The manner in which many businesses are run is evolving. Increasingly companies are moving away from a classic central office set-up, and are reducing overheads and improving flexibility for staff by allowing employees to work from home, or in other suitable locations.

Whilst this manner of working has many advantages for both business and employees, it can make it more challenging to track the company assets in a reliable manner. A good method to help with this problem is the use of asset labels.

Asset labels can be made in a number of different materials, allowing you to select the most appropriate label for your needs. Labels can also be designed to incorporate company branding, tracking numbers and even barcodes.

Using such labels can easily simplify the task of equipment inventory, reducing unnecessary time and, consequently, costs spent on this.

Further to this, the use of asset labels is also a potential branding opportunity to have your logo on all your off-site equipment. Employees may be working at a number of sites remote to your central office, and increased brand awareness at these sites may be useful.

Businesses embracing remote working may find many advantages in the use of asset labels.

Posted in Asset Tags by Geoff

Many company assets are required by law to be tested for electrical safety on a regular basis. For some portable equipment, such as computers or servers the frequency of these tests may only be set at once per year and the appliances might be relatively easy to find for the appliance tester. However, for other types of equipment such as electric power drills or electric welding gear the frequency of the test will increase, as will the difficulty in finding the equipment so it can be tested.

For the reasons given above, many sites across the country use asset labels on their equipment as a way of identifying which portable appliances which need to be tested. These asset labels usually contain a numbering system or a barcode which can be used to reference to a database so that finding the equipment so it can be tested is made easy.

When a portable appliance has been found using the asset label the test can then take place and any pertinent information found during the test can be entered into the database records. This information can then be used for inventory and insurance purposes.

Posted in Asset Tags by Grahame

Most assets within a commercial or industrial establishment are now numbered so that the company can keep a track of the asset. However, there are a few other systems which can be used besides just numbering to increase business efficiencies when stocktaking and waste tracking.

In the past the best way of keeping a record of the items that your business owned was to number all the items 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.

Companies no longer have to rely on numbering alone to keep a track of their assets. Most companies have embraced technology, and as well as using a numbering system have also integrated a barcode 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 are durable, cheap and are the best way that a company can keep a record of the items that they own for stocktaking and insurance purposes.

Posted in Asset Tags by Bridget

In the last article we described how the method of using barcode labels is preferable to jotting down the items people buy in a shop, especially for larger stores. It would be almost impossible to keep track of what is being sold and what stock is in at any given time otherwise.

This is why barcodes are so widespread in their usage within the retail sector. Even for smaller stores, it may be an easier system to use as stock can be recorded in an efficient way and price changes can be made without having to physically alter them on each item. Then, you would have to keep replacing the price label every time. Prices can be placed on the shelves instead.

When it comes to barcode labels, they are also beneficial in terms of security. Should you notice stock missing which you expect hasn’t been sold, you can check if this is the case or not.

Therefore, barcode technology can help with a range of problems. As you have a computerised system of stock control, you can keep this information on a central database. You can rely on it to track levels of stock in addition to prices and the individual products you sell.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Bridget

Barcode labels allow for retailers to create an organised and regulated system for the products they sell, with things put into categories and stored on a central database.

By having a barcode system which can only be understood by a specially designed device you can ensure that no mistakes are made. For instance, barcodes can even be scanned upside down without any problem. This makes for such a reliable way of sorting out stock and for scanning items at speed.

The barcodes are printed onto labels which are easy to affix to any given item. To the naked eye there is just a pattern of stripes and numbers, but the trick is all to do with the spacing of the digits which are represented by the black and white lines.

To make the process work, the barcode is read by the scanner using a method such as laser technology to translate each of the bars into information which is stored in the device to be uploaded to the central database later. Alternatively, this happens in real time and this transfer is instant.

