The Technology Behind Bluetooth Enabled Equipment Tracking

Our new Bluetooth enabled equipment tracking has been described as the missing piece of the asset management jigsaw. But, how will this new innovation help you to enhance productivity by bringing greater visibility and improve automation of your processes?

Until now, ON!Track has allowed the construction industry to track assets via a system of rugged barcode tags that communicate with cloud-based asset management software. This is a reliable solution to identify tools or equipment, assign it to the responsible person and location as well as maintain all the relevant associated documentation. 

However, if for example, a worker forgets to update the location of an asset by scanning the tag, then it can be hard to work out where that item has gone. So, some of our customers asked us to find a way to address this. That’s why we developed Bluetooth enabled ON!Track smart tags to solve the problem and make ON!Track even more valuable to the industry. With an average of 35% of all construction projects having a major change part-way through the build, you don’t want to waste precious time looking for tools…

By working closely with some of our customers worldwide, we put the new system through its paces. It's very much part of  our culture at Hilti to have direct contact with customers onsite, and the rapport we have built up with them means we listen to their ideas and develop solutions to help solve their everyday challenges.

We put a lot of thought and research into designing the Bluetooth enabled equipment tracking that could deliver the functionalities that our customers were asking for. The challenges they set-out were to develop a solution that reduce the chances of losing high value assets and being able to conduct quick and accurate inventory checks.

Firstly, we investigated the potential of over 30 different solutions before creating a new kind of rugged tag that combines Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies.

Thanks to close collaboration with our customers, we tested our new Bluetooth enabled ON!Track smart tags in the real world, mainly rugged jobsite conditions. It is now quickly establishing itself as a vital part of what is becoming the go-to asset management solution for the construction industry. 

Nearly 60% of construction companies are not investing in any new technologies, and this lack of investment prevents companies from leveraging technology to improve jobsite productivity, quality and delivering projects on time.

Bluetooth enabled equipment tracking can help in three main ways…

1)     Check your inventory at the touch of a button. By using the Bluetooth capabilities of your mobile device, you can quickly check the inventory of a location nearby - saving time and improving accuracy.

2)     Check where an item was last seen to avoid wasting time searching for it - Equipment with Bluetooth tags will have a last seen location based on the location of the nearest ON!Track user.

3)     Quickly check what is nearby so nothing is lost or left behind, a solution that will save time and money.

At Hilti, we know construction asset management is crucial for almost every business, and keeping track of tools and equipment of all shapes and sizes on construction sites is a challenge. ON!Track asset management solutions can help digitalise processes around tools and equipment to gain efficiency and competitive advantage. By adding our exciting Bluetooth innovation to ON!Track, we’re taking asset management to the next level.