When you are starting out in business you will need to make saving wherever possible, as money will undoubtedly be tight. And one area where you can save some of your hard earned cash is in your asset tracking and stock taking procedures.

The security of the products you manufacture or keep in stock is very important. This is why regular stock-takes are imperative. One of the best ways to protect goods is to use asset labels or barcode labels. Asset labels are a way of identifying every product that you own. Information about every item, which will feature a number or barcode, can then be kept in a database or asset register, so you can monitor products and stock.

Other asset label advantages include:

• You can identify similar items when you use asset labels
• All products you own will have a label attached with a number, name or company logo
• Asset labels make equipment audits easy
• Loaned items are always returned
• Time searching for lost items is minimised
• Additional marketing benefits can be had by using asset labels with logos or company names attached

When used properly, asset labels can be of great importance to a business, and not just for improving security but also for improving efficiency and making monetary savings.

Posted in Asset Tags by Geoff

Being able to keep track of what is in stock is vitally important for many companies across the UK. A small asset label fixed to expensive items can therefore be an invaluable tool and can make a big difference in terms of tracking of goods.

Asset labels can be purchased in a wide range of different sizes, shapes and materials. Because a third-party company will print the asset label for you, they can even be customised and ordered in exact quantities to suit your business needs. An asset label could have a company logo, a barcode or even a sequential numbering system printed on the label, making tracking of goods even easier.

Tamper evident asset labels are currently proving very popular. These perform all the tasks of a standard asset label but are very hard to remove easily. If the label is peeked away a ‘VOID’ message is left behind, showing that the item has been tampered with. These labels are perfect to use on the seam of a desktop pc or on the seam of any equipment which contains expensive parts within.

Destructible asset labels are also available which work in a similar way to a tamper asset label, but instead of a void message, the label breaks up into many tiny parts if someone tries to remove the label.

Posted in Asset Tags by Geoff

Barcode labels are a simple and effective way of labelling a product or an item so that information about that item can be held elsewhere on a database. And barcode labels are thus often as important a commodity for a business as the item to which they are fitted.

Barcode labels are being used in the commercial sector with increasing regularity. And one of the places which have seen exponential barcode use over the last few years is in warehouses.

Warehouses need different types of barcode labels, depending on how the warehouse operates and how stock is stored within the warehouse.

Floor barcode labels

Barcode labels can be affixed to the floor and pallets stacked behind or adjacent to the label. These labels need to be made out of a strong durable material such as metal due to the heavy traffic they see.

Reflective barcode labels

Reflective barcode labels are easy to see in dim warehouses when money needs to be saved on lighting. The reflective part of the label catches a person’s eye, so that the label can be found and hence scanned easily.

Location barcode labels

Location barcode labels are perhaps the most commonly used label in a warehouse. The location labels are usually affixed to every location where an item is stored. This way a warehouse operative can easily find the item’s location and scan the label when they remove one of the items from stock.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Geoff

Barcodes are used by businesses across the worlds as a way of unique product identification. But Australian food scientists have now found another use for the simple barcode label – as a way to help shoppers make healthy choices when buying food from a supermarket.

A new iPhone application, which has just been launched, allows shoppers to find out the nutritional information of a product and hence help them to avoid fatty, salty or sugary items.

The senior director at the University of Sydney, Bruce Neal, stated:

“FoodSwitch’s three-step approach marries the latest technology with cutting edge research. Australians can now scan barcodes, see what’s in a food, and switch to a healthier choice in an instant,”

A poor diet causes some of Australia’s biggest health problems, but by simply scanning the barcode of the item they may wish to purchase, shoppers can get a wealth of information about that product and then make an informed choice whether or not to buy. Neal concluded:

“Choosing a healthier diet has to be made easier, because good eating habits are one of the best and most cost-effective ways to prevent disease. For long, Australians have grappled with confusing food labels. And with FoodSwitch there is no reason why this should continue,”

Posted in Barcode Labels by Geoff

A business has many assets, from the people who strive to make it a success, to the items they use on a day-to-day basis as part of their role. Assets can be things such as machinery, tools, desks, computers or even floor coverings. And it’s these assets that make a company what it is.

The assets a company may own may be worth thousands of pounds and some may even be irreplaceable. It’s for these reasons that businesses want to protect their assets.

Many companies are now realising the benefits of using asset tags to identify each and every asset they own. The asset tags or labels contain a unique identifier, such as a number or a barcode and the asset details are stored within a database on a computer system. This allows business owners to keep an up-to-date inventory record of all their assets, which can be used for insurance and stock-taking purposes.

