Why do asset labels have to be super-durable?

Asset labels, also known as asset tags, can be hugely helpful for businesses and organisations. They allow you to keep track of all of your property, including valuable items such as computer equipment, furniture and machinery.

When all of your company property is asset tagged, it is indelibly marked as belonging to you. This can act as a deterrent to theft, but it also means that you can track items if they are lost, misplaced or stolen. It can also be useful if you regularly loan items to other businesses, as you can keep track of what’s out on loan and when it needs to be back.

However, unless your asset labels are incredibly durable, they will not give you any of the aforementioned benefits. If they can be easily removed, it means that your property can be easily stolen. The best thing to do is to mark your property with tamper-evident asset labels that are specially designed to break into noticeable pieces when someone tries to remove them.

Another benefit of durable labels is that you can use them on property stored in all kinds of environments, such as in freezers where temperatures are very low, or in high temperatures where other labels tend to crack and chip.

The three main advantages of asset labels

Asset labels can be more useful for your business than you may realise. They have many advantages, such as the three outlined below…

Advantage #1 – Asset labels allow you to track items more easily

If an item is misplaced or stolen, you are more easily able to pin down its whereabouts using asset labels and the corresponding asset management software. Similarly, if you loan items or equipment to other companies, asset tags help you to coordinate the process and ensure that everything is returned safely and on time.

Advantage #2 – Asset labels help to speed up the auditing process

Taking stock of a large quantity of items can be a time-consuming and difficult task, but it can be vastly improved by using asset labels which allow you to quickly scan and record each item. It is also more than likely that mistakes will be made in a large audit process, but asset labels can vastly boost efficiency and accuracy in this area.

Advantage #3 – Asset labels help to prevent theft

An item that is tagged with an asset label is more likely to be noticed if it goes missing, which can act as a deterrent to burglars. What’s more, you can buy tamper-proof asset labels which split into noticeable fragments when removal is attempted.

Speed up inventory management with barcode labels

Managing the inventory for a large quantity of stock can be an arduous and time-consuming task, particularly if you aren’t making use of technology to help you keep track. There is no need to make things more difficult for yourself; using something as simple as barcode labels can save you a huge amount of time.

Making a mistake when doing a weekly or monthly stock take can have serious implications for a business, giving you an inaccurate picture of your inventory and the performance of the business. It can also cause a bit of a panic if it is assumed that something is missing, or you may not notice that something actually has gone missing.

The way to counter these problems is to improve efficiency in your inventory management. Applying barcode labels to each and every item as it comes onto the premises takes only a short amount of time, as does checking your stock levels using a barcode scanner.

You can find out quickly and easily what is and isn’t there, as well as tracking items using their barcode labels. This allows you to check the progress of orders as well as locating anything that may be missing.

Reading barcode labels with your phone

The use of barcode labels is common practice these days. Barcodes have proved to be a great method of recognition, pricing, location and classification. These widespread applications are not just for industrial usage, but for retail and consumer use too. When you buy any packaged product from the market, they most often have barcode labels attached or the barcode printed on it.

So how does the common person make use of these barcodes? We can hardly carry an industrial barcode reader with us every time we visit the grocery store. The answer lies in your pocket. It’s your mobile phone.

Smartphones

If you happen to have a smartphone, then it can help you to translate the barcode into a language which you can read and understand. For those of us who are not familiar with smartphones, it is a new generation of phone which runs applications and connects to the internet. They have their own operating system, much like your computer. You may even be familiar with a few of these smartphones. These include popular phones like Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry.

How does it work?

So how do smartphones read barcodes? Almost all smartphones have a camera. This camera acts as the hardware for the barcode reader. In addition to the camera, you also need to download the application for your respective smartphone. This application has the required software program to recognise the barcode label and translate the information for you.

