Proceedings of the IEEE
International Conference on Automation and Logistics
August 18 - 21, 2007, Jinan, China
The application of Radio frequency identification
technology on tires tracking
Yanyan Wang,Yaohua Wu,Yuanyuan Liu,Aijun Tang
The logistics institute
Shandong University
73,jingshi Road,Shandong,P.R.China 250061
1978_wyy@163.com
Abstract: The tire has an extensive application in
automanufacture. The tracing of tires is very
important to the entire supply chain of
automanufacture industy. Radio frequency
identification systems are one of the most
anticipated technologies that will supposedly
transform processes across the engineering and
production industries. In an effort, this paper refers
to use radio frequency identification technology in
order to improve the efficiency of tracking tires,
improve the warehouse management of the tire,
envelop the quality tracking with the high efficiency
and finish the aftermarket compensations. This
RFID system develops a tire tracking method and
information system which includes production
process, inventory management and aftermarket
compensation management.
Index Terms: Radio frequency identification; Inventory
management; after-sale service
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Introduction of radio frequency identification
technology
RFID is a generic technology concept that refers to
the use of radio waves to identify objects. This
technology has been widely applied in numerous areas
in the supply chain activities such as manufacturing and
distribution of physical goods, shipping and port
operations and inventory management. Moreover, such
an emerging technology has also been further extended
to the application domain of warehouse operations in
the supply chain[10].
Radio frequency identification is a small tag
containing an integrated circuit chip and antenna, and
has the ability to respond to radio waves transmitted
from the RFID reader in order to send, process, and
store information. The RFID system consists of three
basic components: an antenna, a transceiver (with
synthesizer and other elements) and a RF
tag/transponder electronically programmed with
monitoring information (if required)[3]. An antenna is a
significant piece of the RFID communication system. It
is the bridge between a host and tag. A remote
communication system uses an antenna to convey radio
signals for activation and read/write operations of the
tag. Tag and monitoring information is collected,
converted, modulated and synthesized by the
1-4244-1531-4/07/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE.
interrogating system. There are two types of RFID tags;
active and passive. An active tag operates with an
internal energy source for implementations of
read/write and transmission functions. The memory and
long-range capabilities are the main advantages.
However, an active tag is more costly, has bigger size
and operates for a limited lifetime. Operating energy for
a passive tag is generated by a host/reader. An antenna
of a power system emits radio waves and transfers the
energy to a passive device. This improves the
operational lifetime and reduces the cost of the total
unit. In contrast with the barcode labels which have
been widely utilized for material tracking, RFID tags
prove to be more durable and suitable for a construction
site environment because they are reusable and permit
remote, automatic reading without requiring line of
sight.
B. Description of current situation in the tire industry
To be worldwide competitive, factory systems must
be flexible, collaborative, and responsive to meet the
changing needs of customers so that quality products
and services can be delivered in a timely manner.
System flexibility and responsiveness are mainly
characterized through the capability of quick system
adaptation to the fluctuations in product demand
manufacturing functionality. The delivery of the right
data to the right user at the right time through integrated
factory systems is the key to entail system flexibility
and responsiveness. The use of technology to improve
the accuracy of tracking tires is not a novel concept.
Barcodes have long history of tracking materials not
only in industries but also in some constructions. The
first patent for barcodes was issued in 1952 under the
patent title “Classifying Apparatus and method” with
the US patent number 2,612994. The first commercial
product to be equipped with a barcode was packages of
chewing gum in 1974[9]. During the production of
tires, the last course of production is the high
temperature sulfidation, and then the tires must be
checked and go to the warehouses. The barcode must be
pasted on the surface of tires, so some industries use the
barcode made of high temperature resistant material,
but some damages often occur in transportation and
in-and-out-store of process, which leads to the
confusion. There are some industries using the iron tag
and barcode together. (Fig.1).