If any asset needs to be checked, it can simply be looked up on the computer system and its location, date of purchase and any other relevant information found.

Asset tracking is really easy when asset labels are fitted to the items a company owns. And when you use a barcode system and barcode scanner, asset tracking not only saves you money it is also a quick way of checking assets and stock.

Posted in Asset Tags by Bridget

Smaller businesses realise the importance of keeping a check on inventory and stock levels. Any money which is tied up in stock is money that can’t be used because it is essentially sitting on a shelf gathering dust. But, if you have a way of measuring the stock you have and checking what is used frequently and what is used infrequently, you can make business processes a lot smoother and free-up some of that idle cash.

One of the best ways to keep track of items in stock is to use a barcode labelling system. When a barcode is fitted to every item you own, the label can be read easily and quickly using a barcode scanner. Barcodes also eliminate human error when stocktaking, as a simple scan of an electronic device is all that is needed to update stock levels.

Large business have long realised the importance of keeping track of stock for operational purposes. However, smaller businesses are also reaping the benefits of using a barcode scanning system, which not also saves them time but also saves them money too.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Geoff

Labels can be used for a range of purposes by a business, and one of the primary reasons may include security. It can be extremely important for a company to clearly mark that they own particular items of equipment, particularly if such equipment is to be used off-site, or in a work area used by a number of different businesses.

Security tags can be used to label equipment, combined with either tracking details for asset tracking or company logos for branding purposes.

The design of security labels can fall into two main categories. Firstly security labels can be produced from a self-destructive vinyl, meaning that if someone attempts to remove the label, it will split apart, so that the label cannot be removed as a whole. Secondly, labels can be designed so that once the label is removed from the item it will leave the word void across the product.

Use of such security labels can be reassuring for a company, and help to minimise the occurrence of missing or damaged equipment. By using appropriately designed labels, the security element can be incorporated into asset tracking and company branding purposes.

Posted in Security Labels by Geoff

Some companies have a team of staff who all work within the confines of the company premises. However, increasingly businesses are opting to employee remote staff who often work from home or other locations.
This manner of working can provide many benefits including increased flexibility and reduced costs for a company. However, there can be a downside to this manner of working, namely keeping track of company property.

For field-based staff, a company would need to provide a certain amount of equipment to allow them to work remotely efficiently. Depending upon the nature of the business this may include a mobile phone, computer, scanner, printer, shredder etc. Equipment of this nature may be of significant value to the company, and therefore keeping a track of it is crucial.

Asset labels can be used, along with a database or spreadsheet, to keep accurate records of the location of various pieces of equipment. Asset labels can be designed to incorporate a range of information, even a company logo could be included. This would mean that labelling all the business equipment can also act as an added marketing opportunity to increase brand awareness.

Posted in Asset Tags by Bridget

Barcode labels are one of the best ways to speed up the data processing of any type of stocktaking or inventory assessment. It is therefore important for every organisation to understand the benefits that barcode technology can bring to a business and understand how a company can reap the rewards of investing in a barcode system.

There are many business efficiencies to be gained using barcode labels, but the bottom line of using them is that a company can save a considerable amount of money. Here are a few reasons why barcode labels may be able to reduce your overheads.

Barcode labels reduce man hours

Any system which uses barcode labels will be faster and more accurate than a system using manual methods. Stocktaking, for example, is far quicker when you use a barcode scanner instead of writing all the information down and entering it into a computer at a later date. Errors are also reduced when using an electronic system.

Barcode labels facilitate automatic reordering of products

Any system which uses barcodes can be set up so that stock levels are continually monitored. If stock of a particular product or item is getting low, the computer system can flag this so more can be ordered. This reduces the chances of stock running out completely and hence sales being lost.

Posted in Barcode Labels by Bridget

Asset tags and barcode labels are being used by businesses on an increasing basis as they try to find ways to reduce business overheads.

Many businesses have a great number of items they use to carry out their business operations. However, because many of these items are portable there is a chance that they will be lost or stolen. One way of keeping track of where all these items are is using an asset tagging and barcode labelling system.

Asset tags are a way of identifying a particular item or product. They are usually a label which adheres to a product and features either a numbering system, barcode system or both. Asset tags are especially useful on expensive items which may cause a financial detriment to the business if they were lost. Computer systems and mobile phones are some items which should always carry an asset tag.

The numbering system an asset tag uses can enable data entry into a computer system. The database containing all these numbers can then be used for inventory control and stocktaking purposes. If barcodes are used on an asset tag, rapid data recording is enabled, so huge quantities of assets can be tracked in a single day with minimal human data entry and hence error.

Posted in Asset Tags by Grahame