Description du projet
Sauver l’industrie européenne du pneumatique
Les secteurs européens de la fabrication et du rechapage de pneus subissent la pression d’une augmentation des importations de pneus, principalement en provenance de Chine. L’industrie européenne du rechapage étant déjà en déclin, l’afflux d’alternatives chinoises à bas prix accroît la pression sur les opportunités d’emploi dans toute la région. Au prix de 80 euros par pneu, ces produits peuvent être abordables, mais leurs matériaux de qualité médiocre et leurs sculptures peu performantes ne sont pas à la hauteur des alternatives haut de gamme qui coûtent entre 300 et 500 euros. Dans ce contexte, le projet OnTrack, financé par l’UE, apparaît comme une lueur d’espoir, car il offre une solution révolutionnaire en matière de traçabilité des pneus. En intégrant des étiquettes RFID UHF/NFC directement dans les pneus, OnTrack fournira une identification permanente et unique pour chaque pneumatique, ce qui simplifiera le rechapage et renforcera la sécurité et l’efficacité énergétique.
Objectif
Europe’s tyre manufacturing and re-treading industries are under increasing threat from imported tyres mainly from China. The EU re-treading industry is valued at €1.2bn (2015) but is declining due to the influx of Chinese tyres leading to the loss of highly-skilled jobs.
The low-cost imported tyres cost on average €80 per tyre compared to €300-500 from a premium manufacturer. The temptation to buy these low-cost tyres is clear, however they are manufactured from poor quality materials with tread patterns that underperform. The ethos of cheap tyres is ‘use and replace’, whereas premium tyres are built to be re-treaded to increase lifetime. As a result, imported tyres are not cost effective over the lifetime of the tyres due to poor fuel economy and performance. Use of premium tyres and re-treading over the use and replace model needs to be encouraged to increase safety and fuel efficiency.
Silent Sensors are an innovative IoT company that are working on a tyre traceability solution to remove the logistical burden of re-treading for FOs. We are manufacturing UHF/NFC RFID tags ‘OnTrack’ to embed directly into tyres which provides each tyre with a permanent, unique ID for life. Our tags can store data from the manufacturing process and key events during operational use such as repairs etc. This comprehensive history for each tyre makes it easier for FOs to plan their tyre re-treads. This data also makes the re-tread process simpler as the tyre history will speed-up integrity tests.
OnTrack is the only tyre traceability solution that offers NFC – empowering employees to interrogate tyres with just a smartphone. We have a clear market opportunity with OnTrack to supply up to 40m tags/annum to a single tyre manufacturer. Based on our 7-year cumulative total gross profits of €44.9m post-project, the 7-year ROI is 5.44:1 with a payback period of 40 months. The Internal Rate of Return is 45% and NPV of 7-year Operating Profits is €11.2m (assuming a 3% discount rate).
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationsmobile phones
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.4. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport Main Programme
- H2020-EU.2.1.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
- H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinateur
SK4 2LR GREATER MANCHESTER
Royaume-Uni
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.