Smart Tire Technology
So just what is intelligent tire technology? Basically, relaying information about a tire electronically that is normally gathered manually.
Evan Lockridge
Contributing Editor
They may still look the same, but today's tires are getting smarter. They have evolved from being a necessary and costly operating expense to something that is being viewed as a tool to help the bottom line – especially with no let-up in sight for high fuel prices.
Improvements in tread compounds, better tire management tools for truck fleets and other high-tech advances have changed the image of tires for consumers.
Nowhere is this more apparent than the upcoming Intelligent Tire Technology conference, Oct. 23-35 in Livonia, Mich. The event is being put together by the International Quality and Productivity Center, which provides business executives around the world with conferences and seminars designed to keep them up to date with industry trends. What makes this conference so remarkable is that it's the first time in this country that an event has been held solely to discuss intelligent tire technology.
Intelligent tire technology is an all-encompassing term. Basically it means relaying information about a tire electronically that is normally gathered manually. High-tech electronic chips embedded in the tires can send pressure information to the vehicle driver. Chips also can provide data such as how many miles are on a tire or its temperature to someone scanning the tire with a handheld or other scanning device using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Another example is a system on a vehicle that adds air to the tires when the pressure falls too low.
Much of this conference will cover the passenger car market, due to the TREAD Act, which will soon require tire pressure monitoring systems on passenger vehicles. While there is currently no such mandate for big rigs, these systems are gaining acceptance in the heavy-duty industry, and manufacturers are always looking for ways to improve them. These and other technologies for big trucks will be discussed at the conference, as well.
"We will cover building an effective tire pressure monitor for large vehicles and the things that go into that versus a passenger car, as well as improving RFID technology for tractor-trailers," says Naomi Secor, team leader for IQPC.
So why should a fleet care about this conference? In a word, money.
"[Intelligent tire technology] really means being able to better manage tire expenses," says Al Cohn, director of new market development and engineering support for Pressure Systems International, which builds tire inflation systems.
Cohn, who will be a speaker at the event, notes that tires are the No. 1 maintenance issue for fleets, with some spending millions of dollars every year just to manage that part of their business. If fleets can get information such as air pressure, tire mileages, when to rotate tires and when they should be taken off for replacement or retreading without having to physically inspect every tire out there, Cohn says, intelligent tire technology can pay big dividends in terms of time and money.
Cohn says that because the technology has improved so much and the costs are coming down, more fleets are going to take a serious look at intelligent tire products, and he sees the market taking off, which explains much of the impetus for the upcoming conference.
During his many years working for a major tire maker, Cohn says he has seen guys who were working on passenger smart tires also working to make the same new technologies work on truck tires.
"It's just a little more involved because on truck tires, you are dealing with a much heavier and thicker tire, so it's a lot tougher to get that signal through that big radial commercial tire, versus a small passenger tire."
Those involved in the conference include vendors of intelligent tire technology, vehicle makers and tire industry experts. Some will also present case studies on the use of these new technologies by end users.
You can get more information on this conference by logging on to the web site www.iqpc.com.
