Tagging Procedure

Each department has a designated Unit Asset Coordinator (UAC) who is expected to be responsible for tagging equipment and issuing assets in Workday.

Assets in Workday remain in Registered status until the full order is received and the asset is issued by the UAC. The asset will show up in your Asset Alert Notifications (here is a link to a document that details this process). When you are updating an asset and preparing to issue it to a worker, one required field is ‘Asset Identifier’ (there is a screenshot of this on page 4 of the document linked above). The Asset Identifier is the Workday name for the UW tag number; even though Workday assigns an AST asset number to each item, State and Federal regulations require us to physically attach a unique identifier to each piece of equipment, and the UW Tag is that unique identifier.

 

Below are criteria for tagging assets and the process for ordering tags.

Ordering Tags

  • To order equipment tags, the inventory contact must fill out the online Equipment Tag Request Form. This can also be found in the Quick Links box on the lower right side of any of our Equipment Inventory Office web pages.
  • Complete the online form and submit to Equipment Inventory.
  • Please be prepared to submit the following information:
    • First and last name
    • Department name
    • Cost Center (for record-keeping purposes - there is no charge  for equipment tags)
    • Type of tag desired
    • Quantity of tags needed (any multiple of 25)
    • UW box number
  • Inventory contacts should always have tag stock on hand for new equipment.

Tagging Equipment

  • If equipment is equal to or greater than $5,000, it should be tagged with a dark purple bar code tag (in a visible, central part of the equipment) within 3-7 days after receipt (unless prior arrangements are made with EIO).  Even if the item is to remain in its box for some time before use, ideally it should be opened and inspected, and tagged.
  • When the asset shows up on the UAC Asset Alert list, it indicates that it is ready to be updated and issued in Workday. Certain information is required to remove the asset from your Notifications list: 
    • UW Tag Number
    • Location
    • Custodian/Issued to
    • Serial Number

This is a good time to make sure the description matches what the PI or custodian will call the asset; sometimes information that is better recorded in the Memo field is left in the descriptor, and vice versa. The Memo field is not searchable in Workday’s ‘Find Assets’ report, but the description is.

  • If equipment is less than $5,000 and a department chooses to tag and track it, it must be tagged with a beige bar code tag (in a visible, central part of the equipment). If you have questions about tagging and tracking non-inventorial assets (less than $5000 in value), please see the non-inventorial-equipment page.
  • If your equipment is Agency or Federally titled, you will need to add a yellow tag next to the UW tag to indicate that it is not property of the University of Washington. More information on tagging these assets can be found here. You can order these yellow tags using the Tag Request Form and selecting one or both of those options.

Updating Tag Numbers

Tag numbers may need to be updated for a variety of reasons:

  • When an equipment item is defective and is exchanged under warranty;
  • When a tag is damaged;
  • When a tag is being updated, such as going from an old silver tag to a bar code tag; or
  • When correcting a data entry error.

For internal control purposes, departments should not make tag number changes. Please send an email to eio@uw.edu with the old tag number, the new tag number and the reason the tag number change is needed and we will change it for you.

 

Last updated 26 August 2026