Tool Management

Benefits and Cost Savings

By Christine Ball
Dec 13^th, 2010

As individuals rely more heavily on technology to make life “easier” a movement towards automating end user transactions is well underway. Whether withdrawing cash at the drive up ATM machine any time of day (or night), swiping your pass card to access your local gym or paying for groceries at the self service checkout, solutions like these drive efficiencies, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

Why not employ these same efficiencies within your business?

Under constant pressure to cut costs, companies need flexible, affordable solutions that improve productivity and save money by providing complete visibility over every aspect of their tool crib and equipment inventory.

A simple and effective solution to address point of use inefficiencies is tool crib automation. By automating the tool crib you can efficiently track tool and equipment inventories, automate purchasing and increase staff accountability.

“Companies managing their tools with a paper system have cited tool loss as high as 40 to 50 percent on large jobs.” remarked Dean Perry, President of ToolHound. “Over time this can add up to significant financial losses not to mention the loss of productivity due to missing tools and equipment.”

There are several benefits to automating the tool crib which include:

1.       Complete tool control with a potential 25% reduction in annual tool budget.

2.       Reduce hording and theft

3.       Speed and accuracy of transactions which increases staff productivity.

4.       Improved purchasing processes.

Automation can be achieved using self-service touch-screen kiosk devices combined with tool tracking software like ToolHound’s award winning tool and equipment management solutions. Self- service terminals enable your employees to check out their own tools and equipment at the point of use using a bar code scanner. In many cases these types of solutions are out of the box and have a simple and efficient interface for employees that require little or no training.  The installation of self-service terminals with tool tracking capability results in an almost immediate return on investment.

To further improve efficiencies within the tool crib, companies are also considering RFID solutions. RFID tags are added to employee badges and to all tools and equipment. As an employee enters or exits the tool crib, the RFID portal automatically reads the tags of the tools they are taking or returning. RFID eliminates the need to manually scan the bar code on each item. This allows job-site managers to easily track which tools have left the tool crib, who has them, and which tools or equipment need to be replenished.

With an effective tool crib tracking system you can ensure that your employees will find the right tool when they need it and where they need it and you will have more money going to your bottom line.

For more information about tool crib automation please click here.

To view full newsletter please click here.

President's Message

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.

The market has been tough on all of us over the last couple years, but there has been some good that has come out of it.

What good, you ask? We have been reminded of how important our partnerships with you, our customers, and our technology partners are. We are thankful you trust us to provide tool and equipment management solutions to your organization.

Those of us who have spent this challenging time building strong partnerships and alliances will be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities when the market turns around.

So what do business partnerships do for us?

At ToolHound, our partnerships with our customers help us in the ongoing development of our product. We listen to feedback from our customers, building up a body of expertise on the issues and challenges they are experiencing. This expertise allows us to improve our product so tool and equipment management functions can be carried out more efficiently, reliably and profitably. As a result, our customers continue to see the increased value of our ToolHound solutions year after year.

Our business partnerships with leading technology providers like Honeywell, Intermec, Xerafy, and Impinj have allowed us to package our software solutions with state of the art mobile data collection and RFID technology, giving our customers all the tools required to get a return on their investment quickly.

We value these relationships and continue to encourage you to take advantage of our ToolHound blog and  these bi-monthly updates not only for us to communicate with you, but for you to communicate with ToolHound, and in turn, other users in the ToolHound family.

Regards,

Dean Perry

 

President's Message

Welcome to the August edition of the ToolHound eUpdate.

This month’s edition of the ToolHound eUpdate is focused on training. After a number of years without one, and the first one under the new management team, ToolHound is excited to be offering a three day User Conference in October 2010 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Training and development is the framework for helping you develop your personal organizational skills, knowledge and abilities. Training ensures that you and your company can effectively accomplish work goals and meet business requirements. In addition, training enhances the return on your company’s technology investment by learning to use the technology as efficiently as possible.

Our User Conference agenda has been specifically developed to help attendees reach these goals. It doesn't matter if you are new to ToolHound, or a seasoned veteran, this event is an ideal opportunity to be educated, motivated and to become an active part of the ToolHound community. The event offers a great chance to meet the ToolHound team and other ToolHound users and to learn best-practices for optimizing your ToolHound. In addition, we’ll be presenting our product roadmap and soliciting your feedback so you can help us set the direction we go.

The right training, development and education provides big payoffs for you and your company in increased productivity and knowledge. So take advantage of the user conference and the fast track sessions and sign up today.

Regards,

Dean Perry

To read the full newsletter please click here.

 

President's Message

Welcome to the June edition of the ToolHound eUpdate.

This month’s edition of the ToolHound eUpdate is focused on Habitat for Humanity. As many of you know, ToolHound is a dedicated supporter of this wonderful and necessary cause. Because we fervently believe that access to safe and affordable housing is a basic human right that should be available to all, we provide ToolHound software at no charge to Habitat for Humanity chapters across North America.  This is our way of giving back to the community.

