AIM-News: Clarification of the production control problems
Latest meeting of the PANMOBIL-AIM-EREG in Frankfurt/ Main
PANMOBIL frequently reports about the news and the work of the Association for automatic identification, data collection and mobile data communication abbreviation is “AIM”. The current meeting of the AIM-Germany, working group EREG (European RFID Expert Group) at Frankfurt/ Main discussed several quality requirements of the RFID-Tags and the RFID-Reader as well as the general responsibility of the disposal of chip cards and labels.
Quality requirements for the attunement of the RFID-Tags and RFID-Reader
The production control within the automotive industry is running smoothly for many years now. The individual components are marked with RFID-Tags which can be read reliably by the RFID reader within every individual production section. If one of the tagged components passes through a manufacturing segment the RFID-Readers are able to identify the components and are able to assign it for an accurate installation and or employees. The newest RFID-Chip generation within the labels causes only one problem which leads to serious consequences within the production control of individual companies. This new generation of chips is much more sensitive than its forerunner which means that the RFID-Reader also capture all other RFID-Tags within its control-area, which it is not suppose to. This leads to confusion of the whole controlling system of the production section and induces in complaints at the automotive industry. The manufacturer of the RFID labels can’t just exchange the chips, he depends on his own production manufacturer since he can only provide and order large quantities himself and not on individual requests. Using old and new chips on the same components wouldn’t work either, because this would also confuse the production control. This problem is been investigated by the AIM- working group EREG. There will be a discussion with experts of the EECC (European EPC Competence Center) in Neuss in order to find the fastest and best solution.
Goal: „Chip cards and labels are no electrical waste”
The European Commission tries to find a uniform regulation, through the IPP (integrated production politics), for the professional disposal of electronic waste. This is based on the RoHS: EU-Directive 2011/65/EU. This directive is mainly transcribed by the EAR (old electronic devices register). They list who produces the electronics and organizes its return. Concerning the EAR, chip cards and labels belong also to the electronic waste. Their manufacturers are obligated to collect the waste and have to take care of its disposal. The EREG working group had some investigation on this case and came to the conclusion that the chip card is made out of many different materials, for example, plastic, even when it is only the silicon chip but this proves that chip cards cannot only be categorized as electronic waste. Even the small portion of copper which is inside the cards cannot be recycled that easily either, therefore it would mean a waste of too much energy. Additionally to that Smartcards can’t just be collected in a ton since there might be personal user information on the card. This would lead to massive data privacy problems. The AIM working group EREG wants to present these facts to the EAR-association and to the European Politics in order to fulfill their goal that chip cards are no electronic waste!
Election of the new working group leader
Left to right: Eldor Walk - Feig Electronic Company, Udo Doege - Tectus Company, Wolf-Ruediger Hansen - CEO of the AIM-Germany e.V., Dr. Erhard Schubert - Winckel Company
„Thank you for the faith and I won’t disappoint you. RFID and its meaning did become extremely important and will definitely find its right place” these were the first words from Dr. Erhard Schubert Winckel after he accepted his new position as EREG-working group leader. Udo Doege from the Tectus Company is his deputy leader. They will carry on the successful work of former leader Eldor Walk from the Feig Electronic Company. “It was a pleasure and a lot of fun. We were able to bring a lot forward: Standardization, successful lobby work and many other important things. I wish my successors all the best!” said Walk at the end of the election.
You will find more news about the AIM-Germany work and news and facts from the AutoID world in our PANMOBIL Newsletter:
