Continental dials Vodafone for digital tyre monitoring platform

German Tier 1 supplier, Continental has launched its new digital tyre monitoring platform for commercial fleets christened, ContiConnect. The platform will be introduced starting in United States, Canada, Malaysia, and Thailand, followed by the European and Asian markets. British telecom major, Vodafone will be the mobile communications network partner, which will help transmit the data securely, reliably in real-time to destinations around the world.

ContiConnect helps fleets to maximise their efficiency and sends alerts if tyre pressure deviates from the defined value. By providing this information the fleet is claimed to benefit from a reduced number of breakdowns, lower maintenance costs, and increase in value generation by increasing the vehicle’s uptime.

Michael Neuheisel, Head of Digital Solutions Commercial Vehicle Tyres, Continental, said, “With this digital tyre monitoring platform we take a huge step forward in our evolution from a premium tyre manufacturer to a solutions provider.”

Director Stefano Gestaut, director IoT, Vodafone, said: “This is a great example of how IoT can make real world differences in so many unexpected places. This ensures that truck drivers experience fewer tyre-related breakdowns and accidents making the roads a safer place to be for every vehicle user.” 

ContiConnect consists of different components that can be combined in multiple ways:

Tyre sensor - making the tyre intelligent
The tyre sensor connects the vehicle´s tyres with the outside world. It is mounted on the inner liner of a tyre. Thereby an optimal mounting position of the sensor is ensured, to measure both the tyre pressure as well as its temperature very precisely. Further, the sensor is protected from damages or theft. Both a retrofit and a pre-fit solution are available. Continental’s intelligent tyre has a pre-installed sensor, making it faster and more convenient for fleets to start digital tyre monitoring, resulting in time savings while ensuring that the housing is correctly installed within the tyre first time around. The intelligent tyre is already available for a variety of applications, such as for trucks, buses and earthmoving vehicles.

Yard reader station – the receiver for tyre data
The yard reader station is the connecting component between the tyre sensor and Continental´s backend. It reads the data off the sensors as the vehicle passes by the receiver in the yard and sends the data to the backend where it is analyzed and interpreted. The yard reader station is installed at the fleet's frequent touch points, like washing bay, gas station or other check-points.

Web portal – interface to the entire fleet
The web portal is the interface where fleet managers can proactively monitor and track the tyre condition and performance of all vehicles within their fleet. The browser-based portal offers various display options and can be accessed from any type of device. It shows the history of the tyre data and enables retrospective analyses. The web portal allows a remote monitoring of the entire fleet's tyre performance and puts control into the hands of the fleet managers.

Notifications – Keeping fleet managers informed
The solution notifies fleet managers via e-mail or SMS and suggests corrective measures where necessary. A service partner, for instance, from the Conti360 degree network, can then immediately implement appropriate measures. The notifications allow the fleet managers to better plan tyre maintenance and ensure timely information about deviations. For the entire fleet, this means higher uptime and less maintenance.