Industrial tool control with cost no object. Interesting video...(Skip to 3:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ETDwE6leK6k#t=209
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ETDwE6leK6k#t=209
When cost is not object...
- Thread starter T45
- Start date
DeliveryGuy
Well-known member
I can see this in the aviation industry. A place where a missing screwdriver bit could cost lives, or millions in damage.
r_olson_06
Well-known member
Wow that is really impressive
Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk
James-W
Well-known member
I can see where this would be of benefit to the people doing maintenance on aircraft, but for the normal average guy I think it is just a waste of money. But, that is just my opinion and we all know what opinions are like.
KMdef9
Well-known member
And the snap on slappies.
Yeah, I don't think anyone was suggesting people spend their own money on this. This is something that the corporate suits (happily) pay for when the cost is measure in $$ millions in legal liability or people's lives. For the rest of us, just fun watching work practices of other industries.
This is def. not meant to make your normal toolbox seem inferior or out of date.
This is def. not meant to make your normal toolbox seem inferior or out of date.
Rossco
Well-known member
Ah. That ain't that expensive and you can buy high quality stuff than that.
4 FN 27
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Be great if I had kids.
Last edited:
Barnabas
Well-known member
Wish I had something like that back when I was a high school shop teacher.
the gypsy
Well-known member
Great observation. I may not of thought about it myself. But on the other hand it can also be used in a dealership to store expensive scanners or specialty tools which the technician does not own. I guess it will slow tool loss (theft) also.
Wes J
Well-known member
I love whenever we see foam cutouts and everyone chimes in "aircraft blah blah blah". I've known a few aircraft mechanics. Their tool boxes look like anyone elses.
4 FN 27
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I'll back my kids things...........let me know how this pans out.
Send them up. Wood splitting season is here. Can use some slave labor. They will be well fed, housed and have access to the shop. But I think when it goes below zero they may want a kitchen pass home.
My nephews hate getting stuck here if their parents can't get a sitter. They have to work...lol...they go home dirty and wore out.
jimindm
Well-known member
My old dealer went to work on the industrial side. Instead of being a franchise owner he works for Snap On now.
The company has a few trucks that are dedicated to certain industries. Railroad, mining, manufacturing, and yes aircraft.
He came by one time in the airline truck. It had this same box and a few models down of this. This one is pretty much all automated. Others you had to scan the tool on the top and one even had a gun that you used.
It all works off barcodes inside of those foam cut outs. The foam actually comes with the box and the barcodes are there in snap on configuration. They will do other tools also, but the set up for SO tools is in the price of the box.
He stated that in a repair facility they could be set up any way they wanted, but most had a box for the tasks that they done. Avionics, interior, exterior, cockpit, wings, you name it. They can all be linked up so the boss up in his little sky box knows where every tool is, or who checked it out last.
When I first saw it I thought who would need that. Well a company that needs to keep track of their tools. Not keeping track could be a life or death situation.
It certainly is not the type of box that many of us will ever have, but if SO has went though the process of making it work and manufacturing it, you can bet there was a need and they sell them.
The company has a few trucks that are dedicated to certain industries. Railroad, mining, manufacturing, and yes aircraft.
He came by one time in the airline truck. It had this same box and a few models down of this. This one is pretty much all automated. Others you had to scan the tool on the top and one even had a gun that you used.
It all works off barcodes inside of those foam cut outs. The foam actually comes with the box and the barcodes are there in snap on configuration. They will do other tools also, but the set up for SO tools is in the price of the box.
He stated that in a repair facility they could be set up any way they wanted, but most had a box for the tasks that they done. Avionics, interior, exterior, cockpit, wings, you name it. They can all be linked up so the boss up in his little sky box knows where every tool is, or who checked it out last.
When I first saw it I thought who would need that. Well a company that needs to keep track of their tools. Not keeping track could be a life or death situation.
It certainly is not the type of box that many of us will ever have, but if SO has went though the process of making it work and manufacturing it, you can bet there was a need and they sell them.
This is probably for an aviation company that wants to unify the tools system away from personal boxes of personal tools. Or a VERY Hugh end shop that supplies the tools and has seen what losing a few can cost. Other than that... Maybe on a few decades, it'll look different to us normies
Worked at both prisons and aviation and can see the point of tool control and would be nice. As far as jeremy v's question about hardware is concerned there have been times were we have had to count out what we need for hardware before bringing it into an area. Pop rivets in the prisons were a pain because we had to save the tails to show we used what we said. Very time consuming and frustrating on occasion especially when something gets dropped and then has to be found.
