Tool Crib Management

What is Tool Crib Management?

Tool Crib Management is a system for managing the inflow and outflow of tools. Simply put, tool crib management is about knowing exactly what tools you have, where they’re going, and where they’ve been!

Streamlined tool crib management procedures are important for saving costs and optimizing operations in many workplaces – fire stations, manufacturing warehouses, schools, repairs shops, construction sites, farms, and more.

Benefits of Tool Crib Management

• Real-time tool data available: Gather data and information on tools 24/7 to determine which tools are being utilized and where they are located.
• Remote monitoring of tool inventory: Control inventory levels and keep track of inventory usage.
• Elevates productivity: Free up time and personnel once used to find and locate tools, so employees can concentrate on their work.
• Administrative error mitigation: Maintain compliance and organize in the workplace by storing only authorized tools.
• Reduce costs: Lower maintenance and operational costs, by optimizing the flow of supplies and materials to employees.

Tool Crib Management Challenges

Knowing where your tools are at any given time, monitoring their use, and verifying their return becomes complicated when there’s a combination of owned and leased tools, various job sites, and multiple employees.

A poorly planned or the absence of a tool crib management system can cause several challenges:

• No knowledge of tool location
• Lack of insight into everyday tasks
• Excess working hours spent looking for missing tools
• Lack of accurate records on tools
• Ineffective inventory management

Bluetooth® Low Energy for Tool Crib Management

Implementing an efficient and reliable tool crib management solution will give you complete oversight of your tools all day, every day.

At Digital Matter, we have an integrated Bluetooth Low Energy solution that requires pairing a Bluetooth Gateway with Bluetooth Tags to capture vital location data. This is an affordable alternative for tool crib management, as you are choosing a low-cost device that can be mounted to every tool or piece of equipment you have.

The Remora2 serves as a Bluetooth gateway, featuring GPS and Bluetooth 5.0 to provide GPS location and detection of nearby Bluetooth signals. These devices can be placed in the tool crib and spread out across assets on the worksite.

Our industrial Bluetooth tag variant is the Guppy Bluetooth Tag, which can be mounted on high-value tools, smaller equipment, or any non-powered mid-size assets where there is no commercial sense for a larger (and more expensive) unit.

For smaller applications or where a particular form factor is required, the Guppy Tag may not be suitable. However, as we have an ‘open ecosystem’, our Bluetooth gateways can easily integrate with almost all 3rd party Bluetooth tags for your particular use case.

The Guppy Bluetooth Tag is packed with features, making it the leading device for tool crib management:

• Up to 5 years of battery life, so will not need constant replacement
• Bluetooth 5.0 for sending asset data to Gateways
• Powered by 2 x AAA off-the-shelf, user-replaceable batteries
• Weatherproof and ultra-rugged IP67 housing
• View all Tech Specs here.

As the tools move around the worksite and in and out of tool cribs, the Guppy tag will beacon and send signals every two seconds to the nearest Bluetooth Gateway within range. The Gateway then sends a list to Telematics Guru, our white-label GPS tracking platform, or any other third-party tracking platform. With this information, we know that our tags are in the vicinity of the gateway, i.e in Shed A, Site A, or the North East corner of the worksite.

For a more advanced Bluetooth vehicle tracking solution, the G120 equipment and vehicle GPS device is equipped with a Bluetooth 5.0 module, enabling it to also act as a Bluetooth Gateway.

Bluetooth Tag vs. GPS Tag

We have a range of tags with flexible options for tool crib management, so you can find a solution that works for you.

Bluetooth Tag (e.g. Guppy BLE Tag)

Pros

• Lower platform cost
• Lower device cost
• Use any tag that fits – not as easy for tracking devices

Cons

• If the asset is out of range from the gateway, you won’t have visibility (not ideal for theft recovery)
• No SIM card up front or recurring costs

GPS Tag (e.g. Yabby)

Pros

• Always know where your asset is, so long as you are within cellular coverage which can be close to guaranteed for most applications
• Additional features – movement alerts, trip history, high g-force events, recovery mode, and more

Cons

• Generally, higher platform cost
• Higher device cost
• Recurring SIM cost and upfront SIM cost, added hassle of installing SIMs and managing SIM

Get in touch with us today to discuss tool crib management solutions with Bluetooth and GPS, or learn more about GPS tool tracking here!

Let’s Get Started

Submit the form below to get in touch with a Digital Matter representative from your region.

Looking for support? Check out our knowledge base.

Information on becoming a Digital Matter Partner.

Information on pricing, availability, and proof of concept.

Guidance on selecting the right products for your application.