With the Indian economy growing fast, specially focusing on infrastructural growth, there is now heavier traffic on roads and highways across the country than hitherto, necessitating the setting up of more truck service centres.
It is with this view that Michelin, the world leader in tyre technology and mobility, started several truck service centres in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. These centres are one-stop shops equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including computerized truck tyre alignment, tyre balancing and tyre repairing machines, offering end-to-end tyre-related services for trucks.
Recently I happened to visit one such centre at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, named Namakkal Tyres, previously known as Namakkal Tyre Stores, to have a feel of how a truck service centre looks and the services offered by it. I met Mr. S. Boopathi, Proprietor, Namakkal Tyres, and Michelin Truck Service Centre (MTSC), and had a brief discussion on issues like awareness among people on the use of radial tyres and the latest tubeless tyres.
Mr. Boopathi observed: “Initially we sold and serviced bias tyres. With infrastructural changes and major MNCs like Michelin entering the market, we updated ourselves to radial tyres. Realising that truck radials are the way for the future and also since it helps reduce the cost of fleet owning by cutting the fuel bill by 10 per cent, and the overall tyre bill, there was a major shift among operators towards these tyres in the early 2000s. Now, use of tubeless tyres is fast picking up in our region. Assuming 10,000 tyres being sold in the region, over 2,000 tyres are tubeless”.
Mr. Boopathi entered his father’s business of tyre selling and servicing in 1987. His service centre has the Hunter wheel alignment machine from the Madhus and the latest tyre repair machines as per the OEM specifications. It also deals in Apollo and Bridgestone tyres.
“We service 20-30 trucks a day. With the growing demand, we are further expanding our centre by laying another ramp. Michelin guides us as to what tools to be used in our centre. It also conducts regular internal and external auditing for safety. The OEM conducts training sessions for our service people and also for the dealers to create awareness among them on new technologies. The Michelin Truck Service Network (MTSN) sends its sales and service personnel to its service centres to take care of day-today issues”, added Mr. Boopathi.
Facing stiff competition in the field, Namakkal Tyres has been focusing more on quality service and customer satisfaction. The centre provides round-the-clock service for both car and truck tyres. It repairs close to 150 tyres a month. Thousands of tyres which have been rated as scrap are put back to use at the centre.
Humble but dynamic and diligent by nature, Mr. Boopathi boasts his service centre makes a monthly turnover of Rs. 150 lakhs, with tyre sales contributing the most