Advantages and applications

This may come in handy when you want to check out the price and other details of any product at a store. You wouldn’t have to take a product to the counter every time you have a query. These barcode label reader applications on smartphones are also equipped to read other kinds of codes, like the QR-codes. A great benefit is that once you read the barcode label with your phone, you can save the information for future use or simply check it online if you have an active internet connection.

Barcode labels and how they help businesses

Barcode labels offer an effective and efficient way to speed up the entire data processing for any type of business venture. Therefore, it is important for organisations to have barcode labels to ensure the smooth functioning of their business. In earlier days, dot matrix and laser printers were most commonly used for making barcode labels.

Laser printers project an image on the drum to attract toner particles and transfer data onto the paper. Unlike with dot matrix printers, laser printers can quickly get the matter printed on paper. This is the reason why most barcode and asset label manufacturers now use laser printers for printing.

Barcode labels and asset tags are such tools that greatly help business organisations to track their tools and equipment. Whether it is a laptop, desktop, flash drive, mobile phone or any other asset, barcode labels can help to track them with ease.

Asset labels can be purchased in different types and sizes. You can even get the name, logo and other important company details printed on the labels. This in turn will help businesses to track their items when placed amongst other assets. While many people think that asset labels are expensive, this is not so. In fact, barcode labels and asset tags are the most affordable ways to track your company assets.

Be it a departmental or retail store, warehouse or any other business place, barcode labels can be helpful. So, if you want to ensure efficient functioning of your business, using barcode labels is a good option.

Inventory management and the use of barcode labels

While looking to effectively manage your inventory items, it is important to know what products you want to hand. Proper inventory management involves tracking existing inventory items. Besides, it is also important to control the transfer of units to avoid inventories from dwindling to levels that can affect the company operations.

There are three different aspects of inventory management. The first aspect is to complete everything in time. It is important to understand the time taken by the supplier for processing the order and executing the delivery. Knowing this, organisations can ensure that their entire process runs smoothly. Using barcode labels and asset tags will be a good option to track all your inventory items. The key to effective inventory management is to calculate the buffer stock.

Some useful advantages of asset tags

Asset tags are tools that are perfect to use in places like supermarkets, retail stores and warehouses, etc. These tools can also be customised based on your needs. For instance, you can add your company name, logo and contact number etc. on asset tags. Different adhesives are used to ensure that these tags are affixed properly onto the surface.

With a number of barcode label manufacturers out there, you can easily find one on the internet. Here you can look at different designs and materials used for making barcode labels and asset tags. You can even order barcode labels online. So, if you are looking for the best way to manage your inventory items, using barcode labels would be a wise decision.

The benefits of asset labelling and tracking

Almost every organisation ceaselessly strives to decrease their expenditure and save money. However, investing in asset labelling and tracking systems could eventually help your organisation save a lot of money in the future.

Even if your company has a policy that they will not buy any new equipment till such a time, the least that can be done is to make an audit. If possible you can also implement systems that will help in preventing your company’s assets from being misplaced or stolen.

If you think that keeping track of your company’s fixed assets, their maintenance and status is becoming a herculean task, then asset labels can be the answer to your problem. These are some simple tools which are used for recording as well as identifying valuable business equipment. Asset labels are available in a wide variety of materials and styles. They can be attached with the use of permanent adhesive and can also be customised to have your own business’s name and logo.

It is also used to label equipment. It is advised to maintain a register with the information of the assets in case of a fire or theft. This will prove helpful in keeping track of the goods. In addition, the asset labels help to make an insurance claim, as it acts a proof of the materials that were in stock.
The printing of labels can be done on aluminium foil and polyester type materials, which are not only durable but can easily stick to almost all types of surfaces. Some of them will leave the word “VOID” behind if the label has been removed from the surface. These are just some simple measures to avoid any possibility of theft.

Labels can also have a barcode printed on them. This is a useful feature which can be used for audit checks. The entire process of audit can be carried out very quickly with the scanning of barcodes combined with the use of asset management software.

