining, and

different geographical regions, he said

that in addition to desk researches,

BKTs marketing teams gather on-hand

I


7/8


s BKT has one of the widest ranges

of Off-Highway Tyre product portfolios

globally, the challenge before its R&D

team is to remain agile in order to cater

to the specic demand of the market

anywhere in the world. It has a team of

specialists who are extensively trained

in the US and Europe as well as in its

modern R&D laboratory and development

centre. Heading the team is Dilip Vaidya,

Director Technology, who is credited

with leading BKTs R&D initiatives and

innovations. We have 45 engineers

working with us, he told Polymers &

tyre Asia. We spend about 3-5% of

company turnover on R&D, he said.

This investment in R&D has helped

BKT pioneer many products in the OHT

segments such as agricultural, industrial,

construction, earthmovers, all-terrain

vehicles, and lawn and garden vehicle

applications. BKTs current thrust areas

ncludeinclude steel OTR radial tyres,

radial harvester tyres and radial multi-

purpose truck (MPT) tyres.

BKT became a dominant player in the

global OHT market because of its ability

to cater to a wide geographical market

with varying climatic conditions. It has the

capability to produce tyres that may call

for specialised compounding and treadsin line with region-specic requirements.

Product customisation has been possible

with customers feedback and eld

visits by BKT team, Vaidya said. This

customer-focussed research based on

market feedback and its ability to develop

products at lesser cost compared to

international brands is cited as one of the

reasons for BKTs runaway success.

The R&D extensively goes for simulation

and nite element analyses and other

innovative technological tools for the

development of new products, Vaidya

explained elaborating on its state of the

art design and development centre.

Quality culture

Commenting on the major trends that he

sees in the design and development of

OTR tyres, the R&D head said thatsaid

that BKT engineers are moving towards

3D modelling and virtual applications. His

team has moved away from yesteryears

CAD/CAM that was once used extensively

for design and development.

3-D modelling and virtual applications

help us ne-tune the design as well offers

complete control on specications.

BKTs global reputation for product

quality stems from inculcating a unique

quality culture among all teams working

to produce their world-class tyres.

The company zealously adheres to

internationally recognised quality and

standardisation processes, which have

invoked condence in its products.

Quality control is carried out at every

stage of the manufacturing process from

raw materials to the nished products,

Vaidya said. To ensure consistent high

quality, BKT employs cutting-edge

manufacturing tools that are operated

by highly-trained personnel. This has

For any tyre manufacturer,

producing off-highway

tyres presents the greatest

challenge in terms ofdesign, engineering and

compounding. The tyre goes

through the most punishing

environment imaginable in

terms of weight, surface

traction and soil and weather

conditions. But BKT has the

research solution always on

tap because of its robust

research and developmentinfrastructure, says Dilip

Vaidya, Director Technology

dRivinG pRoducT

innovaTion

SPECIAL REPORT

allowed BKT to produce the entire range

of tyres cost-effectively while conforming

to international standards such as ETRTO,

T&RA, JATMA and ITTAC.

Besides ISO 9000 certication, BKT has

also received ISO 14001 certicate for

environmental management practices.

This is in line with its commitment to

corporate civic responsibility.

Vaidya says the high quality of BKTs R&D

work is a challenge that his engineers

have undertaken in a sustainable and

consistent manner as they scale new

heights in product development.

He believes that radial technology, where

BKT has gained great expertise, would

become more widespread in the years to

come. There are distinct advantages for

radials over bias in off-highway tyres, he

said. However, Vaidya believes that all

bias tyres cannot be converted to radialsdue to several factors. These have their

own usefulness.

As regards retreadability, not all the tyres

are designed for retreading. But for the

tyre sizes that are generally retreaded,

BKT offers competent products with

sufcient retreadability.

Vaidya reminds that the customer must

understand that retreadability of a tyre

solely depends on the severity of rst use

as well tyre upkeep by end-users.

On BKTs R&Ds prowess to design the

largest size of OTRs, Vaidya said his team

is willing to take up any challenge when

size matters. We have already developed

tyres up to 51 rim diameter, he said.