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 Low100–500 Short to medium read animal identification;
kHz range; inexpensive; Access low reading speed
control; inventory control;
car immobiliser
Intermediate Short to medium read control; smart
10–15 MHz range; potentially cards; library control
inexpensive; medium
reading speed
Fig .1 iron tag and barcode High 850–950 Long read range; high Railway vehicle
Because of the current situation and information MHz, 2.4–5.8 reading speed; line of sight monitoring; toll
GHz required; expensive collection systems;
status, the main problems include: Pallet and container
1) It is difficult to achieve the quality tracking and tracking; vehicle
the claim for aftermarket quality problems for the tracking
disjunction among different departments. For Because the working range is not far, at the same
example, the vulcanization information and the time, passive tags have an unlimited life, are lighter,
tire modeling information in the course of smaller and cheaper, so we can select the tags which is
production disjoint the tire’s marketing 13.56MHz. The RFID tags are embedded tires during
information, which makes it difficult to achieve the production process, so the tags must be high
the quality tracking, the information tracking and temperature resistant. We can encapsulate the tags using
the claim of aftermarket. gum and the size of tags must be small and thin. We can
2) The confusion error of the different tire is often encapsulate them as rotundity and glutinosity on one
occurred, and can make the inventory data side.
incorrect. Because it is difficult to distinct some The antenna is significant piece of the RFID
products which is same in the surface, the communication system. There are many kinds of
confusion of tires and the error of delivery often antenna, such as circularly polarized antenna, linearly
occur, which decrease the satisfaction of the polarized antenna, handing reading device and so on.
customers and increase the fee of logistics. Though there are many different antennas, they must
3) All the vulcanized code must be written and input use a read-write device which connects the
to the computer. The scribal error is often computer(fig2). So we can use the information stored in
occurred and is a fatal to the management of the RFID tags. The different antenna has different radiation
tire enterprise. The distinction error of tires leads range. Considering the tire is very big and many tires
to the large workload during the process of are scanned together, We can select antenna which can
delivery of product from warehouses, increases cover a wide region.
the error rate, and decreases the delivery
efficiency. So it is difficult to achieve the correct
information of vulcanized code.
4) Because the vulcanized code and the region
marketing information don’t bind together, it is
impossible to avoid mixing the product in
different region.
Considering the above problems, this paper puts
radio frequency identification forward as the tool of
tracking the tire information. The rest of the paper is
organized as follows: Section II shows the selected
radio frequency equipments and their advantages.
Section III introduces the business process. Finally, we Fig2
conclude this paper in section IV. During production process, we need to read
II. EQUIPMENT SELECTION FOR TRACKING information from tags and write information to the tags,
INFORMATION at the same time ,the operation is very easy and don’t
connect the computer ,we can select scan the device
Frequency allocations are generally managed which is small, is wireless communications and is
through legislation and regulation by individual mobile read-write device, we can use itermec700c&IP3.
governments. Internationally, there are differences in (fig3).
frequencies allocated for RFID applications although
standardization through ISO and similar organizations
are assisting in compatibility. Currently very few
frequencies are consistently available on a global basis
for RFID application. Three frequency ranges are
generally used for RFID applications (table 1)Ζ
Table1
RFID application
Frequency band Characteristics Typical applications

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Fig3
IV BUSINESS PROCESS DESIGN
A. The introduction of the business process
Since a tire is produced, it will go through a series
of complexity operation, such as production
process ,warehouse management, aftermarket process
and so on . A tire’s operation process flow is showed in
the fig4
B. PRODUCTION PROCESS DESIGN
When the molding of tire is delivered to the
molding workshop, the molding worker loads the tire
molding and a piece of round iron into the tire model.
During the molding process, the worker enters into the
handhold terminal using his username and password,
scan the RFID tag and write the tire code which decides
a unique tire, production information on the RFID tag.
After the model forms the tire which has high
temperature, the molding worker pastes the RFID tag
on the tire immediately. If the information has artificial
error, the worker can modify them. After the tires are
checked, the checkers of tire distinct the different grade
of the tire, writes the storing plan bill and the carriage
worker can transport the tires to the warehouse.
C. WAREHOUSE OPERATION DESIGN
Each antenna must be installed in the storing and
delivery position. If the area of position is larger and the
stream of in and out store is great, two antennas must be
installed in order to intensify the wireless signal. The
carriage worker transports the tires through the storing
position, the computer connected the antenna and
running the program of in store management shows the
number of storing tires, at the same time, the
storekeeper checks the number showed in the computer
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and the number written by the checker. If the quantity is
not accord, the storekeeper asks the carriage worker get
across the storing position again to scan the tires again.
If the quantity is correct, the storekeeper affirms the
storing tires and the systems produce the storing bill.
When the tires are packaged, the position of RFID tags
can not be packaged in order to rectify the information
using the handhold terminal.
