Goodyear Turns To Sun To Get RFID-ReadyGoodyear Turns To Sun To Get RFID-Ready

As the RFID project manager for the world's largest supplier of tires, Steve Lederer knew Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. faced numerous major obstacles to complying with mandates from multiple vendors to have all its products RFID-enabled beginning next year.

The company, which ships 220 million tires a year as well as other products, is a leading supplier to Wal-Mart, the Department of Defense, and Target, all of which are requiring RFID compliance, says Steve Lederer, lead engineer and director of Goodyear's RFID program in Akron, Ohio.

Among the issues facing Lederer was to determine what types of tags to use, where to place the tags, what type of tag readers to purchase, how to implement a RFID-enabled warehouse operation, and how to best determine anticipated tag performance.

"Since our tires have steel belts, and studies have shown that the use of RFID in metal environments is difficult, we had reason to believe there would be problems," Lederer says.

Looking for assistance, Lederer has turned to Sun Microsystems, which on Wednesday opened an RFID test center in Dallas. The 17,000 square-foot warehouse has been equipped with RFID-enabled dock doors, conveyor belts, product racks, and other features to enable companies attempting to implement RFID systems to test products and procedures in a working environment.

"This is not a demonstration center, but a facility laid out and structured in a simulated environment to help them go through the testing and provide our expertise and services," says Julie Sarbacker, director of Sun's RFID business unit. Using the center, Sun can show potential customers how data derived from the use of the RFID tags can be routed through its servers and storage systems to provide tangible benefits beyond compliance, she says.

Goodyear has been experimenting with RFID technology for some time, Lederer says. The company wants to combine RFID tags with tire-pressure sensors to create "smart tires," that can communicate to a vehicle's electronic command modules to warn pending safety issues, he said. Goodyear and other tire makers are also faced with upcoming governmental mandates to provide automatic monitoring of tires.

That type of RFID implementation is more of a "closed loop" system that can be controlled more tightly than "open loop" systems needed for product distribution and tracking, however, Lederer says.

Although Wal-Mart is demanding RFID tagging on case and pallet level, tires are generally shipped in single units, and will require individual tags, he says.

Goodyear will be among the first to use Sun's RFID test center to try to find some answers to its compliance program. Lederer says he hopes after using the center for a few weeks, Goodyear will have a better handle on its options.

At the center, Goodyear will be able to experiment with various tags, readers, printers, wireless infrastructure, enterprise application integration software, warehouse management software, enterprise information system software, and other applications to try and determine its future course.

"There is a great range of options, and we really didn't want to make an investment without a better understanding of the issues," Lederer says.

For Sun, RFID could be a major growth vehicle for its systems, storage, software, and services.

"Traditionally, Sun is viewed as a hardware manufacturer, but we've recognized that RFID is really a system problem," says Vijay Sarathy, group marketing manager at Sun's RFID business unit.

The test center, and Sun's related products and services, are integrations of its own systems and that of a network of partners that include Alien Technology, Applied Wireless Identification Group, i2, Matrics, Nortel Networks, SupplyScape, Texas Instruments, ThingMagic, Tibco, Tyco Fire and Security, Sensormatic, and VeriSign.

Running a simulated implementation through the test center generally will take around two weeks, Sarbacker says. Sun has more than 10 customers scheduled to use the center, and is in the process of opening similar test centers in Europe and Asia.