Soo Il Lee, President of Hankook Tyre America Corp. said that the company hopes to build lots of demand for new tyres which is why they are managing the stocks in regional distribution center, preparing segments additionally and product launches.
He further added that Hankook has considered many steps to ensure a steady supply of tyres as demand picks up. The company continues to monitor the SKU system to ensure that they can meet the market demand that is to come during the pandemic and after the pandemic crisis period.
Lee says that Hankook has continued to maintain regular contact with their fleet customers and dealers to ensure that they continue to provide adequate levels of inventory. The company also plans to optimize the production and manage the plant to meet the demand as the business gradually picks up.
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While remaining optimistic, Lee mentions that the company is aware of how the pandemic has impacted the tyre industry. The industry has suffered greatly during the first half of the year. Lee says that the drop in demand was seen in the original equipment sector.
The company is monitoring their supplies so as to ensure that there will not be any issue in providing the original equipment (OE) customers. Hankook says that their annual manufacturing plans focuses on production of OE tyres. It was also mentioned by Hankook that the production schedule is in terms with the car makers and that it is difficult to predict when the Automobile sector will be back on track.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped the company's plans to develop products. In fact, Hankook says that they are taking this period of crisis to execute more tests to develop more competitive products.
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Lee says that Hankook has been talking with the vendors for raw materials, and also been conducting quality control tests which will help them in making new compounds. The company believes that harsh times such as the one caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to explore and bring in innovative ideas to create products which they will provide their customers with world class service.
Lee notes that, as of now, the company will be focusing on enhancing the efficiency of the plants, expansion of plant, drive modernization to find space for innovative production, create sales strategies and last but not the least, apply smart factory technologies.
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