1200 Containers of Tyres to Middle East and Africa in 2009

Client Background

Kerns Group's tyre division supplies commercial vehicle tyres to importers and fleet operators across the Middle East and African markets. These are markets with a large installed base of older vehicles, several competing rim standards in service at once, and buyers who purchase by the container rather than by the pallet.

Project Challenge

Volume at this scale is not a sales problem, it is a logistics and consistency problem. An importer ordering repeatedly needs the same pattern, the same size and the same markings on every shipment, and needs the container to be loaded so that the size mix matches actual turnover rather than an even split.

Customer Pain Points

• Repeat shipments drifting in specification between orders
• Size mix in the container not matching what actually sells in the destination market
• Certification markings differing between shipments to the same market

Our Solution

The division is organised around a catalogue of defined patterns — 26 truck radial patterns, 5 off-the-road, 5 agricultural and 15 passenger and light commercial — each with published size coverage. Buying by pattern and size rather than by description is what makes a repeat order reproducible. Container loading is planned to the size breakdown the buyer specifies.

Final Result

In 2009 Kerns Group sold more than 1200 containers of tyres into the Middle East and African markets, on the basis of professional experience and performance in the tyre field.

Customer Benefit

For the buyer, the value of a supplier operating at that volume is availability and repeatability: the sizes are in stock, and the second order matches the first.