Tire Giant Michelin Drives Digitalization with RFID
Why RFID?
Michelin is committed to establishing the technology and solutions across the tire market. This is done through work in associations, public relations at events, IP licensing and in collaboration with stakeholders from the automotive ecosystem.
INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTOPHE DUC
1. Mr. Duc, RFID in tires – who would this benefit?
Both the RFID tag and the insertion process are patented and licensable, so that the technology can be used by any stakeholder in the tire business sector. We see the use of RFID in tires as a central enabler for the entire business cycle.
Every stakeholder in the 'tire' ecosystem has the possibility to read the information on the tags with a handheld or stationary RFID reader. Access granted via a cloudbased database. Information such as tire type, DOT or declaration of conformity is available via the Tire Information Service and a standardized API.
2. You mentioned an industry solution. Is RFID already a standard in tires?
Yes, because this is the only way for everyone to reap the benefits. The technology and specifications have been issued as ISO 20909, 209010, 20911 and 20912 as global standards in 2019 and 2020. Among other things, the standards define the encoding of RFID tire tags and the minimum reading range.
The industry solution of the deposited data Tire Information Service is also a standard defined by the ETRTO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization), based on the unique item identifier of each tire encoded as SGTIN-96. This service, developed by the ETRTO, is supported globally by the following organizations: JATMA (Japan), USTMA (USA) and SAC-TC19 (China). Thus, all requirements for industry-wide, global use are met.
3. How does RFID offer support throughout the tire lifecycle?
Michelin looks at the benefits of RFID integration from two perspectives: The perspective of business customers and the perspective of users. The transparent availability of data is already beneficial during tire development, through sales processes, all the way to the recycling process.
For the driver, the benefit lies in increased trust in the tire, as all processes from production to assembly are traceable. Warranty management is simplified. Automatic reminders to change tires increase the level of safety. These are just a few aspects of the potential of RFID-tagged tires.