
Metalcraft, a leader in creating property identification solutions, has reached a substantial milestone. For three years, Metalcraft’s Inlay Innovation brand has allowed us to customize RFID tags to fulfill our customer’s needs. Inlay Innovation designs everything but the chip in-house in Ames, Iowa, which guarantees that the RFID components will fit together.

To celebrate three years of creating custom inlays to fit your application, we interviewed our RFID Inlay Technician, Corey Kyarsgaard and our RFID Inlay Assembler, Joe Hook about their thoughts and experiences with the Inlay Innovation brand at Metalcraft.
What are the benefits of having a custom RFID inlay?
CK (Corey Kyarsgaard): The benefit of having a custom inlay is that it allows the end user to have the ability to optimize their RFID tag’s performance for their exact application. Custom inlay allows us to improve on the I.C. (integrated circuit) type, read range, orientation and sensitivity of an inlay. With a standard inlay off of the shelf, it may only function somewhat well for their application.
How has Inlay Innovation assisted Metalcraft over the years?
CK: Inlay Innovation has assisted Metalcraft in a few big ways.
Inlay Innovation has lead to significant cost savings for Metalcraft. By producing our flagship inlays like the Universal, Mini and R11, we’ve helped to cut down on manufacturing costs and lead times.
We are able to design and produce inlay prototypes and smaller pilot orders for new projects from Metalcraft and its customers. This allows for faster prototyping and sampling to be done versus having to go to outside companies that produce sample inlays.
As we’ve moved into our third year, we’ve started to produce not only inlays, but also laser IUID polyacrylic labels with 100% verification. Inlay Innovation has also begun providing service bureau encoding and thermal transfer printing for Metalcraft RFID tags.
What changes have you seen with Inlay Innovation since you first started three years ago?
CK: The biggest change since day one definitely has to be the addition of new equipment and the capabilities that came along with them.
One of the added pieces of equipment is the ESPEC BTX Climate Chamber for testing inlays in higher/lower temperatures. This machine also lets us test out high humidity conditions to see how they affect inlay bonding strength.
The Boss Laser lets us create prototype inlay samples for testing new inlay antenna designs and materials.
The CAB Laser makes roll-to-roll IUID polyacrylic tags.
Our thermal-transfer printers allow us to encode and print asset tags.
With all of these new additions, we have grown to be more profitable while creating prototypes for customers at a faster pace. With all of this growth, we may need some more space in the following years to come.
What has been your favorite part of working at Inlay Innovation?
CK: My favorite part of working at Inlay Innovation is that as the engineer, I get to design and build prototypes for customers. I enjoy the challenge of an inlay project and trying to create a solution for the customers’ RFID needs.
JH (Joe Hook): I enjoy the ability to take ownership in my work while seeing our continuous growth every day.
What are some future goals for Inlay Innovation?
CK: The number one goal of Inlay Innovation is to keep building our customer base so that we can be running the Muhlbauer DDA 40k at full capacity. We want to build our customer base to the point where we need another DDA in Ames.
JH: A newer goal going into the fiscal year of 2025 is to transfer, set up and start running the Delta Crusader down here in Ames to help with converting our Universal and Mini products for final assembly in Mason City.
If you’re looking to learn more about Inlay Innovation or you want to talk to one of our RFID Specialists about a potential application, please contact us at 800-437-5283 or [email protected].