| Metal Tags for
Identification of Semi-Finished Metal Products
One of the most difficult marking applications
in the metals industries is the identification of semi-finished
products when they are hot. While marking hot products
is challenging, it does offer the significant advantage
of allowing the product to be identified as early as
possible in the production cycle. Waiting for product
to cool before marking introduces the risk that the
product cannot be accurately identified later in the
production process.
Traditional marking
methods such as indenting or stamping have several limitations
and disadvantages:
 |
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manual marking methods increase
the risk of worker injury |
|
uneven product surface can affect mark readability |
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marked information is typically limited
to a few characters |
|
non-programmable systems increase risk of
incorrect information |
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marked information can only be input manually
into host systems - manual data entry increases
errors |
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Metal tags are an ideal way to increase
the reliability of product tracking, greatly reducing
the risk of production and shipping errors. Typical
information on a printed metal tag includes heat number,
sequence number, grade, weight, dimensions, and customer
name.
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tags can be attached directly
to products at the caster |
|
tags withstand very high temperatures (1000°C
steel, 550°C aluminium) |
|
information can be downloaded from a host
system to ensure data is always correct |
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Pannier tag printers can print a tag in
just seconds |
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embossed
metal tags • printed
metal tags |
