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commercial tool management/tracking

RoyBell

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
362
Location
Chicago
What does everyone use for tool management for commercial applications. Mainly battery tools.

Milwaukee rep came by trying to sell their one-key system. While I love the concept, the price is just not there yet. He gave me one of their Ticks to try..but they are too bulky to install on any battery tools.

As a result of the rep coming by and local blow out sale, I scored some phenomenal deals quite a few fuel systems.

In the past, we have tried a number system but it's still hard to track them. I asked other shops what they do and some have bar code systems. However, the system is sticky at their shop and doesn't let the guys in the field scan the tools if they move sites.

For shops of 15 or more guys, it becomes very difficult to manage/track battery tools. At $500 for some of these specialty tools, I would like a solid way of tracking/managing them. What's everyone's experience and is there really any good way?

The Easiest thing to do would be to buy everyone a complete tool set. Financially, this is almost impossible. A complete set would be almost 3K for everyone to have. With 15 guys, that's the price of 2 work trucks. Plus most guys don't need every single tool in the collection. Only if they are doing a specific task that requires it....Such as hammer drills and hole hawgs.

Appreciate any ideas and thoughts. Was never a fan of milwaukee but their new fuel tools are beating the snot out of the dewalt stuff we have. Plus their inovation is winning me over. Battery hole hawgs, battery knock out sets, cable cutters. Their selection of tools that share the same battery is amazing and reduces the need to have several different brands, batteries, and chargers.

I can't wait till the Onekey comes commons place and standard on all their tools. I Think that will help a ton in management and stopping stolen tools because you can basically shut them down remotely.
 
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bradleykd

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
547
Location
Georgetown, KY
I struggle with this too, so I am looking forward to answers.

My shop has 120 guys in it with access to the shop tools. The best we have been able to do so far is boxes/cabinets for each group with badge readers or specific keys. This works to provide a little bit of ownership by reducing the access to about 30 people, but we still have problems. People will leave a drawer open or cabinets unlocked and then thousands of people have access rather than the 30 or 120.

Snap-On has an awesome system they were trying to sell me that uses badge entry and imaging software to tell you who took what tool and if someone left a drawer open. Unfortunately this system is like $20,000 for one box, so it isn't really feasible in my situation where we have around 30 boxes of shared tools.

Unfortunately we are spending thousands on these guys buying tools for their own tool sets because they are never available in the shop...
 
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RoyBell

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
362
Location
Chicago
My quick google came up with a couple programs/apps that I am going to Demo.

Share my tool box. little pricey at $10/user/month. I like the fact that it's a peer to peer network though. In my case, guys share tools between jobsites all the time. It allows Jim to loan his tool to Bob and it's all recorded real time and alerts everyone. I would run 5 users now. Basically the men running the jobs. @ $500/year that would cover roughly one of the more expensive tools.

I requested a quote for Asset Panda. Looks similar.

Tracking tools for 120 people has to be a challenge! Definitely need some kind of instant checkout/badge system.
 

bradleykd

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
547
Location
Georgetown, KY
Yeah, it's pretty difficult. I really need the system they have at hotel mini-bars with the little scale. It could tell you who badged in to open the drawer and what item they took, then what item they put back.

Unfortunately, most solutions increase both space and cost to amounts that make it difficult to justify on the scale I would have to implement it.

The power tools are difficult, but because they are generally so big I don't have quite as big a problem. The hand tools and precision measuring equipment eat me alive.
 
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Stuart in MN

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Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
23,135
Location
Minneapolis
I admit I know pretty much zero about this sort of thing, but it would seem these days there must be a smart phone app that would work for the guys in the field, but do they all carry smart phones or are there some guys like me who still use a dumb one. :)
 

maxpower_hd

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2015
Messages
2,230
Location
Massachusetts
I struggle with this too, so I am looking forward to answers.

My shop has 120 guys in it with access to the shop tools. The best we have been able to do so far is boxes/cabinets for each group with badge readers or specific keys. This works to provide a little bit of ownership by reducing the access to about 30 people, but we still have problems. People will leave a drawer open or cabinets unlocked and then thousands of people have access rather than the 30 or 120.

Snap-On has an awesome system they were trying to sell me that uses badge entry and imaging software to tell you who took what tool and if someone left a drawer open. Unfortunately this system is like $20,000 for one box, so it isn't really feasible in my situation where we have around 30 boxes of shared tools.

Unfortunately we are spending thousands on these guys buying tools for their own tool sets because they are never available in the shop...

One of the shops where I work has this system. It works really well but it is pricey for sure.
 

Wileel

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2016
Messages
132
Location
Panama City FL
If the AF and now as a contractor we use TCMAX ( http://www.tcmaxsystems.com/ )and TAS before that. No clue of the cost but easy to use if you have a tool room attendant.

Way back in the day we used chits. Every one had so many and when you signed out a tool or key your chit when in its place so end of the day you could see who had what still out..
 

bradleykd

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
547
Location
Georgetown, KY
A tool room attendant would be able to solve the problem, but the cost is higher than even the most expensive automated solutions over time.
 
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