Dave
Dave
The one thing cool about this that would be nice to see more widely available is simple foam trays build to spec form cad/cam with the p/n marked clearly. This has to be a trivail expense for snap on to do incrementally, and would be nice if made more available. As right now scanning tools or outliningthem is a hassle and there is alot of repeated work.
eg, say you want to have some basic tools shadowed, like a common set of 10-19 metric wrenches or a 6 piece screwdriver set, your common drive sets 1/4 and 3/8 that many people may have. The reality is most people need to mix and match. Whereas the corporate sales guys are selling this as a turn-key solution. That is what I see as the main gap right now. Forcing every single item to be snap on is what makes this impractical right now (on top of everything else).
But maybe in another couple of years you could get a drawer of go to tools done up at some reasonable cost even if other parts of the box are not 100% tool control. We are seeing this with the european brands like hazet and facom, but everone wants to keep tool contol as a proprietary gimmick to sell you more tools from one brand, at the expense of making the customer's life easy!
eg, say you want to have some basic tools shadowed, like a common set of 10-19 metric wrenches or a 6 piece screwdriver set, your common drive sets 1/4 and 3/8 that many people may have. The reality is most people need to mix and match. Whereas the corporate sales guys are selling this as a turn-key solution. That is what I see as the main gap right now. Forcing every single item to be snap on is what makes this impractical right now (on top of everything else).
But maybe in another couple of years you could get a drawer of go to tools done up at some reasonable cost even if other parts of the box are not 100% tool control. We are seeing this with the european brands like hazet and facom, but everone wants to keep tool contol as a proprietary gimmick to sell you more tools from one brand, at the expense of making the customer's life easy!
rlitman
Well-known member
I could see it having a place in some situations. Aviation is not the only place where FOD can be a big issue. I could see the same technology used in an operating room (ummm, where did I leave the retractor?). Any place that assembles turbines. Servicing nuclear power plants?
edit:
Prison kitchen or workshop? Work on satellites? Mars rovers? They're all niche uses, but I can think of a LOT of places where this might be useful.
As the title implies, there are times when throwing money at a problem may be a good solution.
General or commercial or military aviation? They've all got different requirements.
Last edited:
Richard Cranium
Well-known member
They look great, But way out of my budget.
stuk4x4
Active member
I’ve worked in Naval Aviation for the past 19 years and all our tools are etched, silhouetted, and laid out in foam in roll around boxes, we have carry boxes that **** to no end as far as durability however they do keep the tools ATAF (All Tools Accounted For). I have been to many different airports when I worked on the airshow network and the thing that I found was that most former military guys set up their tool boxes like they were still on active duty. The regular guy that wasn’t in military aviation just had everything thrown in their boxes. I am an offender of both at home in my shop. I will say that it is a lot faster to work when everything is organized and in its place!
Maine Coon
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2016
- Messages
- 33
I remember Formula 1 crash, maybe 15 years ago, when pliers got stuck somewhere in the cockpit.
speed bump
Well-known member
I like it, considering the amount of time we spend on inventory, 5S, and checking calibration dates I could see it being beneficial even if FOD isn't your primary worry.
RV8guy
Well-known member
There are some big aircraft companies that require that type of tool control before you are allowed out in the hangar bays. My box is pretty neat but not like that. A buddy of mine has a 72 inch bottom cab loaded like 10 pounds of **** in a 5 pound sack.
cvairwerks
Well-known member
We've got drawer cabinets, and large door cabinets that have little flipper tags with RFID tapes on them, and job kits that are RFID'd and had them about 7 years now. Where the Snap On system and what we have break down is when you have to do a serialized tool inventory. None of the systems work well for that unless you can individually tag each and every tool. The 2D laser engraved block system works well for that , but it's a huge pain to check tools in and out. With that system, one must individually scan each tool and verify that the system captures the scan.
Something else that will confuse the heck out of most systems is having multiples of tools. In our case, we have up to 5 each of certain high use tools in the cabinet, as we average anywhere from 1 to 15 guys working in a single run station.
The systems have their place, but for the average shop/mech/tech that is not working in a FOD/FME enviroment, they are nothing more than a heavy expense.
We also have badged access cabinets for some of our hardware and consumables. One type requires a manual entry of what is removed, and you can only remove a single item at a time on the screen. We also have scaled parts bins and the system automatically charges out anything when the scale changes for the individual bin. All of the door cabinets are a pain..
We have 100% tool control and losing anything on the hangar floor, in what is known as the aircraft shadow, is a major problem. Loose a washer, and the entire aircraft gets shut down until it's found or QA management determines it's not a hazard and writes it up as such.
Something else that will confuse the heck out of most systems is having multiples of tools. In our case, we have up to 5 each of certain high use tools in the cabinet, as we average anywhere from 1 to 15 guys working in a single run station.
