Tools are an essential resource for any contractor, repairman, or shop. However, all too often tool inventory control methods are either lax, outdated or not given the importance they deserve. Part of this neglect has to do with available methods for equipment tracking, as well as the time constraints of a job.
There is no need to iterate how much valuable time is spent tracking down power tools on a job site which another contractor may have borrowed or an employee misplaced, every shop manager and contractor is all too familiar with it. With proper tracking methods and software a contractor or tool crib manager can know just who borrowed what item and hold the borrower responsible for the equipment’s return. Being able to assign responsibility for equipment’s return can save tens of thousands of dollars yearly in unnecessary equipment replacement.
Most large shops and many contractors have at least a rudimentary system of tool management in place. Many times this is in the form of an equipment manager who is responsible for maintaining equipment and checking it out to authorized employees. Unfortunately, when the crib manager or operator is out sick or at lunch, then proper protocols are not always followed.
Accountability is only one of many issues companies with the old style inventory tracking methods, when it comes to equipment. Contractors on job sites do not usually carry equipment managers with them and in a large company many contractors may be in the shop at the same time requisitioning the same equipment. The effectiveness of the manual crib tracking methods and manager depends mainly on the willingness of the contractor to follow procedures and the eagle eye of the crib manager.
Grocery stores have almost completely replaced manual price labels on commodities with bar codes where the item is scanned and deducted from inventory and the correct price assigned it at the register. Equipment management software uses much the same principle. New equipment brought in is assigned a code and scanned into the machine and when equipment is borrowed it is scanned out and the responsibility of its return assigned to the employee borrowing it.
Software has become a common part of most businesses accounting tasks and therefore it is no surprise that it also figures prominently in efficient tool inventory control. By assigning a bar-code to each piece of equipment or consumable item such as nails, screws, and bolts not only can the equipment be located but over-ordering or a lack of stock for consumables can be avoided.
Contractors working on site often find that they leave a job site with fewer pieces of equipment than they brought to the job. This can be due to an oversight or brooms mops and drills borrowed by another contractor. When equipment is checked out of the shop though, the contractor knows just how many of each type they started with and who was assigned responsibility for that item.
Using modern methods tool inventory control can be as simple as scanning a particular piece of equipment and having it signed out by the employee. If the equipment is not returned at the end of the day, the borrower can be held responsible for finding it. Now more than ever when efficiency counts and profit margins are tighter, tool management is critical.
