Tyre production is a complex task. Mistakes can easily happen when mixing the individual ingredients. That’s why Nokian Tyres uses RFID tags to track raw materials and tyres throughout the manufacturing process.
The problem: Traceability in mass production
The production of car tyres is a complex process. Raw materials such as rubber, carbon and other chemicals are used to create the various components of a tyre for cars, SUVs, vans or trucks. They make the car roll, and at the same time guarantee the safety of the occupants. Since the individual tyre materials are different, but look almost identical, mistakes are quickly made. For example, the wrong material may be used and the tyre cover may be too weak for the truck tire. To prevent such errors from leading to accidents, the tyres must be monitored throughout production. If a specimen has quality defects, research is conducted to determine which malfunctions or errors in the production process led to the defects. Finnish tyre manufacturer Nokian Tyres implemented this manually until recently, a slow and error-prone process. Now it is accelerated by modern technology.
The solution: Tracking with RFID tags
RFID solution provider Turck Vilant Systems (TVS), a subsidiary of automation specialist Turck, designs and implements turnkey solutions for asset tracking and inventory management. The RFID solution for Nokian Tyres provides full traceability data and defect prevention for millions of tyres per year. The system tracks the entire production process – from raw materials to components to tyres with RFID tags on packaging and containers. There are hundreds of reading points throughout the plant site that are used to record and track individual components.
If errors occur, entire batches can be blocked in the software (Turck Vilant Visibility Manager). The system even notices when a worker tries to feed the wrong components into a machine. In this case, it automatically alerts the worker. Visibility Manager thus collects data from more than 100 million individual annual events in production and can generate reports on each individual tyre as well as on components, raw materials, and machines.
The result: Tracking tyre production in real time
The solution allows automated, precise monitoring and tracking of tyre production in real time. As a result, it prevents incorrect material feeds at the machines and helps control production. The browser-based reporting tool helps managers monitor manufacturing with its powerful features. In addition, it also allows changing all values to influence the production.
