Bridgestone to invest heavily in RFID truck tires

TOKYO—Bridgestone Corp. aims to invest "intensively" in the production of RFID-tagged truck and bus tires over the next two years, toward incorporating the technology in all its TBR products.

The program will see the introduction of capabilities to embed tags in tires produced at plants in the Americas, Europe, Japan and Asia from 2024, Bridgestone said in a statement to European Rubber Journal.

The Japanese tire group started supplying RFID truck tires in Europe in 2019 and, according to its statement, is expanding the line-up "as of today."

Bridgestone added that it is "enhancing supply of tires with RFID, starting with TBRs, which could best fit in the scope of our tire-centric solution business."

The Japanese group said that it anticipated RFID to be applied to all TBR products in 2030 as a global standard.

Application of the technology to other products, including passenger car tires, is also being studied.

In a related development, Bridgestone in August announced a $550 million investment at its Warren County, Tenn., plant in part to enhance "digital readiness" of tire products.

Under the project, Bridgestone said it would upgrade technology to allow for all tires made at the flagship TBR plant to be equipped with RFID tags.