We are all human and as such, it is inevitable that we can, on occasions, make a mistake or forget to do something from time to time. This applies to the head of the company as well as the newly recruited assistant.

Often this leads to nothing more than just an inconvenience and may mean that someone has to do some extra work or ensure that the business can continue to run smoothly. However, there is one area where a human error or a calculating mistake can adversely appear to affect the profitability of the company and that is when a stock take is taking place. This is where accurate figures are a complete necessity and along with inventory figures, mistakes here can be time-consuming and costly.

So what is the best way to ensure that human error does not creep into the stock take or inventory check? By utilising a barcode asset tracking system, these mistakes can be all but eliminated; you don’t have to rely on a person to keep a track of every item, just let the computer do it for you.

This does not need a huge range of equipment either, just a barcode scanner, when the item is scanned, updated information is fed into your computer’s database. By using barcodes, you will be saving employees valuable time, the codes are read much faster than it is possible for a person to enter data into a system manually. The information is fed back to your database and your stock figures can be accessed in no time, just a simple click of the mouse.

Posted in General by Philip

If there was one area of business which could claim to be the king of lost £billions, it has to be the retail industry, supermarkets, clothing, electrical, it is not confined to a single sector. Shoplifting is an area that retailers have struggled with since people set up stalls to sell merchandise. Many ways have been tried to combat this theft, some quite effective, others not so. However, one which many retailers swear by is the security tags which have sensors that trigger an alert when someone tries to remove an item from a store without paying.

The system is fairly straightforward, often the best products are, and the security tag relies upon electronic article surveillance or EAS as one of the main components of the tag. There can be little doubt that these security tags have helped retailers enormously in combating this theft from their premises. The tags come in a number of sizes and they can be hard tags with sensors, magnetic and ink tags or they can be clever soft tags that can include stickers and security labels that are fixed to the items.

When the items are presented to the checkout, they are either removed in the case of the hard tags, or the tag is deactivated so that it will not sound the alarm when it is taken out of the store and passes by the detectors.

Security tags are a vital component for the retail industry today, shoplifting, or theft as it should be referred to, cost the retail industry £billions and this does not just come out of the retailers’ pocket, it is eventually passed onto every shopper that buys from the store.

Posted in General by Philip

Our vinyl stickers have been used on a multitude of items, for example, we have supplied them for wine bottles and as security labels, increasingly they are seen on pharmaceutical products, many items of food packaging including freezer packs where they have to endure extremely low temperatures of minus 20 centigrade.

If you look in your freezer or food cupboard you can find many examples of vinyl stickers and we would be lost without them knowing instantly what the item is. The vinyl sticker in the food industry has to stand up to a lot of hard wear and tear, but still be firmly adhered to the product and of course perfectly readable.

Making these vinyl labels requires a printing process in order that the contents of the product are clearly visible as well as communicating possible uses suggested cooking advice and any safety advice or instruction. The way that we produce these labels is to ensure that the graphics or printed word is applied on a thin film and then an adhesive is applied. The adhesive is a very important part of the process and depending on the instructions we have been given as to the possible use and storage of the product, will determine the kind of adhesive that will be applied.

The normal finish that is given to these vinyl stickers is matt but it can also be high gloss which also acts as a protective film and helps add a level of protection against moisture. If you require a vinyl sticker or would like to discuss possible uses for one, contact us and we will be happy to talk you through all the options.

Posted in General by Philip

Assets are by and large numbered in most commercial or industrial premises in order that the company can keep a track of the asset. However, there are a few other methods that can be used instead of numbering to increase business efficiency when stocktaking and equipment tracking.

The traditional and at the time the best way of keeping a record of the items that your business owned was to number all of these and keep an asset register so that each asset could be tracked. However, with advances in technology, this simple numbering process has now moved into the 21st century.

It is now not necessary to go to those lengths and to have to rely on manual numbering by itself to keep a track of the assets. Today, modern and forward-looking companies, embrace today’s technology, they have integrated a barcoding and scanning system which makes retrieval and recording of data faster and much more efficient.

Asset labels are now available which can feature not only a unique number but also a unique barcode and even feature a company logo or a promotional message. These labels can be manufactured from a variety of materials, depending upon the location of the asset and these are durable, cheap and are the best way that a company can keep a record of the items that they own for stocktaking and for insurance purposes.

Posted in General by Philip

With just about everything that you can imagine today having a barcode on the label, this is an easy way of product identification and used by retailers as a way to price items and keep stock records. The majority are printed onto the product labels as it is being made. However it is possible that they can be added at a later stage through a label which can be printed onto an adhesive label and then this label stuck onto a product or a component.

This way of barcoding items or stock can be particularly useful in large warehouses or distribution centres where large numbers of stock items may be kept around the warehouse and records of their locations need to be kept.

These labels referred to as aftermarket labels are an ideal way of keeping track of stock and they can be applied months after the product has been made. The barcodes usually come on rolls or if preferred sheets, the adhesive on the back allows them to be fixed on any product or product location you wish, so they can be scanned easily using a standard barcode scanner.

