"To be competitive, we need to apply stringent processes. This is where we excel" said Tom Tai, Managing Director of Coltrac. According to him, the difference between a successful business and one that is truly excellent is found in the way processes are managed and checked. "For our industry, we have to produce five more tyres for every one that fails. Hence, the avoidance of mistakes is paramount" he explains further. Having undergone extensive auditing for five days, the factory in Seksyen U5, Shah Alam achieved a superb rating of close to 98 percent.

Not only has the factory achieved a very high quality standard, but retreaded tyres sent for testing to the Netherlands exceeded expectations. "Typically, retreads are being tested for 72 hours continuously. We have sent 30 tyres for testing and after some 118 hours the lab stopped the test, saying that these retreads are performing beyond the normal rate" Tai says not without a certain pride.

Present in the factory during the interview was BOB, General Manager of GIIB. He explained the collaboration with Coltrac and states that it is mutually beneficial. Said BOB "The better our SBP perform, the better it is for us too. Yes, we invest a lot of time and effort, but at the end of the day, the success will trickle down to us as well". GIIB assists partners with services that will help to streamline factories and improve performance. For example, GIIB writes and translates all procedures for the staff managing the tyre retreading process. "For us, the most important thing is that the (commercial) retreads don't fail. In order to get to that point, we also do quarterly assessments" BOB further said.

According to GIIB, the company provides a "Cradle to Grave" solution and is now working on innovative solutions to further enhance the offering of the company. Currently, RFID chips are being attached to all tyres processed by Coltrac, which indicates that a move towards total tyre management is waiting in the wings.