Automotive electrical parts maker Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America (MEAA) has teamed up with battery-management company Midtronics to add RFID functionality to Midtronics' test equipment that customers of Mitsubishi Electric's parts could utilize to gain an automated electronic record of maintenance and repair to those components. The system, known as MRFID is not yet in use. However, the firms are in discussions with truck-fleet operators that are Midtronics customers and are using the MEAA starters and alternators, to see the RFID system deployed this year. But that is only the short-term plan, says Chris Page, Midtronics's senior business manager. In the long term, the company envisions a system in which electrical component manufacturers (such as Mitsubishi Electric) would attach or embed RFID tags on truck parts as they are made, and those tags would then be read by mechanics as they service trucks in which those parts are installed, sharing the data with fleet managers and truck and parts manufacturers and suppliers.
