Tire maker Sumitomo Rubber has begun proof-of-concept testing for a new type of tire pressure management solutions (TPMS) service, that it claims allows for remote monitoring of tire pressure and temperature.
The concept is part of a joint project undertaken with Shin-Idemitsu, and its group subsidiary IDEX Auto Japan, as well as partners at TripodWorks, and one Sumitomo’s tire sales subsidiaries, Dunlop.
Through the testing project, the company hopes to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the service in supporting safer driving, as well as its specific effectiveness in terms of reducing maintenance time and workload, preventing operator error.
It explains that this round of proof-of-concept testing involves fitting of the remote tire pressure and temperature monitoring system to 30 vehicles operated by Shin-Idemitsu as part of its Rakunori vehicle leasing business, and 500 vehicles operated by IDEX Auto Japan as part of its ‘Budget Rent a Car’ vehicle rental business, in three Japanese prefectures in the Kyushu Region (Fukuoka, Miyazaki and Kagoshima) in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this service in the field.
The company says the service makes it possible to directly view data collected by the TPMS installed in each tire from anywhere in the world via the cloud. At the same time, it wants to evaluate various ways of refining the overall quality and convenience of the service by allowing Rakunori customers to view tire data via a web portal.