A


8/8


ven when off-highway tyre markets inthe United States, Canada and Mexico

went through debilitating recession, Rami

Bitran was going places. Even through

such tough times, he catered to customer

demands for BKT tyres in a way they

simply could not afford to ignore.

He always found opportunities in the farm

and industrial sectors and positioned BKT

in a way that would make it irresistible.

The condence that he has brought to

bear on the

market is derived

from his decadesof experience

garnered through

hardwork with

many US-based

speciality tyre

manufacturers.

Although BKT has

been selling in

North America for

the past 10 years, the company realisedthat it can leverage its unique capabilities

to produce speciality tyres according to

specic customers needs in the shortest

possible time and deliver them to the

market, Bitran told Polymers & tyre

Asia.

BKT, therefore, decided two-and-half

years ago to set up an ofce in Akron,

the tyre capital of the world. Soon

Bitran developed a powerful network of

noRTh ameRica

foRay pays offIndustry-leading quality product at economic price is theonly constant that farm tyre veteran Rami Bitran sees in

unpredictable markets. As he puts BKTs North America sales

operations on overdrive from its Akron ofce, he is convinced

that customers greatly appreciate the unique values that BKT

offers that come with the advantage of high-quality technical

and service backups that are consistently delivered to

customers with convincing efciency

experiences, be it mines or farms. We

also receive valued feedback from our

experienced distributors who are locally

based in the respective regions. All these

data are assimilated and made to use to

ensure appropriate products for varied

applications.

About BKTs huge distribution and

logistics network that ensures constant

and continuous market reach, he said

that the company qualies its distributors

before commencing the business. And

during the process, we analyse their

capabilities as regards their market reach,

footprints, sales and operational team

etc. And to add, in India we have created

humongous and modern warehouses

to ensure efcient Supply Chain

Management.

Market trends

Explaining the current major marketing

trends and the developments in the

coming ve years that would have a major

impact on OHT demand he said that

customers are very knowledgeable and

take purchase decisions based on better

returns on their investment.

Due to easy access to information, the

end-users have become more savvy and

seek better reward on their investments.

Tyres being second to fuel in nature of

consumption, the buyer needs qualitycommitments from a brand before they

decide.

BKTs strong marketing capabilities, which

have enabled it to be a world leader in all

segments of the OHTs, have been built

with thoroughness. He said that over the

past 15 years it has gained immense

experience of the international market.

This has given BKT a rm footing globally.

It has been made possible because of the

intense efforts off the dedicated Team

BKT. It nurtures excellent relations with

distributors in all these countries, he

said.

As BKT soars as a global market leader

in OHTs, it is condent that its marketing

mantra is bringing in the rewards it rightly

deserves.

dedicated distributors. Having an intimate

knowledge of the market, its logistics and

dealership networks, he could build BKTs

North America business quickly. Our

distributors get products at competitiveprice points that give them good margins,

Bitran said.

Since the opening of the BKT ofce in

Akron, we have built a team of seven

people. We are comfortable working

because of the high credibility of product

excellence that BKT enjoys in the market.

We are offering best in class service to

customers.

Value, not price

Bitran said BKT products are sold

because of its quality and value. Its notcheap, but its the value of the products

that attracts the buyers, he said.

The other aspect that led to BKTs early

success in North America has been

the exibility and quick response of the

management to the challenges of this

tough market. Bitran unveiled his goals:

We hope to grow into US$100 million in

the next two years from US$70 million

right now after just over two years of

operations. There is no argument that we

are able to achieve and gain a lot because

of Team BKT.

BKT enjoys market leadership because of

the vast product segmentation it enjoys

with 1800 stock keeping units (SKUs),

half of which are currently sold in North

America.

Bitran is not after one-time sale. In the

true spirit of BKT, there is an obsessive

concern to build ongoing relationship with

customers.

E

bktspecialreport augsept 10 tyreasia 100921053346 phpapp01

Documents