The purchase of the Bear-Cut, the first semi-automatic machine for re-profiling bus, lorry and trailer tyres, is an investment that quickly pays for itself for bus and commercial vehicle fleet operators. This has been confirmed by the managers of VKU – Verkehrsgesellschaft Kreis Unna and Spedition Wittwer. According to them, the payback period is less than two years and less than one year respectively.
Especially in economically challenging times, fleet operators are counting every penny. One investment that pays off quickly for bus and commercial vehicle fleets is the purchase of Bear-Cut, the first machine for semi-automatic re-profiling of bus and commercial vehicle tyres. This is confirmed by the experiences of customers such as VKU – Verkehrsgesellschaft Kreis Unna (VKU) and Spedition Wittwer. They have been using one of Bear-Machines‘ systems for six and nine months respectively.
VKU operates 93 of its own buses at two locations. ‘That means we have 806 tyres rolling on the roads every day,’ says VKU workshop manager Dirk Werner. Since November, his employees have recut 170 bus tyres. According to Dirk Werner, inspections and tests of the tyres have shown that the Bear-Cut recutting results are excellent. ‘No human being, no matter how well trained and talented, can surpass this result,’ he explains. The re-profiled tyres then achieved up to 18,000 kilometres of additional mileage. According to Dirk Werner, this represents a saving of 25 per cent or up to £90 per tyre, which equates to a saving of more than £10,000 in six months.
This does not even include the reduced working time for the mechanic. Another advantage of the system is that it reduces the time and administrative effort required in the workshop. „We can recut the tyres regardless of the remaining tread depth, rather than only when the tread depth reaches three millimetres. This allows the workshop team to carry out the work at the same time as other tasks that require the tyres to be removed anyway,“ explains the workshop manager. The lower fuel consumption of the vehicles due to the lower rolling resistance of the recut tyres has not yet been included in the calculation either.
According to Dirk Werner, the workshop employees also see the purchase of the Bear-Cut and the associated physical relief as a sign of appreciation. This is because trimming with conventional hand tools is a physically demanding task and takes at least half an hour per tyre. ‘That’s why the purchase of the machine has already paid off for us. If things continue like this, it won’t take us two years to recoup the cost of the machine,’ argues Dirk Werner.
The Wittwer haulage company from Eschenlohe in Upper Bavaria has been using Bear-Cut for eight months. The company operates 200 tractor units and 280 semi-trailers in international long-distance transport. According to managing director Georg Wittwer, the company’s workshop employees can regroove up to 2,500 tyres per year. They have currently regrooved 645 tyres. According to Georg Wittwer, the additional mileage is at least 25 per cent, which corresponds to a saving of £95 per tyre, after deducting the costs for personnel, electricity and blades. Georg Wittwer estimates these costs at a maximum of £20 per tyre. This means that the savings amount to more than £60,000. According to the managing director, there is also the lower fuel consumption of the tractors, which he cautiously estimates at 0.5 litres per 100 kilometres. This reduction in consumption adds up to 100,000 litres of diesel per year. As a result, the Bear-Cut will pay for itself in less than twelve months for the Wittwer haulage company. ‘The machine is one of our best investments,’ he argues. In his estimation, the purchase is worthwhile for fleets of 40 vehicles or more due to the system’s long service life of an estimated eight to ten years.
Based on their experience to date, both Georg Wittwer and Dirk Werner estimate the service costs to be extremely low. So far, neither company has experienced any malfunctions that would have led to a prolonged outage. „I would like to expressly praise Bear-Machines‘ after-sales support. We receive software updates reliably over the air via Bear-Cut’s online access. We don’t have to request them; Bear-Machines sends them automatically. Remote diagnosis also makes it possible to find faults and rectify them quickly. According to Dirk Werner, it is also always possible to contact the experts at Bear-Machines by telephone if necessary.
‘In addition to the economic arguments, there is also the sustainability aspect of tyre regrooving,’ adds Georg Wittwer. The 25 per cent increase in mileage means that one in four tyres does not need to be replaced. This reduces the consumption of valuable raw materials and avoids the CO2 emissions that would be generated during new production. This makes Bear-Cut an investment that is both economically efficient and sustainable.
‘In conjunction with retreading, regrooving is part of the four-life concept of new tyres, regrooving, retreading and regrooving again,’ explains Josef Warmeling, partner at Bear-Machines and managing director of Bear-Machines‘ sales partner axxcelerate. ‘That’s why several well-known tyre manufacturers recommend us, because the Bear-Cut helps fleet operators to take full advantage of the four-life concept and thus get the maximum mileage out of a tyre,’ says Josef Warmeling, pointing out another selling point: ‘If the new federal government now introduces the special 30 per cent depreciation announced in the coalition agreement between the governing parties, this will further accelerate the return on investment of the Bear-Cut.’
Bear-Machines is a manufacturer of machines for the semi-automatic, precise, fast and convenient re-profiling of truck, trailer and bus tyres. The start-up is part of the maakwi Campus for Energy & Environment in Heek (North Rhine-Westphalia). With Bear-Cut, Bear-Machines contributes to saving valuable raw materials and treating the environment responsibly. In addition, Bear-Machines‘ technology enables all fleet operators to increase tyre mileage by up to 25 per cent, optimise tractor fuel consumption and thus significantly reduce vehicle operating costs. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has awarded the Bear-Cut the 2024 Federal Prize for outstanding innovative achievements in the skilled trades. Bear-Machines has also received the Innovation Award for Crafts from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and is the winner of the Münsterland Innovation Award and the Green Vector Award 2024. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection supports Bear-Machines on the basis of a resolution by the German Bundestag.
Press contact:
Thomas Rosenberger
Tel. +49 160 8204934
E-Mail: presse@bear-machines.de
