SmarTire Systems has announced that its new wireless gateway product line will carry the SmartWave brand, and that the brand will apply to all products developed under SmarTire’s wireless gateway architecture.
Under the SmartWave brand, the company initially will introduce three versions of its tire pressure and monitoring systems – Alert, Plus and Fleet – to meet the varying needs of fleet customers. Alert provides basic safety features, while Plus provides additional functions designed to enable the fleet to achieve savings in fuel and tire costs. SmarTire’s Fleet product is designed to provide off-vehicle communications to the fleet’s service centers – including tire history and diagnostic and prognostic information – that will further increase the value of the OEM’s products to their customers.
SmarTire says it is evaluating additional wireless sensing and control applications that will use the same architecture to provide value where traditional wired solutions are not competitive or are difficult to implement. “SmartWave creates new ways for OEMs and their dealer channels to increase the value of their products to their customers,” says Al Kozak, president and chief executive officer of SmarTire, based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. “SmartWave products will enable the OEM’s customers to achieve a higher return on their investments in fleet vehicles and a higher level of safety for their drivers.”
Dana’s Commercial Vehicle Systems group recently signed an agreement to market and sell SmarTire’s tire pressure and temperature monitoring systems to the commercial truck, bus and RV markets throughout North America, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. Dana, which designs and manufactures commercial vehicle components for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, provides a full range of axles, drive shafts, suspension, wheel-end products and tire management solutions.
“Our plans for implementing additional functions into the SmartWave architecture fit closely with Dana’s strategy of tire management and advanced system solutions for commercial vehicles,” Kozak says. “Together with Dana, we intend to develop additional wireless sensing and control applications that will increase the value of Dana’s products to its OEM customers.”
