We’re well aware that RFID is a big booster for Industry 4.0, especially with helping in generating and gathering large volumes of data to support decisions with intelligence. The global tire industry reached 19.25M tonnes of production in 2019 and is expected to reach 22.75M tonnes by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 3.4%. Automation continues to be one of the critical factors in helping tire manufacturers to meet the global competition. [1]

The next biggest news is about the radio-frequency identification’s (RFID) footprint in the tire industry. RFID is being adopted rapidly in a growing number of tire industry processes to deliver more transparency, better control of materials, fewer rejected tires, and production failures.

How RFID Technology Works

An RFID IC or a tag is equipped with an antenna. This antenna is fixed or applied to the carriers like PET, polypropylene, and paper, whereas, in the case of tires, it’s embedded in the rubber or dipped mesh materials. When a tag passes the reading field of an antenna, it reads the tag and sends the unique identification number back to the system. A unique advantage of having an RFID over a barcode is no line of sight is needed between the reader and the tag. Identification can also occur in bulk, up to 150 tires in one scan from a distance from zero up to several feet.

RFID Lifecycle Management 

The use of vulcanizable RFID tags on each tire controls the complete lifecycle of the tire from building machine, vulcanization, coupling with the end-user, and, finally, through to the scrapping of the used tire. Many customized RFID aftermarket labels have been developed to support fleet management, set up anti-theft solutions, and develop pay-per-mile and other commercial models.

RFID Tire Tread Labels 

Another interesting business model possibility in the logistics space with RFID tread labels to address the challenges such as FIFO, identifying unique/ individual tires in the warehouse, inventory management, coupling for orders, loading of trucks up to the inventory in the shop, identifying gray imports, matching a tire to an end-user and easily support the recall process.

Future of Tire Manufacturing 

Change is what always remains constant when it comes to rapidly changing modern technology. Customers’ expectations have started to demand quicker delivery times, and thus the order delivery cycle has become shorter, and warehouses will no longer be filled with products. With RFID and sensors assisting in the manufacturing along with full plant automation can give multiple benefits such as lower stock levels, optimization of space, and minimization of buffer stocks and cumulatively lead companies to produce high-quality tires with better yields.

Backed by 40 Years of Expertise

We contribute our 40 years of design and manufacturing expertise spanning multiple diverse markets. We look forward to discussing how we can deliver world-class products for OEMs across the globe. We understand our home Indian market, familiar with its vast regulatory and selling environments. We foster growth opportunities within India through our strong technology incubation ecosystem. We also assist global OEMs in entering the Indian market by leveraging the local supply chain and favorable operating environments for cost reductions.

Our flagship Chennai location opened in 2006 and lies within a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for electronics manufacturing, offering economic incentives for imports and exports. This primary facility is within 90 minutes of the Chennai seaport and 20 minutes to the international airport. Additional road and rail connectivity links to the rest of India and beyond and infrastructure advantages with faster import and export clearances. We also have labor force flexibility, both technical and manual, to scale to demand rapidly.

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