With a robust ceramic coating, the 3- x 6-in. stainless steel Embed-A-Tag equips concrete products and structures with casting and fabrication traceability and identification requirements. Transferring 
accurate data and tracking pieces from the design stage to the pour to the assembly stage reduces errors and lost time.
Company chemists and engineers started with a metal tag that can withstand rust when exposed to the elements and deemed large enough to accommodate multiple lines of man-readable data, plus large barcodes and or producer logos. After a 0.008-in. thick stainless steel substrate was chosen, tests of laser-printable coatings showed a white ceramic compound to be abrasion and fade resistant.
To decrease the potential for human error, the metal tag is silicon-adhered to the form face before the concrete is poured in. Silicone glue is applied to the face of the tag and the face is pressed next to the mold. The ends of the tag are bent down to allow the flow behind the tag. The tag is placed below the keyway face towards the form, where it cannot be removed by wind or rain, and will not come off during transportation to the job site. The resulting barcoded tag can then be scanned upon arrival at the job site and accurately staged.
The embedded tags, product engineers note, are man-readable from several angles; can be rechecked easily at form stripping; and, do not require glues, adhesives or brushes to secure to finished product, where they become an integral part. Embed-A-Tags are available preprinted to order or blank, for laser printing at the concrete plant. The LabeLase 1000 Printer operates without ribbons or ink cartridges; includes software for barcode tag creation and design; accepts variety of downloaded formats; produces all standard barcodes included in the free software package; and, delivers high contrast black lettering on white background, with barcodes readable by standard handheld scanners or cellphones. — InfoSight Corp., Chillicothe, Ohio, 740/642-3600; www.infosight.com