As Ralson Tire North America Inc. (RTNA) establishes and grows its distribution network in North America, the company's new plant in India ramps up production. Jim Mayfield, president of RTNA in Franklin, Tenn., filled us in on the latest in this Mid-Year Q&A.
The first half has been challenging based on the significant increase of TBR unit shipments in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. This led to an imbalance of supply versus demand. Tire dealers have been feverishly working to right-size their inventories based on market demand. This inventory imbalance has created a slowdown in resupply orders, shifting the model from a long supply pipeline to a just-in-time model. However, we do see the signs of a better market balance beginning to take shape in the second half.
As a new entrant into the North American truck tire market, outside disruptions beyond our control have not had a major effect on our business as we have secure and stable relationships with our raw material providers. Our workforce is very capable and the shipping/supply lanes from India have been stable for quite some time.
Our distribution network is burgeoning, and we are working on meeting our internal targets and goals.
RTNA ... is actively engaged in establishing and growing our distribution network in the USA and Canada.
Our factory in Indore, India, is aggressively ramping up to reach our Phase I annual capacity of 1 million radial truck/bus units. Full capacity for the factory is 4 million TBR units. Ralson will employ 1,260 people when fully ramped up for Phase I.
Ralson Tyre Ltd., our parent company, is working to establish distribution in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America with region specific tires.
Although the USA market is challenging right now, the economic recovery in Europe and Asia will allow for those brands not fully invested in the North American market to again reverse their distribution plans (as they did last year) and devote more of their product to those markets, thus reducing the supply imbalance we currently are experiencing.
The supply chain from our India factory to North America has been excellent this year. The economic and political stability of the region has been a significant contributor to a stable and successful business model. Raw materials always require the utmost attention in order to make the best strategic purchasing decisions. We are expecting relative stability in pricing but are prepared for positive or negative shifts as they occur.
RTNA is in a scheduled roll out phase this year and so far, we are slightly ahead of the planned schedule for product release. We are actively working on developing our next product offering phase, which will see more application specific, and OEM demanded products in the Ralson and Accelus TBR brands.
Sustainability is built into the DNA of our infrastructure and our products. From the beginning, we designed a manufacturing facility that utilizes state of the art equipment and technologically advanced process to minimize our carbon and waste footprint and created world class compounds and tread designs that lower rolling resistance and increase the cradle to grave lifecycle of our tires.
The next six to 12 months will focus on hiring top notch sales and support personnel to grow our distribution partner network. RTNA will also be adding local USA-based warehousing to reduce order-to-delivery timelines for our dealers and fleets who require it. This is in addition to our factory container-supply model.
Ralson Tire is investing heavily in the USA and North America with region-specific and application-specific truck tires. Shortly our manufacturing facility will be producing 1 million TBR units, which will provide the truck tire industry with a large scale, family owned, region focused, alternative manufacturing partner that features high quality Ralson and Accelus truck tires on a scale not yet seen from India.
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