Integration Automatically and Accurately Allocates Tool and Equipment Costs to Job Costs, Reducing Worker Down Time and Manual Data Entry
Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) and the Hilti Group, a global leader providing innovative tools, technology, software, and services to the commercial construction industry, announced today that the Hilti ON!Track asset management system will integrate with Trimble Viewpoint Vista, an ERP solution within the Trimble Construction One suite.
The announcement was made at Trimble Dimensions+ Conference.
The integration is Hilti’s first North American integration with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, and provides a solution for unified tool tracking and more accurate, automatic job allocation, giving contractors one source of truth for tracking and managing their tools and equipment.
Now instead of having to manually look, call or guess where tools are or how much to invoice based on their use, contractors can more easily track their tools and equipment in one place and automatically know how much—and where—they were used so that an accurate amount of equipment time can be invoiced. This eliminates the need to spend clerical time manually inputting utilization data, and even manually tracking it in the field.
“Our research shows that each jobsite loses on average one day per month of productivity due to workers searching for tools. In addition, the contractors end up spending up to 90 hours per month tracking tools: in essence, productivity loss for both workers and contractors due to lack of an effective asset/tool management platform,” said Michael McGowan, region head and CEO of Hilti North America. “Hilti ON!Track, the world leading asset management solution, helps eliminate this by tracking tools using field-ready active and passive tags, Bluetooth technology and Gateways. An integration between ON!Track and Viewpoint Vista maximizes the benefits of asset/tool tracking data by automatically providing contractors the information they need to track, allocate, bill and estimate for accurate tool and equipment use.”
The tracking of tools and equipment use and costs in one centralized place better prevents equipment loss and theft. It also eliminates the need to manually enter tool use and costs, which are often subject to double entry and human error.
“We know that contractors have a lot to manage already, and that equipment is one of their most important assets,” said Lawrence Smith, vice president and general manager of construction management solutions at Trimble. “This integration is yet another way we are automating and connecting data for contractors, which streamlines workflows and helps contractors more efficiently deploy their people and assets to build profitable projects.”
“Tracking small tools—whether in repair status, on location or with employees and the associated costs—is one of the most ineffective parts of accounting and internal controls in a construction company,” said Maria Lumke, CFO of Waterline Industries, a New Hampshire-based civil general contractor. “We have tried many things, including inventorying vans, assigning tools to employees and assigning tools to jobs – to no avail. The product Trimble and Hilti have developed will be a revolutionary step for internal controls and accountability of tools in a construction company.”
“Hilti ON!Track has greatly reduced the ‘run to the store and buy what you need’ when we already own and have tools nearby,” said Keeley O’Brien, president and CEO of O’Brien Co., an Oregon-based general contractor. “It takes mere seconds to transfer tools in the field, eliminating excuses about not having the right tools because no one knows where they are. It’s made it very easy to inventory, track history, and locate tools and equipment.”
Connecting Hilti ON!Track to Trimble Construction One is another way Trimble serves stakeholders across the entire construction lifecycle, providing visibility into true project costs and correct resource allocations so they get the right information at the right time to make the right decisions.
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