Why we started marking kits
Missing tools are rarely one big loss, as we explained in When tools go missing. A spanner rides home in the wrong van, a pair of pliers settles on somebody else’s bench, and by the next stocktake nobody can say which kit it belonged to.
Paint pens rub off and stickers lift in Durban humidity. Customers kept asking us for a mark that lasts as long as the tool does.
“Trade teams and schools told us the same story. They bought a good kit and lost track of it before the term was out. A mark that stays put fixes half of that before it starts.”
Matthew Petersen, Workshop Solutions Manager
What AM.CO.ZA supplied
We wanted both jobs done properly on our own premises, without shipping kits to an outside engraver and back.
- Permanent marks on steel. A 30W fibre laser marking machine engraves a crew, site or learner code onto spanners, screwdrivers, pliers and sockets. The mark is shallow and clean, it does not weaken the tool, and it shrugs off grease, solvent and the coastal damp our customers work in.
- Colour bands on cases. A 600 × 900 mm flatbed UV printer lays a colour band straight onto plastic case lids and parts organisers, so a crew can pick out its own case across a busy workshop.
Both machines stand beside the packing benches, so marking has become one more step in starter kit bundling instead of a separate job.
How AM.CO.ZA got the order
Before deciding, we weighed up several suppliers. In the end three things settled it.
Service before the sales pitch. The AM.CO.ZA team asked what we mark, how many kits leave each week and how much bench space we could spare. Only then did they suggest a marker, and it was the size that fits our bench rather than the largest on their list.
A fair price for solid machines. Both units are well built and sensibly specced, and we paid for nothing we will not use. We tell customers to buy quality the first time, so that mattered to us.
Help close by. The AM.CO.ZA Durban branch is a short drive from Pinetown, which keeps training, UV ink and support easy. Their AM.CO.ZA guide was handy for reading up on both machines before we signed.
“I didn’t want equipment that needs a specialist every time it pauses. Our packers picked up the marking step in one afternoon, and it hasn’t slowed the packing line.”
Ayanda Diale, Operations Manager
What it means when you order a kit
Ask for any of these when you order:
- Crew or site codes on the steel tools in a workshop starter kit, mechanic spanner set or electrical starter kit.
- Colour-coded case lids, one colour per crew, bay or vehicle.
- Learner issue sets for school workshops, each set marked to match its case, which makes the school lab tool control routine far easier to run.
- Matching replacements, so a tool swapped in later carries the same code as the rest of the kit.
Schools and maintenance teams first
The first marked kits went to a school workshop and to two maintenance teams in New Germany. Lulama Magagula, our Training Coordinator, set up the learner issue sets.
“Each learner gets a case in their colour, and their tools carry the same code. When the lesson ends the teacher can see in a minute whether everything is back. That is tool control a classroom can live with.”
Lulama Magagula, Training Coordinator
Order a marked kit
Kit marking is available on new starter kits, learner sets and standardised stock lists for trade account customers. Tell us how many kits you need and how you want them coded, and we will plan it with you. Start with our contact page or ask about trade account support.