In this month’s eUpdate we have included a couple of great stories highlighting our most recent work with the Habitat for Humanity chapters in Kauai, Hawaii and Northern Fox Valley, Illinois.

We encourage you, our ToolHound family, to support a Habitat for Humanity in your area.

If you would like to learn more about what ToolHound is doing with Habitat for Humanity please don’t hesitate to give me a call. We look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,

Dean Perry

To read the full newsletter click here.

President's Message

Did you know that the RFID global market is set to grow at a rate of 28% in the period from 2010-2013?

Welcome to the ToolHound eUpdate for April 2010.

I am just back from sunny Orlando, Florida where I had the opportunity to speak at RFID Journal Live 2010 on behalf of ToolHound. I was pleased to see that tool tracking was well covered in this years agenda topics and in the exhibition hall, many exhibitors showed small rugged tags that work on metal tools and can stand up to tougher conditions.

The ToolHound session focused on Tool and Equipment Tracking and RFID and was well attended by over 40 construction folks from across the country. As a leader in providing RFID technology, ToolHound understands that the current RFID application landscape is evolving into new and innovative business solutions. Participating in events, such as the RFID Journal Live, gives us the opportunity to hear from the folks who will, ultimately, receive the greatest benefit from these solutions.

If you would like to learn more about RFID technology and how it fits into your organizations future don’t hesitate to give me a call. And, as always, if you have ideas for future topics for our ToolHound eUpdate please email them to marketing@toolhound.com.

Regards,

Dean Perry

To read the full newsletter click here.

President's Message

I am pleased to welcome you to the second edition, and the first for 2010, of the ToolHound eUpdate. Can you believe we are already at the end of February? Wow, what a start to the year!

In 2010, we, at ToolHound, are faced with an interesting challenge; what can we do to help our customers remain competitive in a still shaky economy?

It is our commitment to you to provide ongoing value to your organization by continuing to advance our ToolHound solution and by staying on top of the most recent technologies available on the market. We continue to provide the highest level of support to our customers so you can be confidant that we are always here when you need us.

Staff turn over and position changes need not impact your business - our ongoing training courses are readily available to help our customers remain current with their technology investment. In addition, we provide training for those who are ready to take advantage of some of the more advanced features of the ToolHound solution.

Finally, as many of you know, we have developed the ToolHound User Group and Blog. This is a forum for our customers to not only communicate with our team directly but also with each other. It is an opportunity for us to learn from one another in an effort to continue to grow the ToolHound solution.

As always, if you have suggestions, or content, for our eUpdate, please do not hesitate to contact our Communication department directly at marketing@toolhound.com or give me a call.

All the best,

Dean Perry

To read the full newsletter please click here.

President's Message

As a famous musician once wrote, "…the times they are a changin…" and while the last two years have been challenging for our industries the future looks brighter than ever.

 

As we approach the holiday season I look back over the last year. This past year has been a year of change at ToolHound, but we have never lost sight of our core business strategy: To continue to innovate in product development and further strengthen our commitment to bringing our customers leading edge technologies that will help you save money and improve efficiencies across your organization.

As I look toward the future I can see the silver lining. Though it’s true that many companies have cut back or are still cutting back on expenses during this time, carefully calculated investments in technology can bring both immediate payback and long-term success. But you already know this, you are a ToolHound customer.

In an effort to support our customers as you wade through the latest and greatest technologies we have created the ToolHound eUpdate. This is a bi-monthly newsletter that is a collaboration between all our team members focusing on what is new in the industry but also, addressing issues and questions we hear from you our customers.

We hope you find this information relevant to your business and look forward to hearing ideas and suggestions from you. If you have stories, questions or ideas you would like to share please don’t hesitate to forward them to our communications representative Christine Ball at christine.ball@toolhound.com.

From all of us at ToolHound, have a safe and happy Holiday Season, we look forward to working with you in 2010.

Regards,

 Dean Perry

To read the full newsletter please click here.

ToolHound is proud to announce the release of ToolHound Mobile 4.  

Developed using .NET technology and running on the newest generation of Windows Mobile devices, ToolHound Mobile is easier to use and more powerful than ever.

Working in conjunction with ToolHound Desktop, ToolHound OnSite or ToolHound OnLine, ToolHound Mobile stores validation data and user generated transactions on the device allowing you to collect data anywhere. Collected data is synced to the main application using the devices’ communication cradle.

Employing integrated bar code and RFID readers^*, ToolHound Mobile can efficiently and accurately:

· Issue and return tools, equipment and consumables

· Transfer inventory from one location to another

· Take a physical count of inventory

· Locate missing tools^*

· Receive inventory with or without a purchase order

· Assign bar codes and RFID tags to inventory

· Complete digital work orders

· Record equipment meter readings

 ^* RFID capabilities available on Intermec CN3 mobile computer with IP30 RFID reader

Now is the time to trade-up to the Dolphin 9900. Honeywell will give a $150 US rebate when you send in your Dolphin 9500 after purchasing a Dolphin 9900.

Check this link for more details.