Just as asset tags can be made from a variety of materials, this aftermarket barcode label can be produced using substrates such as polyester and aluminium, making them the perfect tool to use in retail, commercial and industrial sectors. If you believe that an aftermarket barcode label could benefit your business, contact us and we will be pleased to provide a quotation quickly and entirely without obligation.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Philip

Asset tags are usually used by institutions and businesses for property identification, necessary to ensure that they are properly maintained and also to prevent loss of assets due to theft. Using asset tags indicates ownership on your assets and using asset tags at places like shops and warehouses can be very helpful for asset and inventory management.

When moving inventory items from one location to another, there is always a chance of loss or misplacement, asset tags will help to prevent this. We can supply different types of property identification labels for indoor and outdoor use; we can help you choose the ones that will you be the right one for your needs.

Asset tags will allow you to easily track and distinguish your particular assets from other items; also they can efficiently track the model or a serial number of your products. With the use of these property identification labels, the task of inventory management can be significantly simplified.

Using asset tags can prove to be an asset themselves to your business; these alone will help you and your staff to help to determine exactly which piece of equipment is where at any given point in time. The tracking programme also keeps track of useful information such as the date of purchase, repairs and maintenance. Asset tags can also be customised to suit the specific needs of a company. As the adhesives used in asset tags are strong, their replacement and removal is designed to be extremely difficult. This is a great security measure that greatly helps to minimise the chances of assets getting stolen or misplaced.

Posted in Asset Tags by Philip

Keeping up with the trends is important in any business and making use of barcode technology is vital.

We have seen how the retail industry has embraced barcode labels as it helps in saving a lot of time and makes selling and products an easy process. The information and the price of the product are stored in the barcode label in the familiar lines now of course seen everywhere in the world.

To the untrained eye, all barcodes look the same, but barcodes come in many different types one obvious difference of course is the QR code which are really just a type of barcode. Another way barcodes can differ is the base material upon which they are printed. The main ones that we are asked for our aluminium labels, ceramic labels and polyester labels, which can of course be customised and supplied in various sizes and with differing adhesives dependent on their destination and use.

One thing to understand is that every barcode is completely unique, special software ensures this and makes the symbols that we see on the barcode. Barcode labels are important in distribution, tracking inventory and work in process manufacturing. They are ideal because of the accuracy, consistency, speed and economy which they provide to the manufacturer.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Philip

Usually, we can meet the needs of a business wanting a label from our huge range of standard sizes and shapes. From our stock labels, we can offer many different types of barcode labels and asset tags available, in a range of different materials, sizes and styles. These can be hard-wearing or durable, an asset label can be made to expose attempts to tamper with them. Practically this means that in most cases we can usually find something to suit their needs.

However we recognise that there may be times when a business will want a label, either barcode or asset tag that is customised, possibly a unique shape, being able to withstand hot or cold environments, direct sunlight or exposure to chemicals, and for aesthetic or brand image reasons, we can normally get exactly just what is needed.

The common options that businesses ask for when requesting a customised label fall into these categories. Size and shape are usually square, rectangular, or circular which do not fall into the range of standard cutters which we keep. The material rarely poses a problem as we keep a full range which includes popular vinyl, paper, anodised aluminium, and polyester. The adhesive backing is likely to fall into peelable, permanent, extra-permanent, and cryogenic.

Call us and one of our team will be happy to discuss your exact requirements, let you have a quotation and send samples on request.

Posted in General by Philip

Vinyl stickers are being used increasingly in both the retail sector as well as the pharmaceutical industry, a sector that is now very reliant on them. Just looking along a supermarket shelf or in a pharmacy and you will see just how they have come to rely upon them to describe the contents or to communicate other information such as instructions for use of the product and these are fitted to the package or jar.

We can confidently say that due to our years of experience we make vinyl labels of the highest quality, our print quality is unmatched and these are printed to your exact specifications. Vinyl labels are used extensively on food freezer packs, they will not deteriorate and can be produced either in the standard matt finish, or given a high gloss finish, which also acts as a protective film, and helps add a level of protection against moisture. When producing vinyl labels we provide high-quality print using HP Indigo equipment, these can be in full colour and pantone, varnished or laminated to protect the print, the adhesive we use can be of the peelable variety, permanent and hi-tack acrylic. We can normally dispatch the labels within a few working days, and we can offer plenty of stock sizes.

Call our helpful team and we will send you your free Vinyl sticker sample, or request a quotation, the customer care team are on 01293 551520, or you can if you prefer, fill out our quick and simple online enquiry form and we’ll call you.

Posted in General by Philip

Keeping of inventory and stock is vital to any well-run business and managers understand the importance of keeping track of all the items you have. Manually taking stock is time-consuming and in a large organisation, or one where the business operates from a number of sites, days can be spent carrying out the task.

It is really easy to make this manual process much quicker and more efficient and this can be achieved by changing over to barcode technology. If you use barcode labels, which can be attached to all the items you own, in addition to stock items for sale, by scanning each item your database will be updated automatically and stock levels can be ascertained in minutes.

Modernising by using barcode labels will dramatically reduce the amount of time that you or your employees spend stocktaking. Using stick-on barcode labels also reduces just about human error. The database you hold will be updated automatically, as and when you systematically scan each item in turn, in no time your stocktake will be completed simply and accurately.

Using an up-to-date database of your stock items, will help the ordering process and it will quickly show which items are slow sellers, allowing you to reduce the amount of these you hold, as well as those items that are performing particularly well. The use of barcodes enables buyers to keep stock levels lower helping to keep expenditure down on slow-selling goods.

Posted in General by Philip