Asset labelling and tracking software increases the efficiency of organisations. These systems not only give you a pinpoint location of your equipment at any given point of time, but also provide information about repairs and maintenance and the overall status of the equipment.

Various self-adhesive labels in the market

Nowadays, self-adhesive labels are found almost everywhere. These are available in different shapes and sizes and find application across industry verticals, right from the trade sector to a prospective end user.

They can be suitably used for almost any type of application and are mainly used for identification of barcodes and serial numbers as a security measure. Barcodes have now become a universal system of tracking goods and products. Almost all the goods that are retailed have asset labels on them. It is an economical method of keeping track of the various expensive equipment of the business.

One of the types of self-adhesive labels are digital labels. These are available in multi-colour and full colour labels and can be printed in a variety of vibrant colours. The manufacturer can not only print the barcodes and serial numbers on the label but can also have them laminated for complete protection. In addition, the water proof label is made to withstand outdoor weather conditions. This can be used in areas with close proximity to water, such as washrooms, swimming pools and kitchens. One can be guaranteed of the fact that the print on the label will remain intact.

The next type of self-adhesive label is the warning label, which is usually put on dangerous items such as chemicals or inflammable substances. On the other hand, there are window stickers which are used to display information. For example, stickers are used on the windows of cars and trucks to provide the details of its model, make and the year of its production.

A few other such labels are product labels, custom labels, tamper evidence labels and electricity safety labels. These are used in areas where product information, tamper proof, warning label etc. are of prime concern.

The various types of asset label

Most companies are susceptible to losing their goods due to theft or misplacement. Being able to keep track of the company’s stock gives the management piece of mind. A small asset label on expensive and important items will make a big difference as the items can now be kept track of.

Asset labels are available in all sizes, shapes and materials. In fact there are companies that will print asset labels customised for your company. The asset label could comprise of your company’s logo and a barcode with a proper sequence. This may seem like an expensive process, the result of which will be a durable over-laminate that will protect the number or the barcode from being smudged or scraped. Polyester labels are seemingly the best for long life use including exposure to heat and sunlight. Another type of asset label available are tamper evident asset labels. They have a VOID adhesive which inherently leaves behind a stick residue on the item from when it was taken off. This also means that a label cannot be taken from an item and placed on another. There is a “VOID” mark on the label itself; this makes it evident if the label has been tampered with. Another type of asset label is made from destructible vinyl. This tears up and rips apart if anyone tries to remove the label.

There are some assets that require heat and chemicals like anodised aluminium labels which happen to be practically indestructible. The material is baked with an image in the back and has a highly aggressive adhesive.

Durability in barcode labels

What is the most important thing you look for when you’re searching for barcode labels? When asking this question to people, eight out of ten will say ‘durability’. Durability in barcode labels is essential for their industrial application. It also plays an important role in issues pertaining to security and the marking of equipment. They not only help in pricing, but also in classification and easy management of stock.

What?

So what exactly do we mean when we ask for durability? A durable barcode label should be able to withstand extreme temperatures, corrosion due to exposure to chemicals and natural factors, abrasion, solvents and harmful UV radiations.

Why?

Why is durability important in barcode labels? The answer lies in the question itself. They are coded labels, which need to be read with the help of barcode readers and barcode apps on mobile phones etc. For this reason they always need to be clear and accurate. Their consistency has to be maintained for easy identification. This makes the barcode labels more reliable and legible. The presence of these factors signifies their high-quality and flexibility.

How?

There are different kinds of highly durable barcode labels available in the market. They usually fall into the aluminium, polyester and ceramic categories, which use adhesive backings. Each of these kinds has their own advantages and is suitable for different conditions. Aluminium barcode labels can withstand wear and tear even in the presence of harsh chemicals. Ceramic labels have a stainless steel base, which can withstand extreme temperatures and strong acids. Polyester barcode labels have a permanent adhesive and are used for industrial purposes.