Lessons for Schools in Asset Tracking

While preparing for the new school year ahead many schools will be reviewing their assets and equipment. Sadly during this process many schools will fine missing or damaged items that will need replacing.

While planning assets and equipment for the coming year it make sense to also look at ways to reduce assets being damaged or lost to minimise the cost of future replacement and maximise what are often very tight budgets.

Clear asset identification

A sensible first step is to look for ways to mark all school assets and equipment to clearly identify them as belonging to the school. Such asset marking helps discourage items from being misplaced or stolen, but only as long as the marking is clear and permanent.

Using quality asset labels or identification plates can be extremely useful in this regard plus they also allow for additional information to be associated with the item.

Tracking and tracing assets

By adding a bar code, sequential numbering or QR code for smaller items schools can also track additional key pieces of information including:

·         Who is responsible for each asset

·         Where each asset should be located

·         Condition and maintenance details

·         Lifetime costs associated with the asset

Holding this additional information helps schools maintain proper chains of responsibility, these help to reduce assets being damaged or misappropriated.

The right asset label in the right place

Just as the assets within a school will range in size and type so a different appropriate asset label or plate will be required to mark each item. Schools should consider using a range of asset labels tailored to the assets and equipment needing to be tracked.

Talking to an expert like Dantech can help schools find the right asset labels and marking products for them. Visit ID Asset Labels or call 01354 688 488 for free advice and support.

When Portable Electronic Equipment Goes Missing

Electronic equipment is everywhere, from the whiteboard to the iPod and the laptop to the tablet.  Inevitably, with all this digital equipment around, items can and do go missing.

Mostly electronic equipment goes missing by mistake only a small proportion are actually stolen. Often items are simply left in the wrong location or not returned when they should be.

So how can you minimise and prevent all this equipment getting lost?

There is only one solution and that is to mark all valuable equipment in a secure way which also identifies the item and its place of origin – this will also acts as a theft deterrent.

However, this is not as simple as it seems. Tablets and laptops are invariably made of either aluminium or hard plastic with a cured paint to make the machine hard and scratchproof. As you can imagine putting identification marks on this type of equipment is difficult, because you simply can’t 'etch' anything into aluminium or hard plastic.

One way out of this dilemma is to use ID TRAKAPLATES which, because of the thickness and strong adhesive that they use, are near-impossible to remove.

An alternative approach is use ID Silver Mark labels. These labels are precision cut stencils which can include your details. The identification labels are then painted with UV ink to show up should the label be removed.

Why choose Dantech identification labels and plates

Dantech Ltd is an acknowledged supplier for more than 15 years to both industry, government departments and the educational and health sector of security marking products, identification labels and security labels.

With a high reputation built over the years on customer satisfaction Dantech can provide help and advice with your marking requirements contact Dantech on 01354 688 488 for expert and unbiased help and advice.