Generate QR codes, the right way. Free tool.
FLT-7K3MQ9XW4CJD-UQR codes have become the standard way to identify assets. Good.
The problem: most of them are built the wrong way. And every service provider sticks on its own.
That's why we built a free generator that creates neutral QR codes. Codes that belong to the asset. Not to the provider.
§ 01The problem
Three labels, one asset
Walk into the plant room of a larger building. Three QR codes are stuck to the air handling unit. One from the service provider back then. One from the current one. One from an inventory project that was never finished.
Which one is valid? Nobody knows.
This happens because every service provider brings its own system and sticks on its own codes. With the next switch comes the next layer. The old ones stay on, because nobody dares to take them off.
The actual mistake: the ID belongs to the service provider. Not to the asset, and not to the owner.
A car has a chassis number. It belongs to the car, not to the garage. Change garages and the number stays. With assets it's the other way round: new garage, new number.
§ 02The mistakes
Most QR codes are built the wrong way
Even when only one code is stuck on, it often isn't usable. We see two of these mistakes first-hand at our customers; the other two are classics:
A link instead of an ID. The code contains a URL to the provider's portal. One customer's assets had exactly these QR codes. All linking to a platform that had long since gone out of use. Provider gone, link dead, code worthless. That's not a label. That's lock-in.
No protection against typos. Not every code is readable: dirty, covered, badly lit. Then someone types the number in by hand, and 0 and O or 1 and I look awfully similar. We know this from customer projects too: mistyped IDs. One wrong character, and the maintenance record ends up on the wrong asset.
Sequential numbers. 0001, 0002, 0003. Works until two buildings or two providers start at 0001. Then you have duplicates in your CAFM.
IDs with meaning. Building, floor, room and asset type in one number. Sounds tidy. Until the pump moves to another room. From then on, the ID lies.
§ 03The ID
The solution: neutral QR codes
Neutral means: the QR code contains only the ID. No link to flint. No account. No dependency, neither on us nor on any other provider. The codes work with any CAFM. Today and after the next change of service provider.
This is what an ID looks like:
FLT-Freely selectable, for example an abbreviation for the owner or portfolio. That makes it clear who the ID belongs to.
From 32 characters, without 0, O, 1 and I. That gives around 1.15 × 10¹⁸ possible IDs. Duplicates are practically ruled out, even across portfolios. And because the ID reveals nothing about the location, it stays correct when the asset moves.
UDetects every single typo and almost all transpositions. Anyone typing it in notices immediately when something is wrong.
§ 04The tool
How it works
Up to 50,000 IDs at once. Choose a prefix, set the label format, A4 sheet or roll.
PDF with print-ready label sheets. CSV with an “id” column for import into CAFM, Excel or ERP. Plus every code as SVG and PNG.
Type in an ID or read it with a handheld scanner. The tool tells you immediately whether it is valid. The check formula is openly documented and can be recalculated in any software, including Excel.
Two practical details:
Everything runs locally in your browser. The IDs only leave your computer when you download them.
The QR codes are built with high error correction. Even if around a quarter of the code is scratched or dirty, it stays readable.
QR Code Generator
The tool is free. No sign-up, no email, all downloads are free.
Generate neutral QR codesTry it out. Break it. Tell us what's missing.
§ 05Existing labels
And the old labels?
Neutral codes solve the problem from today on. The three old stickers on the air handling unit are still there.
This is where flint comes in. flint turns a smartphone video walkthrough into a structured, CAFM-ready asset inventory. In the process, flint reads every QR code on an asset, even when several providers have stuck on their own. And filters out the code of the current service provider.
Labels are the easy part. The inventory behind them is the hard part.
Want to see what that looks like for your building? Book a demo →