October 2022 - 59

INNOVATION AWARDS PROFILE
Hunter Engineering
Revolution Tire Changer
with HunterNet 2 Connectivity
Use the tire machine to collect back end data and gain business insight.
W
e will be featuring one of our Innovation Awards winners
that scored among the highest in the group each issue. This
month, we are profiling the Hunter Engineering Revolution
Tire Changer with HunterNet 2 Connectivity. This product allows
shops to keep convenient count of the number of tires changed,
measure shop activity and productivity, and note trends over any
period of time. We sat down with Hunter's project manager, Jim
Hudson, to learn more.
PTEN: What makes this
product innovative?
Jim Hudson: It really is the world's first
smart tire changer. No other tire changer
can report its own usage to the cloud. The
data it can accumulate includes things like
service time, wheel size, what procedures
were used, air pressure, inflation pressure,
and even things like the year, make, and
model. Even technician comments, things
like that, can be entered in at the anytime
throughout the service procedures, so when
you couple all of that all that data with the
power of HunterNet 2 to sort of filter that,
it's a really powerful pair.
PTEN: How did this
product come about?
JH: It was a natural progression as we expand
the HunterNet 2 to other types of equipment.
First, it was alignment machines,
inspection machines, things like that, but
tire changers have long been this blind spot
- they always sit back there and they do
their jobs - but we're seeing there's a lot
of data available there. We complete that
picture with the Revolution Tire Changer,
which is already software driven. It has a big
touchscreen interface, so we can enter those
technician comments and things easily in
the machine. We can bundle all that data.
PTEN: How does this tire
changer improve the lives of
technicians and shop owners?
JH: One of the biggest things is as these
wheels and tires get more and more expensive,
technicians must document things
like damage, scratches on the wheel, tire
bulges or whatever they might encounter
as they're servicing the assembly, so the
HunterNet 2 connectivity gives them
a super easy way to do that right on the
machine, right as it's spotted (there's no
need to remember it and write it down
elsewhere on the repair order). It also
automatically records things like billable
procedures, such as force matching and
bead massaging that are really crucial to
a good ride quality.
Most shop owners/managers are interested
in equipment ROI - how it's being
utilized, its payoff, etc. The HunterNet 2
connectivity being expanded to the tire
changer allows a view into how that machine
is being used, what its ROI is, and it gives
a good aggregated look into tire sizes
and wheel sizes that are being serviced.
Depending on the shop owner's system,
it's great insight to have. You can see what
procedures are being used, what tire sizes or
wheel sizes are being serviced to help drive
tire stocking decisions. The HunterNet 2
screen offers that on one chart, so you can
you can take a look at that at a glance and
say, " Oh, maybe I need to stock more 18 "
tires. " So, it gives it a really interesting
insight there.
www.VehicleServicePros.com OCTOBER 2022 PROFESSIONAL TOOL & EQUIPMENT NEWS 59
http://www.VehicleServicePros.com
October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2022
