Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group
Mining companies around the world rely on Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group for mining tyre management and supply. Over the last five decades, Kal Tire has grown to a team of more than 2,700 people serving more than 150 mine sites across five continents. With that breadth of expertise across commodities and conditions, and innovation in tooling, processes and safety, Kal Tire focuses on helping customers achieve their goals and maximise their tyre investment. By investing in tyre management technology, sustainable solutions and highly skilled teams, Kal Tire helps solve miners’ evolving challenges and provides measurable value at every stage of tyre life. Some unique Kal Tire solutions making an impact include its Tire & Operations Management System (TOMS) Ultra Repair, a thermal conversion recycling facility, six world-class retreading facilities, and a new Maple Program and verified carbon calculator so customers can earn recognition for the emissions saved by retreading.
KalPRO: Innovative Kal Tire solutions improving productivity, safety, sustainability and more
Since the beginning, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group has aimed to help customers reach goals for tyre life, safety, productivity and, more recently, sustainability. Several years ago, the company recognised that solving customers’ most pressing mining tyre challenges would require going beyond technicians’ everyday work around the wheel.
Today, Kal Tire’s commitment to innovation has led to the development of proprietary, purpose-built mining tyre management tools and technology that didn’t exist before. The offerings and products range from tyre recycling technology that sees virtually 100% of circular outputs reused, to remote-controlled clamps for safer tyre and wheel assembly removal.
“We believe it’s our responsibility to leverage our expertise to make work around the wheel as safe as possible and help customers improve productivity,” says Dan Allan, Senior Vice President, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group.
As mines place greater and greater importance on reducing total cost of ownership and improving sustainability, some of Kal Tire’s innovations have also become increasingly sophisticated and necessary. Case in point: the accredited, custom-built carbon calculator at the foundation of the Maple Program, which gives customers certificates highlighting the oil and emissions savings of choosing Kal Tire retreads and repairs compared to buying new tyres.
Now reaching every stage of tyre life, several Kal Tire tools and offerings have come together under the sub-brand KalPRO: Progressive Innovation.
“It’s all to help our teams and customers advance in a way that’s practical, purposeful and future-minded,” says Allan.
Here is an overview of KalPRO offerings and products making a difference for Kal Tire teams and customers:
KALPRO OFFERINGS
Thermal conversion is an OTR tyre recycling technology in use at a Kal Tire facility in Chile that converts tyres back to their base elements. High-value circular-certified feedstock ensures the best use of recycled rubber and promotes a circular economy.
TOMS (Tire & Operations Management System) gives fleet planning teams visibility into how tyres are impacting productivity and costs so they can make decisions that enhance fleet use and tyre life. With seamless interoperability and proactive tyre management, more tyre work can be planned and scheduled along with other planned maintenance.
Ultra Repair™ sends tyres with complex injuries back into production that would otherwise be scrapped. It restores the strength and integrity of tyres with complex injuries to any area – giving customers thousands of hours of like-new performance and safety.
Ultra Tread™ restores front tyres to their original tread depth and condition, sometimes multiples times before rotation to the rear, for significant cost-per-hour savings.
Maple Program uses a custom-built carbon calculator to give customers actual and accredited data for the oil and emissions saved when choosing Kal Tire retreads or repairs over new tyres. Provides proven Scope 3 carbon and fuel emissions savings data for environmental reporting.
KALPRO PRODUCTS DEVELOPED AT KAL TIRE’S INNOVATION CENTRE
WheelJaws: Secure, remote-controlled clamps for safe tyre removal and installation
GATR: Gravity Assist Tooling Rig for weightless tool operation
RamDrive: Secures rams for safer bead-breaking
PowerFlow: Portable, hydraulic power to operate tools on the go
ValveShield: Heavy-duty magnetic valve stem protection keeps trucks on the road
SpringLock: Safer lock ring installation and removal