Bridgestone Americas has opened a new Bandag Training Center on its Akron, Ohio campus. The $3 million facility is designed to educate commercial tire dealer and fleet teams on the performance, sustainability and financial benefits of retreaded tires, and the company expects it to host hundreds of industry professionals each year through seminars and tailored classes of all sizes.
The center is the second designated Bandag Training Center in the Bridgestone network. It joins the established Bandag Learning Center in Muscatine, Iowa.
A full retread facility under one roof
The new center occupies nearly 15,000 square feet inside the company’s tire test lab, next to the Bridgestone Americas Advanced Tire Production Center (ATPC). It includes a complete retread facility with production-scale manufacturing equipment and stations for each of the ten retreading steps, along with a classroom and the Bandag history walk. Training will cover retread products, retread manufacturing equipment and related processes.
“Bandag retreads have been a staple solution in the commercial tire industry for more than half a century,” said Brian Douglas, Vice President, Retread North America. “With the addition of this second training center, Bridgestone aims to strengthen its support for dealers and fleets, matching the value they get from retreads on the road.”
Training plus a site for retread innovation
Bridgestone said the two locations strengthen its ability to meet growing demand for retread training by expanding access to training and technical resources for dealers and fleets.
When the Akron center is not hosting classes, Bridgestone plans to use it as an additional site for retreading innovation. With support from teams in Muscatine, Akron and Nashville, the company will test new products and introduce new manufacturing equipment and processes.
About Bandag
Bandag has provided tire retreading solutions since 1957. It currently operates three pre-cured tread rubber manufacturing facilities, a retread equipment manufacturing facility and a mold manufacturing plant in the United States to support North America. Bridgestone says Bandag has diverted more than 300 million tires from landfills over its history by extending their service lives through retreading.
For dealers weighing the commercial retread opportunity, see our earlier look at what tire dealers need to know as fleets tighten tire budgets.
Learn more about Bandag and Bridgestone Americas.
