– Article written by Michael Nott
On the 5th of December TyreZim opened their brand-new commercial fitment centre providing a full world class tyre management service. It’s the first of its kind offering superior services to the mining, agricultural, industrial and commercial transport industries.
It’s situated on the corner of Douglas Road and Charing Cross in Workington adjacent to the new Driptech branch. TyreZim has another branch fairly close by in Coventry Road, but while the Coventry Road focuses on supply and services for smaller passenger vehicles the Douglas Road branch concentrates on heavy vehicles and bigger fleets.
The new branch offers tyre sales as well as fitting, tyre changing, wheel balancing and alignment services. TyreZim has invested in the latest state of the art machinery produced by Manatec – leaders in the field of tyre management equipment.
In addition, they have a tyre repair service specifically aimed at heavy duty tyres used in the mining and agricultural industries where tyres are often cut or damaged – especially on the walls of the tyre – during normal day to day operations. The repair service is a fraction of the cost of a new tyre and can extend the tyre’s life significantly. Tyre repairs carry a warrantee of 500 hours, although the tyres usually last a lot longer before needing to be replaced.
TyreZim has a laser etching machine which can engrave information onto any tyre. It’s a unique facility that can mark your tyres with your corporate logo to prevent tyres being swapped out for other more used tyres. You can record just about any other relevant information – the date the tyre was fitted, the truck mileage when fitted, its position on the truck (if you want to rotate your tyres), the truck’s registration number, the driver’s name or any other information you need.
TyreZim also provides a complete world class tyre management service and reports on tyre usage. They can provide information for customers that include unusual or irregular tyre wear and provide solutions for the problem. The reports can indicate which drivers are abusing the tyres and which are driving more carefully and efficiently. The records also provide historical information so fleet owners can track changes in tyre wear and usage. The record keeping and reports service alone can provide a significant saving for fleet owners.
The entrance to the new branch is along Douglas Road – clearly marked by flags and signage along Charing Cross. The facility has been set up so that heavy vehicles enter from Douglas Road – proceed through the wash bay initially, then into the workshop for fitting, balancing and alignment. There are pits so technicians can work underneath the heavy vehicles for axle alignment. The layout and the equipment ensures that vehicles can be processed quickly saving customers time and money.
Clients can make use of all the features of the services on offer, or they can select to use individual parts of the full range as needed.
Once processed vehicles then exit onto Charing Cross without having to manoeuvre or reverse. It’s all been carefully planned and thought out by TyreZim’s management, Bob and Tom Henson, working in conjunction with Stu Van de Ruit from Agristructures, to come up with the final design that’s efficient and cost effective. Incidentally, it also looks like a well-organized, professional and clean workshop facility.
The space for the new workshop is sandwiched between some existing structures. The area was basically empty apart from two old sheds which were demolished to make way for the new structure. To the left of the entrance is an existing building with a saw-toothed roof. TyreZim and Agristructures spent a while working out the alignment of the new roof for the workshop and how to accommodate the existing roof. The outcome is a high Chromadek roof that soars over the saw toothed roof with a roof pitch that runs parallel to the existing wall and the Durawall boundary. It extends over the saw toothed structure with gaps between the peaks of the saw tooth roof to allow for natural ventilation and keep the workshop cool in summer. The new roof has translucent skylights in order to utilise natural light during the day. To stop the rain coming in through the gaps the new roof extends a few meters over the saw tooth roof to provide some protection. The new roof is so extensive that it captures hundreds of litres of rainwater during a storm necessitating the installation of extra-large gutters and downpipes which drain into the municipal storm water drainage.
At the end of the workshop – opposite the main vehicle entrance – an existing single storey structure was extended by about a third to enclose TyreZim’s premises and separate it from the adjacent property. The extended structure houses administration offices and ablutions.
The workshop is logically set out so vehicles can be processed stage by stage. It’s open, light, airy and cool and ultra-modern. While Agristructures supplied the steel framework and the exterior grey Chromadek wall cladding to help blend the TyreZim workshop with the adjacent buildings in a seamless manner. Shepperton Investments provided the extra strong concrete floor slab and other building work. Claude Neon supplied the exterior signage, so TyreZim is unmissable from both Charing Cross and Douglas Road.
For more information, visit the new workshop or call 08677 200 300.
