Tires have become a promising area for RFID. Manufacturers are utilizing the information that RFID can provide, whether it is related to supply chain and production, performance, tire wear, preventing counterfeiting, and even Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulations

In a major announcement, tire industry leader Michelin is collaborating with RFID specialist Beontag on “smart tires,” which will be equipped with Beontag’s TireTag. The partners jointly developed the pod and antenna for the TireTag.

Suchi Srinivasan, Beontag’s VP of DTE (digital transformation), observed that the tire industry is experiencing unprecedented interest in RFID technology, particularly driven by major manufacturers that are already embedding RFID tags in millions of commercial and passenger vehicles worldwide.

“This surge in adoption is further evidenced by significant partnerships, such as our own collaboration with Michelin to produce revolutionary RFID-enabled smart tires with a jointly design pod and antenna,” Srinivasan noted.

Laurent Couturier, RFID system designer at Michelin, pointed out that RFID technology plays a pivotal role in optimizing operations and enhancing efficiency for tires.

“This system enables precise, automated tracking of each tire from production to retreading or recycling,” said Couturier. “The RFID tire-tag improves industrial performance while addressing today’s ecological imperatives.  In collaboration with Beontag, we have developed an RFID tag that meets both the economic and environmental challenges of the future, paving the way for new mobility solutions.”

Srinivasan said that the momentum is particularly strong due to two key factors. The first is DPP, which requires data such as including manufacture date and storage location, distribution, installation and replacement, refurbishment and more.

“Regulatory requirements, including the EU’s upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulations, are mandating unique tire identification, making RFID implementation essential for companies selling in the EU market,” said Srinivasan. “Additionally, cross-industry collaboration is seeing major tire manufacturers actively collaborating to standardize RFID implementation, through the Global Data Service Organization.”

Srinivasan pointed out that embedded RFID tags differ from bead tire labels or tread tire labels by supporting owners, manufacturers, and service providers in solving several challenges, including supply chain management, fleet tire management, sustainability, circular economy, DPP and more.

“The main use cases in the automotive industry are related to supply chain and production, as well as automated inbound and outbound services,” said Srinivasan. “RFID enhances the accuracy of online lean manufacturing systems, and boosts RTI traceability in the supply chain. It also improves parts and components traceability and body tags for traceability in body and paint shops.

“In the areas of after-sales and lifecycle management, RFID enables equipment parts authentication; this in turn contributes to anti-counterfeit measures,” Srinivasan added. “Additionally, RFID technology can play a key role in fleet management, as well as parking facilities and wireless transactions for car sharing services. The tags’ small size and resistance to high temperatures and high pressure improves its mechanical robustness inside the tire, with proven reliability in the vulcanization process as well as during retreading.”

Partnership between Michelin and Beontag

The innovative partnership between Beontag and Michelin has been building since it was first established in 2019, when the two companies began collaborating on the brand-new, UHF RFID-embedded tag from scratch. The tags are capable of functioning for one million driven kilometers, and can continue to work even after the vulcanization and retreading process.

Srinivasan added that after years of R&D development and months of reliability tests to reach the desired level of quality, design and scalability outline, the two companies launched the next-generation TireTag together.

“The result is an exceptionally durable and reliable connected tire, capable of functioning for up to one million driven kilometers, including through the retreading process common for truck tires,” said Srinivasan. “The technology addresses several existing technical challenges, including readability (where a dense construction of rubber and metal interferes with reading distance for RFID scanners), reliability (the tags’ long-term endurance and lifecycle, including 100,000km fatigue testing and inspection), flexibility (in other words, a tag that is versatile enough to function across a wide range of tire and vehicle types) and the cost for high-volume implementation.”

The improvement of RFID technology has helped make TireTag possible.

“RFID technology has been improving over the years, with more reliable and accessible technology, increasing the readability feature and decreasing, or diversifying, the size and formats of tags,” said Srinivasan. “Together with Michelin, we’ve been able to improve the POD design to be smaller, more reliable and better performing.”

Meeting Digital Product Passport Requirements

The TireTag will help with the Digital Passport requirements, which is an important aspect of sustainability and the Circular Economy.

“As with the other benefits discussed above, TireTag meets the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements by ensuring complete authentication and traceability, from raw materials to disposal,” said Srinivasan. “Real-time tracking, accurate documentation, and automated inventory management all help to reduce manual errors and ensure regulatory compliance, in addition to preventing counterfeiting.

“Alongside adhering to the DPP regulations, this information also serves and empowers consumers with transparency on sourcing, sustainability credentials, and carbon footprint data, enabling informed decisions at a time when consumers are more aware than ever of the brands they choose.”

The TireTag technology also has usage in other consumer products.

‘The current and upcoming sustainability regulations across the globe push for more innovation in applications for embedded tags in a diverse range of segments, a market trend we are taking into consideration in Beontag’s R&D projects,” Srinivasan noted.

Consumers are already seeing tires using these tags on the market.

“Michelin and Beontag are already rolling out batches of commercially available tires, including Beontag TireTag,” Srinivasan said. “In addition to this, other tire manufacturers in Europe and Asia have already incorporated this solution in their production.”