KAL TIRE’S Mining Tire Group has never wavered in its resolve to provide customers around the world with mining tyre services and products that create a competitive advantage for their mining operations. With an intent to prove themselves in Australia, the organisation has shown significant investment and advancement in the country’s mining industry during the past year.

The acquisition of Klinge & Co has given Kal Tire a national presence in Australia, including the Pilbara.

“Some of the most sophisticated miners in the world are in Australia so we’ve needed to prove ourselves here,” says Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group senior vice president Dan Allan. “We believe we have a great deal to offer Australian customers, from our 45 years’ experience in every type of mining environment to the significant focus we have on innovation to improve tyre performance, productivity and safety.”

Kal Tire began operating in Western Australia in 2000 and in the spring of 2016, acquired the mining tyre services business of long-established national tyre service provider, Klinge & Co. At the time, the Mining Tire Group already had more than 1800 team members servicing more than 150 mine sites across five continents.

The Klinge acquisition demonstrated Kal Tire’s commitment to Australian mining customers and its intention to deliver on the same best-in-class operating standards and custom service solutions that they are known for in other countries.

Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group has since grown to 2700 team members internationally. This includes the 200 Klinge team members who joined Kal Tire, bringing to the company the highest quality technicians and their decades of experience on mine sites throughout Australia.

Kal Tire’s communications director Tracy Cobb-Reeves said, “The acquisition helped us solidify our presence in Australia, which is a very important mining market to Kal Tire. It was an important relationship for us as the two companies are very similar – we are both family run enterprises and both have a strong focus on safety and innovation.”

Kal Tire Australia now has almost 250 team members servicing more than 20 mines in regions such as the Pilbara, Hunter Valley, the Bowen Basin and more. “That’s really given us a critical mass of team members who have spent years on the ground in Australia,” says Kal Tire Australia managing director Darren Flint. “We’re working with major miners and we can support operations in every area of the country now.”

A national presence

Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group director of mining services Russell Klinge says the acquisition enabled Kal Tire to have much more of a national presence across Australia. “We are now on more than 20 sites where we have dedicated Kal Tire team members providing tyre management and maintenance services and solutions. Kal Tire is on more than 150 sites globally and we have many other sites where we drive in and out of.

“At Klinge we had some long-standing relationships with clients and we have been able to add to these through Kal Tire. It has been a really good fit between what was the Klinge local business and the Kal Tire global business.

“We have been able to deliver some significant improvements to our customers because Kal Tire is on a much larger scale. It has provided the opportunity for our team members to grow because Kal Tire has a Learning Management System (LMS), which allows us to train our tyre technicians and team members to the same level across the globe. This encompasses a rigorous tyre technician training program comprised of nearly 300 courses taken over a two-year period.

“The length and breadth of our training, and the structure of LMS itself, ensures we consistently deliver the Kal Tire Standard in safety and performance across regions and languages. But it also goes beyond the LMS courses - tyre technicians work closely with mentors, there are hands-on field assessments and competency sign-offs along with constant safety training.”

Russell Klinge said, “We have a much larger pool of safety resources and if we become aware of an incident or an improvement, we can quickly circulate that to our team members around the world to provide safer and more efficient operations.”

“The organisation also sets itself apart by being a multi-brand dealer with the expertise and independence to recommend the right tyre for the application, and then help the customer maximise their investment throughout the life of the tyre.

“From the perspective of our clients, the Klinge business had limited resources before but with Kal Tire we have a much more extensive range of products and services we can offer our clients.”

He said there were some positive signs in the mining industry. “We are seeing an increase in demand for tyre service personnel and this is an indicator that clients are ramping up their fleets by bringing vehicles back into service or acquiring new vehicles.

“Clients are wanting service providers to bring some more value as we recover from the downturn, and we have been able to do this with Kal Tire.”