The Battery Vs. The Hand: How Should You Leave Your Mark?

We constantly hear from customers who employ hand stamping and other manual processes to mark and track their parts, tools, and other equipment. While hand stampings seem like a safe bet, the risks and inefficiencies far outweigh the perceived benefits.

The reasons we hear for hand stamping often fall under one of the following justifications:

1. “It’s inexpensive.”

2. “We’ve always done it this way.”

3. “We haven’t found a better solution.”

We’ll address each of these, starting with the cost.

The hand stamp itself is clearly inexpensive. But that’s before you factor in the time it takes to pound out each letter or number, dragging people away from more productive tasks. Then layer on the risk of injury with thumbs and fingers in harm’s way throughout the process in addition to noise concerns. Finally, the depth is hard to control manually, so you might end up having to decipher unclear numbers or letters, causing delays, additional markings, and even more frustration.

Set aside the fact that “we’ve always done it this way” is never a good reason to do anything. Sticking with an inefficient, time consuming process that risks injury is simply not the right solution. In addition, with manual marking you’re extremely limited in what you can do. What if you want automatic number serialization, logos, data matrix codes, or even varying forces for different materials?

That leads to the last common excuse: “we haven’t found a better solution.” There are a variety of dot peen and scribe marking units superior to hand stamping and other manual marking processes. The FlyMarker mini, however, was developed specifically to help ease the transition to a faster and safer marking process with greater reliability and durability.

The 6-lb. FlyMarker mini weighs roughly the same as a hand stamp and rapidly marks letters, numbers, characters, logos, and data matrix codes. Unlike a hand stamp, variable force settings ensure clear and uniform marks on materials from plastics to hardened steel. But much like a hand stamp, it’s fully portable due to its lithium ion battery that requires no annoying cords or cables. Best of all, the mini is currently priced at just $5,490, which when you factor in the time savings, injury avoidance, and marking versatility, is undoubtedly a money saver.

So back to the title of this post – how should you leave your mark, the battery or the hand? In this case, it’s clear the hand should take a well-deserved break and simply pull the trigger on a battery-powered marking unit.

For more information, a demo, or a sample, please contact us today.We constantly hear from customers who employ hand stamping and other manual processes to mark and track their parts, tools, and other equipment. While hand stampings seem like a safe bet, the risks and inefficiencies far outweigh the perceived benefits.

The reasons we hear for hand stamping often fall under one of the following justifications:

1. “It’s inexpensive.”

2. “We’ve always done it this way.”

3. “We haven’t found a better solution.”

We’ll address each of these, starting with the cost.

The hand stamp itself is clearly inexpensive. But that’s before you factor in the time it takes to pound out each letter or number, dragging people away from more productive tasks. Then layer on the risk of injury with thumbs and fingers in harm’s way throughout the process in addition to noise concerns. Finally, the depth is hard to control manually, so you might end up having to decipher unclear numbers or letters, causing delays, additional markings, and even more frustration.

Set aside the fact that “we’ve always done it this way” is never a good reason to do anything. Sticking with an inefficient, time consuming process that risks injury is simply not the right solution. In addition, with manual marking you’re extremely limited in what you can do. What if you want automatic number serialization, logos, data matrix codes, or even varying forces for different materials?

That leads to the last common excuse: “we haven’t found a better solution.” There are a variety of dot peen and scribe marking units superior to hand stamping and other manual marking processes. The FlyMarker mini, however, was developed specifically to help ease the transition to a faster and safer marking process with greater reliability and durability.

The 6-lb. FlyMarker mini weighs roughly the same as a hand stamp and rapidly marks letters, numbers, characters, logos, and data matrix codes. Unlike a hand stamp, variable force settings ensure clear and uniform marks on materials from plastics to hardened steel. But much like a hand stamp, it’s fully portable due to its lithium ion battery that requires no annoying cords or cables. Best of all, the mini is currently priced at just $5,490 which when you factor in the time savings, injury avoidance, and marking versatility, is undoubtedly a money saver.

So back to the title of this post – how should you leave your mark, the battery or the hand? In this case, it’s clear the hand should take a well-deserved break and simply pull the trigger on a battery-powered marking unit.

For more information, a demo, or a sample, please contact us today.