Card Solutions for Customer Engagement
Richard O. Warther founded Vanguard ID Systems in 1987 after inventing the bar coded key tag. His aim was to manufacture bar coded transaction cards for the retail and restaurant industries. Today, the company is a pioneer and leader in the manufacturing of custom card solutions with over 38 patents to serve all industries and applications, including healthcare, fitness, retail & automotive
Our retail and restaurant clients engage their customers with loyalty, gift, and promotional cards—in all shapes and sizes to drive engagement and foot traffic. Libraries, fitness centers, and healthcare industry benefit from our membership cards. Vanguard’s RFID cards provide the upmost security for access control to your office, store, or facility; contactless payments for consumers to complete transactions; and time and attendance card systems. All card solutions offer the best synthetic materials and latest technologies.
Vanguard is headquartered in West Chester, PA. Its operations are centralized within a single 55,000-square-foot facility, which includes: manufacturing, printing, and fulfillment; technology innovation center, sales and customer service pavilion, and graphic design team.
1987
Vanguard ID Systems opens first office in Exton, PA
1989
Invented the industry’s first Barcoded Key Tag
1990
First U.S. Patent #4,978,146 – Label & Barcode Manufacturing
1990
Re-located to Oaklands Corporate Center in Exton, PA
1991
Introduced FamilyPak™ for retail, restaurant & membership cards
1994
100 million Key Tags sold worldwide
1995
Operations expand and office space doubles
1996
U.S Patent #5,495,981 – Transaction Card Mailer & Manufacturing Process
1996
Introduced Promotional Mailer products
1996
Introduced radio-frequency identification (RFID) products
1997
Introduced ShortPak™ for retail, restaurant & membership cards
1998
U.S. Patent #5,743,567 – Integral Printed Sheer Products
1998
U.S. Patent #5,769,457 – Printed Sheet Mailers & Manufacturing Process
1999
250 million Key Tags sold worldwide
1999
Introduced MagTag® & U.S. Patent #5,863,076
2000
Wins ICMA Best Non-Secure Card Design Award (McDonald’s McBreak)
2000
U.S. Patent #6,010,159 – Integral Printed Self-Mailer Sheet Products
2000
500 million Key Tags sold worldwide
2000
U.S. Patent #6,039,356 – Printed Sheet Products
2000
Purchased 55,000 sq. ft. facility for headquarters in West Chester, PA
2001
750 million Key Tags sold worldwide
2001
U.S. Patent #6,305,716 – FamilyPak™ Printed Sheets with Coupons
2004
U.S. Patent #6,779,727 – Voter Ballots & Authentication System
2004
U.S. Patent #6,769.718 – Mag Cards with Unique Printed Codes
2005
Wins ICMA Elan Award for Technical Achievement
2006
U.S. Patent #6,994,262 – Printed Sheet Products, Removable RFID Elements
2007
U.S. Patent #7,204,652 – Printed Planar RFID Elements
2007
Named ICMA Elan Finalist in Technical Achievement & People’s Choice
2007
1 billion Key Tags sold worldwide
2007
U.S. Patent #7,225,993 – Printed Planar RFID Elements
2008
Wins ICMA Elan Award in the Category of Access Control
2009
Wins ICMA Elan Award in the Category of Judge’s Choice
2010
U.S. Patent #7,584,896 – Printed Planar RFID Elements
2010
U.S. Patent #7,845,569 – Permanent RFID Luggage Security Features
2010
U.S. Patent #RE41,925 – Integral Printed Self-Mailer Sheet Products
2010
Wins ICMA Elan Award in the Category of Access Control
2011
U.S. Patent #7,909,955 – Printed Planar RFID Elements
2011
U.S. Patent #8,052,061 – Permanent RFID Luggage Tag with Security Features
2012
U.S. Patent #8,235,000 – Printed Sheet Products with Integral, Removable RFID Elements
2013
U.S. Patent #8,585,852 – Methods of Making Printed Planar RFID Elements
2014
U.S. Patent #8,622,434 – Printed Sheet Mailers & Methods of Making
2014
U.S. Patent #8,654,018 & #8,636,220 – Printed Planar RFID Element Wristbands and Like Personal Identification Devices
2014
U.S. Patent #2,603,994 Canadian Patent – Printed Sheet Products with Integral, Removable RFID Elements
2015
U.S. Patent #8,973,831 – Standoff RFID Elements
2015
EP RCD Nos. 002619262-0001/-0003 – Electronic Luggage Tag
2015
German Utility Model Registration #202014106266.1 – Programable Electronic Luggage Tag
2015
Chinese Utility Model Patent #ZL201420833378
2015
U.S. Patent #9,224,084 – Smart Device Programmable Electronic Luggage Tag
2016
U.S. Patent #D765,785 – Electronic Luggage Tag
2017
Celebrates 30-year anniversary delivering custom card solutions
2017
16 billion Cards manufactured worldwide
2018
ViewTag LLC formed to provide Electronic Bag Tags to airlines using RFID technology
2018
U.S. Patent #9,918,537 – Smart Device Programmable Electronic Luggage Tag and Bag Mountings Therefore
2018
U.S. Patent #10,121,101 – Electronic Luggage ID Tag
2019
U.S. Patent #D854,090 – Electronic Luggage Tag
2019
U.S. Patent #D851,175 S – Electronic Luggage Tag
2020
Australian Patent #2017203837 – Electronic Luggage ID Tag