TPMS and RFID
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The upcoming IAA Commercial Vehicles 2012 fair in Hannover, Germany will serve as an opportunity for Bridgestone to present its new Total Tyre Care programme. Describing Total Tyre Care, Bridgestone says it offers fleets “carefree tyre management through a flexible range of complementary truck tyre programmes.”
Concirrus Ltd has announced that it will add PressurePro’s Tyre Pressure Monitoring System technology to its Mobile Devices Telematics Market Place. The company is the developer of the open telematics OS and telematics hardware, and under the agreement, facilitated by Concirrus, Mobile Devices will integrate PressurePro’s tyre pressure information into the Morpheus embedded framework, allowing users easy access to the pressure data through a new set of standard APIs. The company says the agreement was prompted by the increasing need for reducing costs and risks related to under-inflated tyres, and to respond to legislation in Europe and the US promoting pressure checks and penalising those running on under-inflated tyres.
Advantage PressureProTM, LLC and Concirrus Ltd. are partnering to bring PressurePro’s TPMS options to the European commercial vehicle markets. According to the companies, the partnership agreement was prompted by the rapid increase in interest and need for reliable tyre pressure monitoring solutions in the commercial vehicle markets. The deal will draw on the value of the PressurePro products and the expertise of Concirrus' founders in the commercial vehicle telematics market.
The Irish Independent reports Michelin has acquired an interest in Irish firm Async Technologies, Ltd., provider of the TyreCheck range of hardware and software solutions, for 2 million euros. The newspaper writes that new filings with Ireland’s Companies Registration Office show Async Technologies to have recently finalised a 2 million euro investment from the French tyre maker, who received 27,185 Async shares in return. The Irish Independent notes that these shares, valued at 74.57 euros each, give Michelin a “significant stake” in Async Technologies.
point-S UK recently held its first member only TPMS seminar as a result of recognising the importance of impending legislation and increasing numbers of TPMS equipped cars on the road. TPMS and consumables supply partner Autogem hosted the half-day session at the company’s headquarters in London.
On 30 July, Infineon Technologies reported its receipt of a 2011 Technical Development Award from the automotive system supplier Denso Corporation. Denso recognised Infineon for its development of a specific tyre pressure sensor chip that enables Denso to realise a more cost effective system and which supports built-in autolocation. Infineon’s TPMS sensors support direct systems, where the tyre pressure is measured inside the tyre and the pressure value is transmitted via RF to the receiving unit of the car. In this regard, autolocation means that the system automatically correlates the four received pressure signals with the appropriate four tyre positions.
Last year's Tyre & Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the Year winners (at their first attempt) Autogem Motor Concepts are joined this year by regular finalists Apaseal and Rema Tip Top Automotive. A new name is that of Pang UK and the final company in the shortlist is that of CAM Systems – very different from the others in that it provides software solutions as opposed to machinery and consumables.
Schrader shares that it has reached the milestone of producing its 200 millionth TPMS sensor. The sensor was produced at Schrader’s Antrim plant in Northern Ireland, and the company says it marked an “important date” in Schrader’s history.
Michelin Training Centre (MTC) has confirmed that it will make its first appearance at a Brityrex exhibition in Manchester this October. For more than 25 years the Stoke-on-Trent based organisation has been considered the reference point for tyre industry training in the UK and Ireland and the decision to attend October’s Brityrex event at Event City in Manchester is being seen as a boost to the tyre exhibition.
The top three UK tyre retailers have presented their views how TPMS will be implemented in the market following questions from Michelin’s Fleet Panel at the end of June. Their answers, which are the most comprehensive response to this topic yet, show that the while all three market leaders report they are ready for TPMS, their views on what this may mean for fleet customers and indeed consumers varies.
Now that its part of the MOT to fail cars that have warning lamps showing garages stand to gain extra work by not only diagnosing the problem but fixing it. That’s why Butts of Bawtry have released a new tool designed specifically for this task – the MOTpro.
Leading garage suppliers including Apaseal/Pang, DQN, Haweka UK, Hofmann Megaplan, Rema Tip Top Automotive and Supertracker will be demonstrating their latest technology at Brityrex in October.
Kwik Fit has identified a weak link in the tyre pressure monitoring systems fitted to modern vehicles – and that weak link is, it appears, you and I. The retail network commissioned a study to investigate motorist responses to vehicle warning lights – and discovered that almost a half of all drivers don’t know what a tyre pressure warning light means.
Michelin reports that it has written to ATS Euromaster, Kwik Fit and National Tyres to ask how the three largest tyre retailers in the UK will deal with the introduction of Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS). According to the company, the move was prompted by concerns raised by Michelin’s Fleet Panel. Panel members, who represent some of the biggest leasing companies in the UK, shared their views on the introduction of TPMS at a recent meeting and several said they do not believe they have been given enough information about the equipment which will be fitted to all new models of car from November this year.
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