Bridgestone’s pressure-checking system and Bandag milestone

Bridgestone’s new tyre pressure monitoring technology is being introduced to the Australian and New Zealand market, offering return-to-depot applications, such as metro delivery, refuse, construction and bus fleets, more regular and efficient pressure checks.

How it works is that each tyre valve is fitted with an external sensor that has a unique identifier. As a departing or incoming vehicle passes between magnetometer activated gate posts, individual tyre pressure and temperature data is uploaded to a cloud-based reporting system.

The system immediately notifies managers of critical alerts, such as low pressure or high temperature, via email or SMS.

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Bridgestone says installation is simple and cost effective, with no need to remove tyres.

“This technology is designed to alert fleet operators of potential issues before they become a problem and streamlines what was previously a manual task in the yard,” said Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand managing director, Stephen Roche.

Bridgestone National Commercial business manager, Jon Tamblyn, estimates the technology will provide a 70 per cent reduction in tyre-related failures.

“A slow leak is difficult to detect and often isn’t picked up until it’s a critical issue, or worse, a catastrophic failure,” he said.

The new TPMS data can be integrated with the ‘B Mobile’ platform that was introduced in late 2018 and has already been embraced by more than 340 Bridgestone customers.

Bridgestone technicians have a B Mobile tablet with specially developed software that holds information about each customer’s needs.

From this centralised information, B Mobile displays a list of scheduled maintenance for that customer’s vehicles and all pressure checks, rotations and replacements are recorded on the tablet.

“B Mobile provides numerous benefits for our customers and for our business, and supports our customers in their chain of responsibility requirements,” said Mr Roche.

Bandag’s Wacol (Qld) factory has produced its 10 millionth retread under Bridgestone’s ownership. Bandag’s business continues to expand and the company gave trucksales.com.au a preview of a new long-life, severe-service compound, aimed at refuse and metro bus operators.

Bridgestone Australia purchased Boral’s tyre operations in 2000, including the Bandag production facility. Bandag is the only producer of tyre tread in Australia and New Zealand, and exports to Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Asia-Pacific region.

Bridgestone Australia’s general manager of retread business, Greg Nielsen, says the milestone is a testament to the investment Bridgestone has made in the region.

“Ten million units is no small feat for any company, especially when you consider the changing climate for Australian manufacturing over the past 20 years,” said Mr Nielsen.

“Bridgestone has continued to invest in new technology and research and development to ensure we remain viable, despite costs increasing for local manufacturers.”

Bandag retreads are a core component of Bridgestone’s commercial product mix, complementing the range of Bridgestone and Firestone drive, steer and trailer tyres with equivalent retreaded products, including task-specific and low rolling resistance compound options.

Bandag retreads more than 400,000 truck, bus and trailer tyres each year through its company owned factories across Australia and New Zealand. Bandag also has 30 franchised and licenced stores.