Today, it has become the modern practice of large public and private corporations that own a large number of assets to tag such assets for easy identification, among many other reasons. If you have decided to tag the assets owned by your organization, you need to decide which assets need tagging and what type of tag to go for that is not only durable but cost-effective.

What are property tags and how are they used?

Does your organization own a lot of office equipment like laptops, printers, and scanners? Business enterprises all over the world use different types of equipment relevant to their field to get work done. With so many employees working at a high pace using so many inventories at the same time, keeping track of all these inventories represents a challenge that they take very seriously. The only way organizations do this successfully is through Asset Management.

To better manage your assets effectively, you have to tag them with barcodes or unique serial numbers, which will then be used to track them at every point in time. To make your tags more aesthetic, you may even consider using your organization’s logo for better identification. In addition to this, there is no restriction on the type of tag you use based on their materials, color, or sizes. What is most important is that the tags serve the purpose for which they were produced.

Tags have multipurpose usage and some of the things you can use a property tag for include:

Equipment Tracking: If you own a warehouse and there is a lot of plant and machinery in the warehouse in need of management, you can use labels like RFID and barcodes to track each individual piece of equipment as it moves from one point to another. This can also prove pivotal if assets in your warehouse tend to be moved out for external use by employees.

Inventory Control: One of the most fundamental uses of property tags is to keep stock of inventories. If you place tags on your inventory, you can track the quantity of inventory you have all year round without having to do a headcount every time.

Maintenance Schedule: Maintaining just a few types of equipment is not a hard task, but things become a lot more complicated when you are dealing with hundreds and thousands of pieces of equipment. With tags, you can easily identify the equipment requiring maintenance before they break down. You can also monitor the maintenance history of each individual asset. 

Where are property tags used?

Now that we know the purpose of property tags, we will identify locations and industries where they are commonly deployed.

1. Healthcare Industry

Property tags have been massively deployed in the healthcare industry for a long time. Biomedical engineers, for instance, use property tags to track hospital equipment and other medical devices used regularly in a hospital setting.

2. Education Industry

Property tags are also used by schools and colleges to track their assets and equipment. Audiovisual equipment like IT gadgets, laptops, and tablets are common examples of such assets.

3. Warehouses

If there is any location where you will surely find property tags, it is at large warehouses where there are multiple different types of equipment performing advanced functions. Administrators use property tags to streamline workflow and to control inventory usage.

4. Utility Companies

Companies that operate outside a controlled environment where their movable assets are exposed to harsh weather elements often use property tags. RFID labels may even be used, so long as they are durable enough. 

Why has labeling assets become so important?

Labeling assets is important because such practices help you develop a robust maintenance strategy. It also helps you store your records in a single, central platform for present or future use.  Property tags also:

• Aid in access to relevant information about each individual asset
• Eliminate human error as far as asset management is concerned
• Improve intra-department collaboration
• Inspect and audit of assets for regulatory control
• Calculate the lifecycle depreciation for each individual asset
• Reduce the risk of theft

How to decide on the right property tag

Before you deploy property tags, you first need to decide in advance which assets you wish to tag. Here are some of the ways you can shortlist assets according to selected criteria.

Movable Assets: Have a high risk of misplacement or theft, so they have to be tracked. Make sure you tag office equipment that is used at multiple locations. Labeling kits and bundles of such equipment also makes it easy for managers to monitor them at external worksites.

Fixed Assets: If your organization uses a large number of fixed assets like tables and chairs, computers, etc., tagging them and regulating their use will help in avoiding frequent breakdowns.

High Value Assets: All high value assets should have property tags, even if the asset is fixed and secure. If there’s a chance your office, store, or warehouse can be broken onto, you should use property tags.

 What kind of assets require property tags?

Not all assets require property tags. Assets such as consumables should not be tagged as doing so will be a waste of the company’s resources. Furthermore, assets with a limited shelf life should not also be tagged. These two factors should be considered when deciding on property tags.

 What are some common property tags?

Some common property tags in use are:

Barcodes: Widely used by public and private entities, Barcodes are categorized into Code 128 and Code 39.

RFID: RFID has become increasingly popular and more accessible with recent cost reductions.

QR Codes: They have the capability to retain a lot of data and can be scanned using a smartphone camera.

GPS: GPS is among the oldest tracking technology in use and also one of the most advanced. It enables users to read data about assets at specific locations in real-time.