Tool tracking software
Tools do not get stolen so much as absorbed. A grinder goes into a van for one job, the van goes to another site, and three weeks later nobody can say whether it was lost, borrowed or written off — so it gets bought again. Nilstock books every tool out to a named person, with a due date, in about eight seconds.
No card, no sales call. About half an hour to your first real movement.
Why a sign-out book stops working
A book on a nail with a pen on a string is only as good as the worst day anybody had. It is not that people are dishonest — it is that the store is open all day, twenty people use it, half of them are subcontractors, and writing a line takes longer than walking out with the drill.
Replacement is quiet money. A £400 SDS drill bought three times in a year does not appear on any report as a problem; it appears as three ordinary purchases. The loss only becomes visible when somebody totals it up, and by then it is a year old.
And the knowledge sits with one person. When the storeman is on holiday, the informal system — which was working — goes with him.
How it works, start to finish
- 01
Tag what is worth tracking
Usually far fewer things than people expect: the expensive, the shared, and anything with a calibration date. Nilstock prints Code 128 labels for kit you already own, so tagging is an afternoon, not a project.
- 02
Put a screen in the store
Any tablet or spare PC, paired once with a six-character code. A barcode reader is about £30 and needs no drivers — it types like a keyboard. People can type a number instead.
- 03
Scan a badge, scan the tool
Existing ID cards work. The tool is now booked out to a named person with a due date, in under eight seconds, with gloves on.
- 04
Let it chase itself
Anything past its return date emails whoever holds it — one message per person, not one per tool. Most kit comes back because somebody was reminded, not because somebody was chased.
The whole life of a tool
Most systems handle out and back and stop there, which is why kit ends up stuck in a status nobody can clear. Nilstock covers the rest of it, and writes every step to the history with a name against it.
Out to a person
Booked to a named holder against a job number, with a due date.
Back on the shelf
Returned by anyone — if it is not the holder, that is recorded rather than refused.
Damaged
Comes back flagged, and is held off the shelf until somebody deals with it.
Away for service
Sent for calibration or repair, with a route back when it returns.
Lost, and found
Marked missing from whoever held it; one tap puts it back if it turns up.
Moved between sites
Transferred with an entry at both ends, so each depot can explain its own history.
Common questions
- What does tool tracking software actually do?
- It answers "who has it, and since when". Every tool is booked out to a named person with a due date, and every movement is appended to a ledger that is never edited. That is the difference between a system and a sign-out book: the book tells you what somebody wrote down, and only if they wrote it down.
- Do we need RFID, or will barcodes do?
- Barcodes do, for almost everyone. RFID is worth it when you need to read a whole cage at once without line of sight — and that is a different budget. Nilstock takes either: any reader that types like a keyboard works, from about £30.
- How is this different from asset management software?
- Asset management is about what you own — purchase dates, depreciation, warranty. This is about where it is right now and who is accountable for it. Nilstock does carry purchase and warranty dates, but the daily job it does is custody, and it also counts consumables, which asset products generally do not.
- Will people on site actually use it?
- Only if it is faster than not using it. That is why the terminal has no login, no menus and no training: badge, tool, confirm. If a system takes longer than walking away with the tool, it records nothing, and every honest answer about tool tracking starts there.
- What about tools that live in a van?
- A van can be a location with its own list, so "what is on van 12" has a real answer. Or issue to the technician and see everything they hold on one screen. Both work; which is right depends on whether the van or the person is the thing you actually manage.
- Can we track calibration and service dates?
- Yes. Every tool can carry a calibration or service due date, and the compliance view lists what is coming up — so an out-of-cert torque wrench is found before an auditor finds it. An item sent for service is held off the shelf until somebody puts it back.
- What happens when something goes missing?
- Mark it lost, from the record of whoever was holding it. The holder is cleared but stays on the history, so the account of what happened survives. If it turns up behind the racking, one tap puts it back on the shelf.
- How much does it cost?
- £79 or £149 per site per month, with unlimited people and unlimited terminals — never per user, because the people using it are the whole workforce. Fourteen days free, no card, and nobody rings you.
Which sector are you?
The engine is the same everywhere; the words and the examples change.
Read first, buy later
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Find out where the tools actually go
Fourteen days free. Tag a dozen things, put a tablet in the store, and see the first week’s record for yourself.