For shops that need the information quickly, the system sends back the pricing information straight away and provides relevant details of the product which corresponds to the barcode.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Grahame

We have recently been looking at barcode labels and how they are often used to great effect in shops of all sizes. They can help with putting through any price changes to products as well as the reordering of items. Due to the accuracy of this technology this gives shop owners the confidence in their current and future situation. But how do they actually work in practice?

In general, there are three main areas that need to be considered. Firstly, there are the barcode labels themselves, which can be printed out and applied to all products. Next, you will require checkout scanners and readers to make sense of the barcode patterns. Finally, there is the central computer which contains the record system or database.

By having such a system in place you can keep track of everything for sale in your store and recall information such as the manufacturer, price and how many of these you have in stock, all by scanning them in using the equipment set out above.

The barcode is a really simple method to put into practice as everything can be classified and organised according to its individual number which is printed onto items so it can be read by the electronic scanner.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Grahame

There are now so many different ways to make use of barcode labels in a wide range of industries. In fact technology such as Quick Response codes are being used by businesses as part of their strategic marketing plans.

Promoting a company using barcode labels like the QR squares or 2D barcodes as they are also referred to is becoming quite common these days.

In fact when you go to the shops you can often see this type of barcode attached to product tags in things such as newspapers and magazines. And by using the right kind of software, a mobile phone camera can be used to scan the code (as long as the phone is web-enabled) and this usually allows the user to access a particular website or view web pages.

Working a bit like a hyperlink, this barcode technology is yet another way to market a business and reach out to new customers. It can open up a world of possibilities to a firm, just like how asset tags have proved invaluable at ensuring their equipment and other assets are well protected against loss or theft in and around the workplace.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Bridget

As there are many types of barcode available, you can safely say that there are all sorts of devices that can be used to scan and make sense of them. In retail stores you may find a particular technology is used, while other industries could use something completely different.

Retail barcodes are often scanned using handheld devices as this makes the process quite simple and effective for the shop assistant to use when checking prices. They can look like a gun which has a trigger to scan the products but this varies from store to store.

Another type of reader that is commonly used in a retail setting is a built-in scanner which is fitted into a counter so that it is easier to put items through the checkout by swiping them across the surface. Supermarkets are places which frequently use these sorts of scanners.

New ways of doing things are always being released onto the market, but retail barcodes themselves are here to stay. They are made so they can be quickly applied to all products within the inventory. The central database is able to ensure that the whole process runs smoothly and proves to be an efficient stock control and retail solution.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Geoff

It is a mystery to many people as to how barcode labels can use a machine to scan the prices of all the products in a supermarket. Any member of staff can use this barcode technology to find out all kinds of information.

This is incredibly useful for shop owners as they can quickly and easily scan an item using a specially designed barcode reader which can read the black and white stripes of the coding. These labels can be stuck to all types of products, from food goods to stationery items.

Once scanned, the information can be detected in an instant and this is such an effective way of managing inventory and providing details on a particular item whenever required.

Those running a busy outlet will know that it is important to keep up to date with the items sold and this tracking system can be used to maintain stock levels and ensure that customers never have to go without when they want to purchase something.

A decent amount of stock can always be kept in reserve for when it is needed and restocking is made much simpler too. It really saves the hassle of having to write down a list of all products sold when people reach the checkout.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Geoff

If a business is serious about avoiding any financial losses it really needs to have control over company assets such as its expensive equipment. This is because should they be lost or stolen it could cause unnecessary problems.

This is why it is advisable to safeguard the equipment owned by the business by keeping track of it using an asset register or database. The implementation of this is not going to be difficult and you can be up to date with everything the company possesses.

Each and every asset owned by the business needs to be labelled, with the information inputted into a database. The details on each individual item can be accessed quite easily and this can really help to keep assets secure, especially those which are particularly valuable.

To increase the protection of an asset you can get labels which are tamper proof and should someone try and mess with them, this will be immediately evident. The equipment can be made void by this unauthorised action by an individual.

There are different types of security label available, each with its own advantages and features. So you can order the labels that best protect your most valuable assets.

Posted in Security Labels by Geoff