Every asset in Toolminder is one scan away from its full identity: its history, its checks, its vibration data and its documents. The scan is what makes the rest of the system trustworthy, because it proves the person recording a check or starting a usage timer was physically standing with that specific tool. This guide explains the technology behind that scan in plain English, and the two tag types used with the Toolminder app.
What RFID and NFC Actually Are
An RFID tag is a small chip attached to an antenna. It has no battery and no moving parts: when a reader comes close, the reader's radio field powers the chip just long enough for it to reply with its unique identity. That identity is what Toolminder links to the asset record, so scanning a tag is the digital equivalent of pointing at one specific machine and saying "this one".
NFC (near field communication) is the short range, phone friendly member of the RFID family. It operates at 13.56 MHz, which is why modern smartphones can read these tags without any extra hardware. Both of the tag types described below work at 13.56 MHz and are read by the Toolminder app on iOS and Android. Where a tag is not fitted, the app can also identify an asset by scanning a printed barcode with the camera.
The Two Tags Toolminder Uses
The rigid tag, for larger machines
The RFID Rigid Tag (HF) is manufactured in the UK by Earlsmere. It measures 73mm by 63mm, is moulded from TPU polyurethane for resilience in demanding environments, and uses Laserflare technology for precise overprinting, so each tag can carry clear, permanent identification. Inside is a high frequency ICODE SLIX chip operating at 13.56 MHz.
The rigid tag comes in orange, yellow, red and green, and the colours are not decoration: they provide a colour coded way to denote hand-arm and whole-body vibration magnitudes, so an operator can see at a glance which band a machine sits in before picking it up. Tags are available blank or bespoke printed.
This is the tag for mowers, aerators, breakers and other larger kit: big enough to find quickly, tough enough for machines that live outdoors, and visible enough for the colour coding to do its job.
The 22mm label, for smaller tools
The 22mm On-Metal Self Adhesive Soft Tag is a round NFC label with an NTAG213 chip (ISO 14443A, 13.56 MHz). At 22mm across and just 0.32mm thick, with a permanent adhesive backing and a white PET face, it fits where a rigid tag cannot: drills, grinders, hand tools and anything with limited flat space.
Its defining feature is in the name. It is rated for both metal and non-metal surfaces, which matters more than it sounds.
Why the On-Metal Part Matters
A standard NFC label placed directly on a metal surface often becomes unreliable or unreadable, because the metal interferes with the label's small antenna. Since most power tools are largely metal, an ordinary sticker is a false economy: it scans on the packaging and sulks on the tool. An on-metal label is constructed to work in exactly that position, so the 22mm tag can go straight onto a gearbox housing or a metal body and keep scanning.
What a Scan Does in the App
Scanning a tag is the front door to everything Toolminder records about an asset:
- It opens the asset record, with the tool's details, documents and full history
- It proves presence: where a pre-use check is due, the scan confirms the operator is physically with the right machine before the check can begin, so checks happen at the tool, not from memory
- It starts the usage timer for hand-arm vibration monitoring, converting real trigger time into HSE exposure points against that specific tool's vibration magnitude
- It closes the loop at the end of use, with end-use checks and usage saved to the same record
Because the tag identity and the asset record are one and the same, there is no ambiguity about which machine a check, a defect report or an exposure record belongs to.
Choosing Between Them
As a rule of thumb: if the machine is large, lives outdoors, or benefits from at-a-glance colour coding, fit the rigid tag. If the tool is small, mostly metal, or has no convenient fixing point, use the 22mm on-metal label. Many organisations use both across their fleet, and the app treats them identically: a scan is a scan.
A few practical habits keep tagging reliable. Fit tags where they can be scanned without obstructing controls or guards, clean and dry the surface before applying an adhesive label, and report a damaged or missing tag the same way you would report any other defect, so the asset never becomes anonymous.
Tagging is one part of the wider picture: see every Toolminder feature in detail for how identification, checks, vibration monitoring and reporting fit together.