Lincoln Electric last week said it will become the industry’s first international welding equipment manufacturer to add 2D Microsoft Tag barcodes to its welding products. The Microsoft Tag codes will appear on the product nameplates of some of Lincoln Electric’s most popular equipment.
With just a quick scan from a web-enabled camera phone, these codes will aid consumers in the pre-sale distributor showroom environment with product selection, and customers in the post-sale environment with operational tips and support resources.
The new Tag codes — which are two-dimensional barcodes that encode text, URLs or other data and are readable by most camera phones — will allow consumers to access information without ever leaving the showroom, garage or shop. Users can immediately pull up operational help tips and videos, product specification sheets and competitive product comparisons, instruction manuals, related articles and company contact information on their web-enabled phones. This new tool is also useful for distributor personnel assisting customers in the showroom to access details regarding products on display.
The company will include Microsoft Tag codes on the POWER MIG 140, 180 and 216 models, as well as the Square Wave TIG 175 and Outback 145 and Ranger 225 engine-driven welder/generator machines. The codes will link users to a mobile-ready landing page for each machine.
“Lincoln has always been known as an innovator in the welding equipment business by developing equipment with the latest technology to benefit our customers,” said Bruce Chantry, Lincoln Electric’s portfolio manager of welding equipment. “Now, by adopting 2D Tag codes onto the equipment’s nameplate, we’ll provide customers and distributors with a single access point to all the information they need, both pre- and post-sale, to a device they carry in their pocket and can access anywhere, at any time.”
The company is looking to eventually implement its 2D code program across all product lines.
To get the Tag Reader mobile app for your phone, visit http://gettag.mobi on your mobile phone browser.
The Lincoln Electric Company, headquartered in Cleveland, designs, develops and manufactures arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, welding fume control systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market.
