Easy Order Asset Tags

You can find the Flexible Anodized Aluminum Foil Asset Tags for ordering at http://www.MaverickLabel.com. MaverickLabel.com also features hundreds of other label products for all of your custom labeling needs.

Give MaverickLabel.com a call (800) 537-8816 (Toll Free from USA & Canada) today.

Full Flexible Anodized Aluminum Foil Asset Tag description:
3-mil Flexible Anodized Aluminum Foil * Tough Flexible Anodized Aluminum perfect for asset labels and tags that need to be adhered on a curved surface. The colors and graphics are etched permanently into the surface of the material. This highly durable product means labels can be used indoors or outdoors. This is the material we recommend if your labels will be exposed to direct sunlight, salt spray, high temperatures, cleaning solvents, or continuous abrasion. Made specifically for these conditions, it will not crack, chip, or peel over its useful life. *Barcode /Serial number are imbedded in anodized layer for 20 Year outdoor durability.

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Image by elycefeliz via Flickr

Any adhesive label works best when the surface to which it is applied is clean and ready to react with the adhesive to form a secure bond. This is even more important when you are using asset tags for security purposes or for identification/accounting when the asset is located in exposed environments, such as outdoors. Preparing the surface is a crucial step in making sure you get the very best out of your asset and security tags.

The surface to which the asset tag is to be affixed needs to be clean and dirt free. You should pay particular attention to cleaning the surface of any grease or oil because these will cause failure in the adhesive. Establishing a good bond between the asset and the security tag is essential as otherwise the entire object of using them is completely defeated.

Different materials will react differently to cleaning materials which you use, but using alcohol is a favorite method which works well. Alcohol dissolves grease and ensures a clean surface is made available for a wider range of materials. Simply applying the alcohol with a clean cloth is sufficient to prepare most surfaces, such as computers, metalwork, glass and other “hard” surface materials. Typically, you should wait for around 30 seconds after you have applied the alcohol to allow it to evaporate – you must ensure there is no excess alcohol on the surface when it comes to applying the asset tag because the alcohol will also weaken the adhesive.

Alcohol is not always an appropriate choice because it can react with the surface of the asset to be tagged. If the material to which an asset tag is being affixed is a fabric or leather, then alcohol is not a preferred cleaning agent. In these instances, using baby wipes is a good substitute as they provide the cleaning reagent but as they are suitable for a baby’s behind, they are not likely to damage or harm the surface to which they are applied.

Once you have the area prepared, the next stage is to fix the asset tag. This may not be as straight forward as you may think because some tags only allow the adhesive to be used once – it is immensely difficult to reposition some tags and impossible with others. You need to get the asset tag positioned just right from the very beginning!

One tip is to outline where the tag will be affixed using a pen or pencil, though you should do this before you wipe the surface down with alcohol (because the ink may interfere with the adhesive bonding).

Once fixed, the next tip for making sure of a secure bond is to wait. Many adhesives react and form a strong bond over a period of time and until they have finally formed their bond they are susceptible to even basic elements such as water. Before you allow the adhesive to be exposed to use or the elements, you should ensure that you leave the tag in place and undisturbed for as long as you can; as a guide, leave a tag alone for a whole day to be sufficiently strong to deal with handling, but best of all, allow three whole days for the bond to be completely formed.

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Tagging any item of property is a deterrent against theft because most thefts are opportunistic in nature.  Thefts occur in large measure because the opportunity presents itself and there is a quick, mental calculation as to whether the perpetrator will actually be able to get away with committing the crime.

There are numerous elements to deterrence achieved by tagging your property, no matter whether it is your personal property or commercial assets.

A primary deterrence element which comes from tagging your property is the visible deterrence.  By using a tag to identify your property, you are making a statement of ownership but more than this, that you have taken time to protect your property.  This demonstrates a motivated owner, someone who is likely to have established further protections for their property and most importantly, someone who you would not want to steal from!  In the mind of a thief, it is better and easier to steal from someone who simply is not overly concerned about identifying and protecting their property compared to someone who is!

There is another crucial and visible deterrence factor in providing readily visible identification tags or labeling: the thief must be able to remove all traces of your ownership in order to be able to reduce the risk associated with their criminal act.  If there is an identification tag attached to your possession, then the thief is going to find it that much harder to openly use the item, or sell it on to someone else simply because it carries your sign of ownership.  This reduces the potential reward from the theft and increases the risk of detection for the criminal – both of which will figure largely in the mind of any thief looking for something to steal.

There is another aspect to tagging your possessions – instead of tagging them with the usual, “This item belongs to me!” style tag, instead use a tag which advises that you employ radio tracking of your asset!  The idea that a laptop, a bicycle, a car or even a boat are protected by radio tracking may or may not be true, but the point is that the prospective crook is not going to know this.  If you are confronted with the option of walking away with a laptop and never being caught or identified, or stealing a laptop and it is guaranteed you will be located within hours – which would you choose as your intended target?

There is an ultimate deterrence to theft and that is getting caught – either getting caught in the act or at any time after the deed has been committed.  In the minds of most thieves, their intention is that the item stolen will never be able to be tracked after the crime has been committed.  If the item is capable of being identified and tracked after the theft, then that opens the question up to whether they, the thief, can be tracked by their association with the item.  Labeling your possessions acts not only as a visible deterrence to theft, one which is immediate and likely to ensure someone else’s property is targeted before your own, but also a long-lasting deterrence should you be unfortunate enough to be the victim of a theft.

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