The systems have their place, but for the average shop/mech/tech that is not working in a FOD/FME enviroment, they are nothing more than a heavy expense.
We also have badged access cabinets for some of our hardware and consumables. One type requires a manual entry of what is removed, and you can only remove a single item at a time on the screen. We also have scaled parts bins and the system automatically charges out anything when the scale changes for the individual bin. All of the door cabinets are a pain..
We have 100% tool control and losing anything on the hangar floor, in what is known as the aircraft shadow, is a major problem. Loose a washer, and the entire aircraft gets shut down until it's found or QA management determines it's not a hazard and writes it up as such.
Last edited:
Superbec
Well-known member
I've worked in plants that have some tool control , usually for expensive or trained operator machines and stuff like that, you go to the tool deposit, fill a form and the tool will be given to you , you also must return it at the end of the shift...
Small bolts, disposables and sometimes even safety glasses were "free" use as many as you need .
This is a nice system for any large company , so much easier to use contractors and own people , stuff will get returned as if you signed for it . Just less paperwork and less costs for the company over time.
I think Facom has something similar too and in the near future we can expect gps tracked tools also.
Rossco
Well-known member
I got Foam in my Box and people always give the old 'Waste of space' Jive.
My new beds for the new box are packed.
My new beds for the new box are packed.
In our company hangar we have over 20 A&Ps. We only operate jet aircraft. None of the tool boxes are shadowed. Its never been an issue.
bsaint
Well-known member
Im sure Pratt will buy it up.
I'd guess $30-40K with tools. Maybe someone can chime in
Industrial snap on is not sold by the Trucks, so you'd have to get a custom quote from a rep.
TK-421
Well-known member
Like mentioned above, I see this being very useful in the Aviation industry. A computer will be far less likely to forget a tool is missing than a person would be. I can also see the locker being quite useful in a shop environment where you can store the shop tools in it, and then you have proof as to who took what and when, and if you don't get it back then you know exactly who should be held responsible for it.
bwringer
Well-known member
Not that I'll ever need to be concerned with this, but I also wonder how flexible the system is -- what happens when you need to add a tool that Strap-On doesn't make, or if you prefer a different brand in something, or if you need multiples, or if you need to remove tools from the sets you never need? What happens when the blue foam gets dirty?
In every badge access system I've seen, there are people who have an inexplicable, powerful urge to use their badges as little as possible, so they're always "surfing" in with others no matter how severe the punishments are. As soon as they hear "Access Granted", I bet two or three people would materialize out of nowhere and start sticking their grubby paws in the drawers. Maybe it should come with a cattle prod...
I thought the batteries seemed rather awkward, too.
In every badge access system I've seen, there are people who have an inexplicable, powerful urge to use their badges as little as possible, so they're always "surfing" in with others no matter how severe the punishments are. As soon as they hear "Access Granted", I bet two or three people would materialize out of nowhere and start sticking their grubby paws in the drawers. Maybe it should come with a cattle prod...
I thought the batteries seemed rather awkward, too.
Bottlecapdigger
Well-known member
How true! All sounds good but bwringer is right. BCD.
Madc
Well-known member
As an example of an end-user and to echo others thoughts- I worked for the Real-Estate group for a major US Bank. One of our Real Estate Assets was the Airplane hangar where the bank kept the 4 jets that the Senior executives used. We also employed 6 full time mechanics who were the best in the business and performed all maintenance including complete overhauls, but also were all really cool gear-heads at heart.
They had these systems on order 18 months ago "waiting for the bugs to be ironed out". I believe they took delivery this past summer. I recall the price being close to 50K each and they were just going to replace each mechanics complete box.
Sounds crazy but in this environment (50k x 6=300k) is a rounding error and more than worth the cost for even a .1% increase is safety or damage loss.
MADC
They had these systems on order 18 months ago "waiting for the bugs to be ironed out". I believe they took delivery this past summer. I recall the price being close to 50K each and they were just going to replace each mechanics complete box.
Sounds crazy but in this environment (50k x 6=300k) is a rounding error and more than worth the cost for even a .1% increase is safety or damage loss.
MADC
cvairwerks
Well-known member
$25,700 per box, no tools. The cabinets we have run somewhere around $50k each, no tools.
CrotalusAtrox
Well-known member
My teams use a manual method when working on electrical distribution gear for our data centers. It would be nice to have it automated.
Parabellum
Banned
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2014
- Messages
- 888
I could see tool insurance premiums going down since that technology is basically foolproof, could even recognize a pen substituted for a wrench according to one of the comments.
MikeF2316
Well-known member
After the torque wrench goes out for its overdue calibration, how long before it kicks the *** of the Snap-on guy who has forgotten he has it? 