Q&A of RFID Applications in Automotive Industry

Q: How many tags you recommend on single returnable transit item?
A: Depends on the RTI type but generally 2 tags are recommended so that you can ensure that there is 1 tag always at the side where reader antenna is located. This is also VDA recommendation. We actually have a recording of 1 hour webinar related to RTIs on our website that I recommend to take a look in case you are looking to implement RFID for RTIs.

Q: Why all tags are not working globally?
A: In a nutshell there are 2 main RFID frequencies in use. ETSI for Europe and FCC for US. All the other countries are using one of these bands. We also have global and regional tags in our portfolio, benefit of having global tag is that you are able to read the tag anywhere in the world with same performance. The benefit of regional design on the otherhand is that it is really optimized for that certain region, meaning that it will have a bit better read range compared to global tag.

Q: About part tracking, which is considered the best tag mount on metal? Flexible works well as solid MOM tag? We’ve to identify metal rims, but the reading ability drops a lot due to metal interference.
A: For curved surface we generally recommend flexible on metal labels. If the Application is too harsh for a label we could take a look for a suitable hard tag to be attached on the asset. Hard tags also do work on curved surface but the attachment needs to be taken into account. Using epoxy for example could help with the uneven surface.

Q: What is your view about RFID middleware for industrial and automotive?
A: We don’t provide middleware ourselves but have several partners we can recommend. Let’s discuss the customer and region in more details to find a suitable one.

Q: Can your tire tracking handle heat/friction and function on tires actually being driven as opposed to just tire stock in a warehouse?
A: Yes it can. We have run through extensive reliability testing with both lab and real life tests.

Q: What is the typical read range for the tire tag?
A: Read range depends on the tire type and location of the tag inside the tire. Generally we get few meters read range with our tag.

Q: What is your tag recommendation for tagging tires? When the tires are stacked up high and with many layers, it is quite difficult to read the tags at the inner layer?
A: Our embedded RFID TireTag is readable from both rim and also the tread direction. This helps with the applications where tires are stacked on top of each others.

Q: What about the RFID in food chain and consumer communications?
A: We do have plenty of products suitable for different applications in food chain or consumer applications. Please reach out to us for more detailed discussion.

Q: Does Confidex have tamper-proof RFID tags?
A: Yes, we do have. We supply a lot of RFID labels for automatic vehicle identification where tamper evidency is very important. Please reach out to us with more detailed information about the project.