Dog Tags/Pet Smart/Epilog

[Steve Clarkson]

Epilog just sold Pet Smart over 800 lasers to be put in their stores as kiosks for dog tag engraving.......

[James Jaragosky]

Epilog just sold Pet Smart over 800 lasers to be put in their stores as kiosks for dog tag engraving.......

Hope you had Epilog stock.
You might want to find out who supplies the encodes strips to Epilog and get stock in that company as well.

On a more serious note I see opportunity for a large service contract here. 800 lasers ran by people with no experience all making minimum wage
Jim J.

[Belinda Barfield]

Epilog just sold Pet Smart over 800 lasers to be put in their stores as kiosks for dog tag engraving.......

I didn't realize they had sold that many, but the Pet Smart here in Savannah has had a laser since last October or November. They sell the engravable tags at the check out and all you have to do is by one, pop it in the machine, and type out your text - at least that's how the check out clerk explained it to me. I haven't taken the time to check it out but apparently everything is done by the customer and there is no dedicated store employee to provide this service.

[Dan Hintz]

Belinda, are you sure it's not a rotary? Pet smart (and similar large stores) have had rotary engravers for 7-8 years (or more). Same deal, customer buys a token for the machine, type sin the wanted text on a touchscreen, picks a tag design, and hits the big green 'go' button.



James, no kidding! The amount of pet hair alone floating around those stores is scary... dust bunnies galore!

[Belinda Barfield]

Belinda, are you sure it's not a rotary? Pet smart (and similar large stores) have had rotary engravers for 7-8 years (or more). Same deal, customer buys a token for the machine, type sin the wanted text on a touchscreen, picks a tag design, and hits the big green 'go' button.



James, no kidding! The amount of pet hair alone floating around those stores is scary... dust bunnies galore!

As I said, Dan, I haven't taken the time to check it out myself. I'm only going by what the check out person told me. I did specifically ask if it was a laser engraver and she said it was a laser. They did have a rotary machine that was located to the right of the entry/exit. I noticed that it was gone. I looked at the tags that are offered and they are anodized aluminum. I believe the clerk was just confused and the machine must be store employee operated.

[Belinda Barfield]

Is it possible that Epilog has come out with a new small scale engraver specifically for dog tags? One that is basically fool proof?

[James Stokes]

It was Epilog and from the way I read it was that it was a totally customer operated kiosk. The walmarts have had the customer operated kiosks for a long time. I believe these lasers are built from The Helix model.

[Martin Boekers]

Here's the Epilog link;

http://www.epiloglaser.com/news_tagworks.htm

Marty

[Martin Boekers]

A bit more info on Tag works founder.

TagWorks, LLC was co-founded in 2007 by its Chairman Richard McWilliam, a well-known sport and entertainment industry entrepreneur, who is also Chairman of The Upper Deck Company located in Carlsbad, California. TagWorks, a Tempe, Arizona-based company was established to market innovative pet products based on a patent pending laser kiosk approach that engraves designer pet tags.



ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Location Based Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:LBAS), a leading-edge family service provider of personal and pet locator devices and services, today announced it has signed its first purchase order for $3.7M with TagWorks for PetFinder® devices to be delivered January, 2009.

“By partnering with TagWorks, we secure a distribution relationship with a proven provider of leading edge pet related technology”

“By partnering with TagWorks, we secure a distribution relationship with a proven provider of leading edge pet related technology,” said Dave Morse, CEO of Location Based Technologies. “We are committed to bringing the best wireless products and experiences to U.S. customers and truly believe that PetFinder is a breakthrough product that will change the way families stay connected with their pets.”
The PocketFinder® and PetFinder family of products uses advanced technology to help families and their pets stay connected. The smallest known single-board GSM/GPS device easily fits onto the pet’s collar and can be accessed via the Internet, cell phone or landline to show its exact location in real time. In addition, the devices include several advanced features, such as allowing users to designate customizable alert areas as electronic “fences” to notify them when a pet leaves or enters a specified area or checking the 30 day history to assess your pets exercise regimen and wanderings.


Sounds like a guy on the move!

Marty

[Doug Griffith]

I'd buy stock in the company supplying filters for the fume extraction systems they plan on using.

[David Fairfield]

Waiting for the day you get a haircut by sticking your head into a kiosk like that

Dave

[Ed Lang]

I have two machines but would never use one for my pet(s) tag(s)! You may ask WHY? The color on the tags wear off and so there goes the engraving. Do you want your lost pet to be out with a tag that has no information on it!

This is one place that I feel a drag or impact marking is much better!

[Gary Hair]

I'd buy stock in the company supplying filters for the fume extraction systems they plan on using.

Lasering anodized aluminum doesn't produce much in the way of noxious fumes. When I do large batches of them I run the laser for 30-45 seconds at the end of the run and that's for almost 300 tags. For a single tag I wouldn't even bother.

Gary

[Gary Hair]

The color on the tags wear off and so there goes the engraving.

You must have defective coating. Anodized that I get from Chewbarka are extremely durable and I have never seen the coloring wear off. Done properly, anozided aluminum is extremely hard and very wear-proof. Think of all of the paintball guns and bicycle parts that are anozided.

Gary

[Scott Balboa]

I've lasered pet tags on anodized aluminum and it lasts a long time. Anodized can get scratched, blent, left in the rain, and still be legible. My puppy has one I made from black anodized and it is pretty beat up (already) but looks better than the diamond-engraved "bright brass" tag my fiance got for her a few days before I made my own version.

Oh well, how often do any of you guys get requests for engraved pet tags? At less than $10 a pop is it really going to make a dent in all of our business?