Q&A of RFID Applications in Automotive Industry

Q: What is the maximum temperature of Confidex Heatwave Flag and for how much time?
A: 260C for 10 minutes and 230C for 3 hours – more than enough to survive any paint shop applications.  The datasheet can also be found online with more information: https://www.confidex.com/smart-industries/confidex-heatwave/

Q: What types of RFID tags work best for pallets?
A: Pallets vary in their construction and usage.  For pallets made of plastic and metal which see harsh environments, we recommend encapsulated hard tags like Ironside Classic, Ironside Slim, or Carrier Tough Slim which can be mechanically attached to the pallet. For plastic pallets we often will recommend the Confidex Carrier family of washable RTI labels which are optimized for such applications.  Wooden pallets often will utilize our Carrier or Casey RFID labels with staples or advanced adhesives to survive their journey.  Please see our 2020 Webinar on Returnable Transit Items (RTIs) or contact Confidex for more information: https://www.confidex.com/webinars/webinar-rfid-for-returnable-transit-itemsrtis-april-2020-us/

Q: My customer wants to tag tires to make sure they aren’t changed during vehicle rental.  Can RFID tags be used for this application?
A: This application is best addressed at time of tire manufacturing where the RFID tag can be embedded directly into the tire.  If aftermarket labels are added to the tire then you run risk that the RFID label may be damaged or have difficulty in reading when mounted to the tire rim. Confidex has embeddable TireTag available, please contact us for more information.

Q: Can BLE be used within automotive manufacturing?
A: Absolutely! BLE is in use today with most major Automotive OEMs.  At Confidex, we typically see our Viking Quuppa beacons used within automotive facilities both for increased location accuracy and also for use of the propriety channels which avoids interference with other BLE systems.

Q: How could we best address a use case tracking vehicles inside and outside of premises and also products loaded in vehicle?
A: This application could be achieved using RFID with choke points (eg. fixed reader infrastructure installed in such a way that the tags would be read when the vehicle moves from one area to another) or with BLE for Real-Time Location Services (RTLS).  We see both solutions used for finished vehicle location applications and also when re-work is needed on vehicles before outbound logistics.

Q: What type of tag do you advise for tire inventory control?
A: Inventory control of tires is a simpler use case. We most often see a RFID label attached to the tire sidewall or tread for this application. The Confidex TireLabel is a good place to start!

Q: Is tag differential performance an issue when looking at various container types at the same site?  Metal and plastic?
A: Tags generally perform differently when the underlying material changes.  For equal performance on metal and plastics, we typically recommend two different tags with complementary RF performance such that your data capture is consistent. If only one tag is needed for all the containers then Steelwave Classic would be a good option due to balanced performance between materials.

Q: What is the material of the new Ironside Flag?
A: Ironside Flag is made with an IP69K housing of flexible yet rugged rubber type of material.

Q: How can I establish Internet & Cellular access in the field when using Confidex tags?
A: Backhaul from RFID and BLE tags is commonly accomplished through the reader infrastructure.  Most RFID readers have wireless connectivity via cellular or WIFI to send collected data to a database.