When the sale department sets down the
out-planning bill, the motorman carries the bill to the
warehouse. The operator of computer affirms the
out-planning bill and prints the delivery bill of every
warehouse. The forked motormen fork the pallet of tires
through the delivery position and scan the RFID
information. The storekeeper checks the number and if
the quantity is error, the storekeeper asks the forked
motorman get across the delivery position again. When
a bill has been finished and the storekeeper affirms the
bill, the logistics management system will produce the
fact delivery bill which be carried to the customer by
the motorman. If the process of delivery has some
errors, they can use the returns of tires.
Inventory management is the core of enterprise
management. During the inventory management
process, because of the more stock, in-and-out store
frequency, measuring error and natural loss, it is
inevitable that the actual number of tires is not in accord
with the book quantity. In order to avoid the
phenomenon, It isn’t inevitable to make an inventory of
tires. We can make an inventory of tires easily through
using the RFID identification. The checking inventory
can be done when the in-and-out operations must be
suspended. The storekeeper opens the program of
checking inventory on the computer near the in-and-out
store position where the reader and antenna are
installed. The forked motormen fork the pallet of tires
through the delivery position and scan the RFID
information to acquire the fact information of tires. This
checking method must select the range, the forked
motormen only fork the pallet in the selected range. At
the end of checking inventory ,after the storekeeper
confirm this operation, the information management
system can rectify the book quantity of tires and write
down this operation.
D. AFTER-SALE SERVICE PROCESS DESIGN
Customer service is a key factor towards generating
loyal wholesale customers, and ultimately, successful
wholesale businesses. Customer service includes such
items as free parking, gift wrapping, and delivery.
Additionally, sales personnel offer customer service
through their interactions and relationships with
customers. Parasuramanet al.(1985,1988) have
determined that customer expectations regarding the
level of service offered are related to their level of
satisfaction with the shopping experience [8]. The
higher the expectation, the higher the service level must
be for customer to feel satisfied with the service. In the
tire industry, it is the ultimate goal to achieve the
sale-information tracking, make the sale data come back
correctly in time, develop the quality tracking with the
high efficiency and finish the aftermarket [6]Harry K.H. Chow, King Lun Choy ,W.B.Lee, K.C.Lau. Design of
a RFID case-based resource management system for warehouse
compensations. So it is very important to trace the
operations. Expert systems with Applications30(2006)561-576.
information. [7] Lambert. WEBBOTS:WEB BASED OBJECT TRACKING
When the tires were delivered from the warehouse, SYSTEM. A thesis submitted to Michigan State University in
the RFID information system wrote down the RFID tag partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of
science. Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
code which can decide the unique RFID tag. When the [8]V.Ann Paulins. An analysis of customer service quality to college
quality problems appear, the whole-sale customers can students as influenced by customer appearance through dress during
bring the tires back to the aftermarket department of tire the in-store shopping process. Journal of retailing and sonsumer
industry. Because the returned tires are not large service 12(2005)345-355.
quantity, the aftermarket department can use the [9]Sherin M.Youssef, Rana M.Salem. Automated barcode recognition
for smart identification and inspection automation. Expert System
wireless handhold terminal, which can save the with Applications 33(2007)968-977.
hardware cost. When the tires having quality problems [10]Harry K.H.Chow, King Lun Choy,W.B.Lee,K.C.Lau. Design of a
are delivered to the aftermarket department, the RFID case-based resource management system for warehouse
operations. Expert Systems with Application 30(2006)561-576.
operator must scan the RFID tag using the handhold
terminal, then the information system on the terminal
shows the information of tag which includes the
marketing customer, the sold date, the code of the tire,
the operator can decide whether the tire can be returned.
If the tires can be returned, the operator clicks the
confirming button to commit the information to the
database and add the returned information of tires to the
tags. If the tires having quality problems aren’t accord
with the set conditions of the returned tires, the tires can
not be returned. The returned tires go to the
maintenance shop, the worker check whether the tires
can be modified. If the tires can be modified, the worker
maintains it and use the wireless handhold add the
maintenance tag into the RFID tag, or the tires must be
discarded as useless.
V Conclusion
The increasing demand from the final customer sets
exacting requirements for a well structured traceability
system. The new information system based on the RFID
and presented in this paper represents the starting
structure for an effective traceability. By using the
RFID system, the tires manufactures are able to trace
the product along the chain with high efficiency. As an
asset tracking technology, the field trials found that
RFID has significant potential to improve tire inventory
and allocation during the whole operation of tire.
However the high efficiency is achieved at the cost of
the high cost. Through the study’s field trials, the
research identified the identification rate of the passive
RFID need to improve. At the same time, there is lack
of communication protocol standardization which
induces the difficult of users.
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