Engineering specifications
Material matrix, source selection, symbol grading and the speed model.
Logistics and reusable assets
Every pallet and crate stays identifiable
A pallet or crate pays back only if you can prove it is yours two years and four sites later. The mark goes into the material, so weather and wash never take it off.
- No adhesive or printed layer, so a pressure washer and a relabel do not take it off.
- Two consumables: a protective window and an extraction filter, nothing recurring beyond that.
- Fixed stations where assets pass a checkpoint, and a handheld rig where they do not.
Why the fleet goes missing
Most of what disappears was never lost. It stopped being identifiable, and once that happens it is invisible to your own systems.
- A label peels off in the wash bay, and the asset behind it has no other way to say what it is.
- Somebody else's stock sits next to yours at the depot, and the only proof either way is a memory.
- An unidentified pallet gets written off and replaced, even though it is probably still out there somewhere.
- Every transfer means another label reapplied, and that labour never shows up as its own line in a budget.
What your fleet loses you
Fill these in from your own systems and you have this year's real replacement bill.
| Line | What it costs you | Where the number lives |
|---|---|---|
| Replacement spend | What you spent last year replacing pallets, crates or totes that still exist somewhere. | Purchase orders against last year's count. |
| Loss rate | The share of each class that never comes back over a year. | Purchases against a physical count today. |
| Relabelling spend | Labels, ribbons, printers and the labour to reapply one at every transfer. | Consumables ledger and the printer maintenance log. |
| Reconciliation labour | Time spent working out whose asset it is and whether it can be charged back. | Depot and yard supervisor time. |
How a fleet gets marked
Marking a fleet already moving is a logistics problem before it is a laser one.
- Step 1
Audit the asset classes
Pallets, crates, totes and cages each mark differently, so the count starts by class, not as one fleet total.
- Step 2
Test on your own assets
Samples from each class are marked, weathered and washed, then graded against ISO/IEC 15415 before anything is committed.
- Step 3
Mark new stock at goods-in
Every new asset carries its identity before it enters circulation, which is the rule that keeps the register accurate.
- Step 4
Sweep the existing fleet
Assets already in circulation are caught at the wash line or the repair bay, in batches, over weeks.
- Step 5
Readers go on the boundaries
Fixed readers sit on dock doors and wash lines, and a handheld covers the yard and customer sites.
Your assets, row by row
Reusable assets are not one material, and where the mark sits changes what reads it.
| Asset class | How it marks | Where it gets read |
|---|---|---|
| Timber pallets and skids | Burned relief holds through rain, UV and years outdoors. | Dock doors and wash lines. |
| Plastic crates and totes | Contrast tuned to the resin, so every colour reaches the same grade. | Handheld in the yard, fixed where volume justifies it. |
| Steel cages and stillages | Annealed marks that take paint wear and forklift knocks. | Depot gates and customer sites. |
| Cartons at pack and dispatch | A serial or batch code applied as the carton leaves the line, read again at dispatch. | Read rate is set by belt speed, proved on your own line. |
The engineering detail
For the engineer, the depot supervisor and procurement.
What the mark carries
Asset ID, class and a Data Matrix to ISO/IEC 16022, carrying ECC 200 error correction so a scratched or muddy corner still reads. The symbol is graded to ISO/IEC 15415 at marking, and the grade is recorded against the asset.
Source, chosen by material
Fibre marks steel, stainless and aluminium. CO2 marks timber, board and coated surfaces. UV marks heat sensitive plastics without warping the wall of a bin. The parameter set is established on your own assets in the capability study.
Read rate on a line
A code is only worth what it reads at. On a moving conveyor the window is set by belt speed, not by the mark. The read rate is proved on your own line before the station is signed off.
Assets already in the field
They get caught on return. Assets are marked at the wash line, the repair bay or the next goods-in cycle, not pulled out of service for it. The register tracks the unmarked balance, so coverage is a number you watch each week.
Mixed fleets and chargebacks
A permanent mark survives a pressure washer and someone else's relabelling, so ownership becomes a scan, not an argument. Assets that are not yours identify themselves as not yours too, which shortens sorting at a depot. Every read point also gives you site, time and who was holding the asset, keyed to an identity nobody can transfer to another one by mistake. A loss or damage claim is argued from that record, not from memory.
Load ratings and certification
Marks on load bearing assets sit at surface level only, placed clear of structural members and agreed with your engineering people first. Where a certifying body names no acceptable placement, the identity goes onto a marked plate fixed to the asset.
Your systems, not a new one
Your WMS, TMS, ERP or asset register stays the system of record. The Control Layer reads the identifier it already issued and writes the confirmation back, through a connection your IT team sanctions. The patterns, authentication models and failure edges are set out on the integration page.
For the rest of the committee
This gets decided by more people than were on the call.
Start here
Integration architecture
Connection patterns, failure behaviour and network posture, for IT.
Programme assurance
The document set, the acceptance gates and the handover pack.
Laser against ink and labels
Why a formed mark wears at the high spots instead of fading all at once.
Send us an asset
Post a pallet, a crate or a tote in the condition it comes back in. Tell us what it goes through: the weather, the wash, the years outdoors. You get back a numbered report with the parameters, the grade and the process window.
Last updated August 21, 2026