| Tyres
Recognition for Mitas as a John
Deere “Partner-level Supplier”
Mitas has earned recognition as a Partner-level supplier for 2015 in the John
Deere Achieving Excellence Program.
he Partner-level status is Deere
& Company’s highest supplier
rating. The Prague based
company was selected for the
honor in recognition of its
dedication to providing products
and service of outstanding quality as well as its
commitment to continuous improvement.
Company employees accepted the recognition
during formal ceremonies held on 13 April 2016
in Zweibrücken, Germany. Mitas is a supplier of
radial agricultural tyres to John Deere’s
operation in Europe, Russia, United States and
Mexico.
“Mitas has received the Partner-level award
five times since 2004,” said Jaroslav Čechura,
T
Mitas’ CEO.
Mitas supplies radial agricultural tyres to John
Deere factories in Mannheim and Zweibrücken in
Germany, Domodedovo in Russia, Waterloo and
Augusta in the United States and Saltillo in
Mexico.
“The Partner-level award from John Deere is
an important acknowledgment of the quality of
Mitas tyres and moreover the service beyond the
product provided by the Mitas team,” added Lutz
Rose, Mitas' key account manager for John
Deere.
Suppliers who participate in the Achieving
Excellence program are evaluated annually in
several key performance categories, including
quality, cost management, delivery, technical
support and wavelength, which is a measure of
responsiveness. John Deere Supply
Management created the program in 1991 to
provide a supplier evaluation and feedback
process that promotes continuous improvement.
Bridgestone adds free financing to their premium
agricultural tyre product line-up
Tractor tyre finance is not a completely new concept to farmers and agricultural contractors. Premium tyres are
downright expensive and fitting out a tractor fleet can set a business back by more than the cost of a new family car.
he AG division of
Bridgestone UK Ltd
has caught on to
this and is now
offering 0% deals
over 24 months on
all new VT and Firestone
MaxiTraction tyres, providing you
go to an authorised Bridgestone
dealer.
This convenience is available
across mainland UK, Northern
Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland.
The finance is provided by third
party finance companies and
networked to the dealerships
electronically ensuring seamless
response times.
Essentially a leasing contract,
there is no VAT to pay upfront and
no documentation fee. The buyer
negotiates a price with the dealer,
signs paperwork when approved,
and pays a monthly rental (plus
recoverable VAT, when registered)
T
over two years without a penny or
cent in interest due.
At lease end, ownership is
obtained from Bridgestone
automatically.
The financing means keeping
your capital dry for supporting
business initiatives and cash flow,
and saving interest on borrowings.
Just launched, the initiative is
already proving popular with
Bridgestone AG customers, and the
company is already talking about
extending the advantages to
Firestone dealers covering the
larger range of Firestone
agricultural tyres.
AG Product Manager for
Northern Europe, Steve Hewitt
says: “Bridgestone has a great
reputation as the world’s largest
manufacturer of all types of tyres,
and financing is a service that we
have never offered farmers before,
so we want it to be the best. It is
60 | Farming Monthly | May 2016
also our way of giving even more to
our customers, so that you can
choose how to manage your
money when buying from us in a
very straightforward way.”
For decades, Bridgestone has
remained at the forefront of the
agricultural tyres segment through
its legendary Firestone brand.
Thanks to this long history and its
powerful legacy, Firestone is the
world's leading brand of agricultural
tyres with a strong presence in
Europe. Earlier Firestone range
upgrades and expansion have
allowed the Bridgestone company
to cover about 95% of current
market demand for tractor tyres.
The recently introduced
Bridgestone-branded VT-TRACTOR
will complete the needs of the highend agricultural tyre segment,
giving Bridgestone a full portfolio of
products able to meet all market
requirements with Firestone
products in standard and IF
categories and Bridgestone
products in the VF category.
The VT-TRACTOR’s superior
traction allows farmers to work
faster in the field and cover up to
0.9 hectares more than its
competitors over a 10 hour period.
Coupled with the tyre’s excellent
fuel economy, generating savings
of up to 36 litres per 50 hectares vs.
benchmark competitors, the VTTRACTOR guarantees a lower total
cost of ownership.
The most important feature of
the VT-TRACTOR tyre, however, is
its very low and very evenly
distributed contact pressure.
Internal testing also revealed that
the VT-TRACTOR provides up to
26% larger lug contact area than
the same competitor tyres tested,
resulting in very low soil
compaction and thus greater crop
protection.
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