PEC Pressroom

Pella Engraving Takes Product ID Tags To the Next Level

A year ago, Pella Engraving had never created a product identification tag. In the past eight months, the company has made more than 10,000 of them, complete with barcodes, for Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa.

When Vermeer was seeking a better ID tag, Distribution Development Manager Chad Vander Wilt called Jeff Vroom at Pella Engraving. Pella Engraving is currently a vendor with Vermeer, each year providing award plaques for their dealers. Jeff told Chad that while ID tags would be a new item, he thought Pella Engraving could do it.

Jeff was right. Pella Engraving’s anodized aluminum tags meet Vermeer needs superbly. Phototransfer technology embeds the dye permanently into the pores of the aluminum. “We tried scratching it off with a key, and we couldn’t do it,” said Chad. “We are pleased with the durability.” Various regulations and standards require that ID tag information on the on-highway and off-road heavy equipment be indelible.

But more than just the product pleases Vermeer Corporation. The product ID tags reduce Vermeer in-house labor, reduce their tag inventory, and provide greater accuracy than the previous tags.

Previously the company kept a one- to six-month supply of tags for many of the 200 products it manufactures. A unique 17-digit VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and model were added to each ID tag before it was attached to the equipment rolling off the line.

Now, Vermeer stocks very few ID tags. Vermeer staff emails a data file to Pella Engraving and within a few days receives the tags, complete with the unique 17-digit VIN. Vermeer ID tag workload has been reduced by nearly 80 percent—from ten hours per week to less than two hours per week. And an automatic electronic transfer of the information from the data files to Pella Engraving equipment has eliminated any potential key stroking errors.

The new tags also include barcodes, and Vermeer is beginning to implement barcode scanners to replace the current handwritten shipping manifests with computer-generated ones.

“The advantages for Vermeer are great,” said Chad. “Pella Engraving’s willingness to try something and ability to produce the end product earned our business on this project!”

Pella Engraving Company offers plaques, signage, awards, and custom gifts. Since 1934, PEC has taken pride in providing high-quality standards for old-world craftsmanship.

Email: pellaeng@lisco.com
Phone: 877-549-5447