Tag Your Equipment to Improve Inventory Management

Asset tracking for inventory management, security and compliance reasons is becoming demanding and tough. Taking inventory management manually is time consuming and resource intensive. Organizing access in and out creates tailback in moving assets from one place to another. 

Asset tags meet today’s demanding expectations with accurate inventory valuation, prevention of loss or theft without the distressing cost of slow and manual inventory audits. Asset tags help businesses to keep track of supplies as every barcodes is labeled with a serial number that can be entered into a computer system. They help with inventory management and they are perfect for asset tracking. Tags ensure that the inventory is replaced and reloaded so that the company performs at its greatest capacity and capability.

It is essential to label all equipment carefully and keep up to date records. Not tagging and labeling will make it difficult to know how many computers, laptops, printers, scanners and telephones a company owns. They are a marker to identify ownership of specific equipment. Tags carry information that makes it possible to track the location of assets and well as helps in identifying the department where the equipment is used. 

How are QR Barcodes Different from Normal Barcodes?

A recent trend among small business is the intensive use of QR barcodes. QR barcodes are similar to barcodes in one sense; both of them contain information which can be read by a QR code reader.

Barcodes are single dimensional codes. The codes are represented by the bars and they are designed in only one direction, i.e., horizontal. They carry with them limited information. They are used only to track product information and they contain up to 20 numerical digits. 

When we compare barcodes with QR codes, they are really different. QR codes are two dimensional figures. They are spread across horizontally and vertically and they have a square appearance in contrast to barcodes which are rectangular in shape. The layout of these codes allows QR codes to contain more information than a barcode can possibly contain. QR codes can hold up to thousands of alphanumeric characters. The amount of information stored is the basic difference between barcodes and QR barcodes. 

Barcodes have been around for a decade. They have a large variety of uses in retail, manufacturing, transport and shipping industry. Common barcodes are printed on packaging at the grocery store and in other retail outlets. They are valuable at the point of sale and for managing inventory and raw materials. Barcodes have become common in shipping; to enable speed and accuracy in packages delivered. Barcodes are comparatively inexpensive and assist in speed, efficiency and accuracy. 

QR codes have been around for years. They are well suited for marketing purposes. QR codes are becoming more common to receive business cards. The idea behind using Quick Response code is easy and useful when applied correctly. For example, snap a picture of a code and mobile phone whisks you off to a web page and no typing is required. Isn’t it interesting? QR barcodes link offline information to online content and provide information to an offline experience.

The QR barcode is printed with a similar function to that of a normal product barcode. QR barcode does look different but that is simply because they contain a lot more information. Normal barcodes are only a series of numbers while QR barcodes are links to websites, numbers and text messages.

A typical barcode can store a maximum of 20 digits whereas a QR barcode can hold up to 7,089 characters. This makes the use of QR barcodes more attractive than barcodes. The basic difference between a QR barcode and a standard barcode is that the standard barcode is utilized to encode data on a horizontal plane whereas data is encoded horizontally and vertically on a QR barcodes. 

Asset Tags for Your Business

As your business grows, it becomes difficult to keep track of all the important equipment and machinery in the work place. It becomes all the more difficult when some staff members of the business take equipment off the site. 

The solution to keep a track of everything is the asset tags. They are a perfect solution to organizational issues. Asset tags go a long way in improving the organization and save a lot of time in locating equipment and machinery. 

With the help of asset tags, one can quickly track the equipment and valuable assets in the work place. They can be applied to computers, laptops, scanners, printers and other high-tech gadgets. Bar code labels and asset tags helps in monitoring products in such a way that prevents manual data entry mistakes. Placing of asset tags deter thieves, that is why it is essential to apply a label to anything valuable.

 If one is aware of which equipment or machinery should be where, then you are far more likely to run your business efficiently. This would lead to an increase in productivity too.  Protecting your business is an essential part of business that requires a careful thought of attention and asset tags helps to achieve it. 

What Are Barcode Labels? How Do They Work?

Many organizations face a major challenge to track down the location of their assets. The answer lies in barcode labels. Barcode labels are an easy way of recording and identifying valuable equipment. Asset labels are a secure identification with a permanent adhesive, sequential numbering or barcode, name and logo. 

A barcode is simply a series of alphanumeric digits that represent the item number. When a barcode scanner is used, the entry is database is pulled, which includes the prices, item description with other information. It is a good exercise to keep a track of all the equipment with the help of barcode labels.  It can track down business inventory.  Even when an item is removed from stock, just scan the barcode to reduce the available count in the inventory tracking software. 

Add a barcode to IT assets, like PCs, laptops, scanners and tools so that equipment can be scanned to check items in and out. It will improve the accountability and makes audit easy. Include a barcode on invoices; it will be easy to locate the customer account. It will prevent problems like applying payments to the incorrect customer account or invoice.