Taiwan's Yulon Nissan Motor Co. (a recently established joint venture between Yulon Motor and Japan's Nissan) and the Center for Aerospace & Systems Technology (CAST), a unit of the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), have announced a series of cooperative development projects involving radio frequency identification (RFID) applications for the auto industry.

Yulon Nissan president Liu Yi-cheng said at a recent press conference that Yulon Motor was the first local automaker to use advanced RFID technology, and that it is systematically introducing that technology into its auto manufacturing, sales, and repair/maintenance businesses.



Liu claimed that Yulon is among the most active of Taiwan's carmakers in utilizing new technology, and reported that the company would pour US$3 million into RFID-related R&D and production projects being carried out in cooperation with CAST.

Yulon is already using RFID technology in new-car inventory and shipping management (thus cutting labor costs and operating periods), car identification and repair/maintenance data management in the company's after-sales service network island-wide (allowing service stations instant access to data concerning a car and its owner), and automobile manufacturing processes (auto-body welding, painting, assembly, and build-to-order production processes). All of these applications use an RFID tag with an integrated circuit (IC) chip the size of a grain of sand, an encompassing film antenna, and a reader device.

In pursuit of its goal of expanding RFID applications, Yulon has developed long-term ties with CAST and has invested in an IC-design company as well as an RFID-reader manufacturer that uses technology transferred from CAST.

Heretofore Unimagined Uses

"Some scenarios that we could scarcely imagine before, such as a garage door that automatically opens when the car owner approaches, automatic ignition, the automatic adjustment of such things as seat height, mirror angle, and stereo system settings, an automatic alarm when tire pressure is low, and automatic notification when maintenance is due," says Elmer Hsu, vice president of ITRI and general director of CAST, "we have now realized by using RFID technology. And there's a lot more ahead, just waiting to be developed."



RFID is the right technology for carmakers at the present time, Hsu adds, because it can both help the manufacturer upgrade production efficiency and develop added-value services, as well as add to the level of customer satisfaction. "There are unlimited opportunities for CAST and Yulon to explore a much wider range of applications in RFID technology," he continues, "especially since we have achieved full support in IC design and reader production."

Hsu reports that CAST began developing an integrated RFID system several years ago, originally targeting airport applications such as passenger and luggage identification. However, the institution soon contacted Yulon Motor, the flagship company of Taiwan's largest auto conglomerate (which produces Nissan and Mitsubishi automobiles, as well as a comprehensive range of auto parts) about cooperation in working out auto applications.

Yuan Chii-yah, director of CAST's system-engineering division, explains that an RFID system consists of three main parts: an electronic tag, a reader, and an application system. There are two types of tags, active and passive; the latter type contains an IC and can transform power emitted from a reader (in the form of RF waves) into the electricity it needs for processing and transmission, while the former type contains its own power unit.

In comparison with the traditional barcode system, Yuan says, RFID technology offers advantages including faster identification speed, much greater data-storage capacity (the barcode has none at all), editable data on RFID tags, the ability for data to be read even when the tag is hidden in packages, longer reading distance (three to five meters), high environmental adaptability (usable in impure environments and difficult climates), and a high degree of data security.

Gaining Popularity, Adding Applications

RFID technology has been gaining popularity in a number of applications, including freeway tolling, logistics management, airport-luggage management, waste control, and supermarket-product management, among others. In the auto industry, Yuan comments, RFID applications are growing rapidly and the potential for the creation of new added-value is unlimited.

The RFID industry was given a strong boost by the Transportation Recall Enhancement Accountability and Documentation Act (TREAD ACT), promulgated by the United States government in late 2000 following a series of accidents involving Firestone tires mounted on the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle (SUV). In support of this act, which mandates implementation rates of 10% in 2003, 35% in 2004, 65% in 2005, and 100% in 2006, the Automotive Industry Action Group has mapped out identification and traceability standards for the auto industry and its supply chains, requiring safety-related auto parts to have identifiable and traceable marks.

"Yulon's final goal," Hsu says, "is to introduce RFID technology into the entire life cycle of an automobile from parts supply and assembly to delivery and after-sales services. In addition, we plan to create a new RFID technology platform for our mobile value-chain businesses, and integrate it with our island-wide infrastructure."

Hsu goes on to say that the cost of RFID tags will be greatly reduced in the near future, as the planned massive adoption of the technology by Wal-Mart will lead to large-volume production and attract more newcomers into the line. Prices of general-purpose tags are expected to come down from US$0.20 to US$0.50 per tag today, to just a few U.S. cents once annual global demand reaches into the billions of tags.

"The era of an RFID tag for each auto part is not far in the future," Hsu believes. "Yulon's decision to enter the RFID industry was the right one, at a time when the clearest trend of development in the auto industry is toward electronics."