Tracking your tools is critical, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. If you’re using a spreadsheet at the moment or even tracking your tools the old fashioned way, with a pen and paper, then tool tracking software is just what you need to streamline and simplify your processes.

We’ve compiled a short beginner’s guide to tool tracking to help take away the mystery and make it easy for you to get started.

How to track your tools: A beginner’s guide

Step 1: Purchase ‘proper’ tool tracking software

The first step towards tracking your tools better is to invest in tool tracking software. If you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably found that spreadsheets and pen and paper really aren’t enough to cut it. The tool tracking system you use must offer all the required functionality. This is something that you need to get right first time around so as not to waste any time or money and to ensure you get adoption across the wider team.

Step 2: Log your tools in your new tool tracking system

When it comes to discovering how to track your tools, knowing what tools you have in the first place is absolutely key.

Being realistic, it’s quite likely that the first element of this is to go and find all the assets you think you have. This can often involve getting a list from your accounts department of all the new tools that have been purchased and making sure each is logged in the system.

We do recommend tracking all tools within a particular area or region or site, rather than starting with a sub-set of tools as this can lead to more confusion as your team won’t know which are logged on the tool tracking software and which are still using the old process.

While you’re logging tools in the system, we highly recommend you also do the next tagging step at the same time – while you’ve got the asset in front of you!

Step 3: Tag your Tools

When you’re logging your tools into your asset tracking software, it’s helpful to tag them at the same time to avoid duplication of work and effort!

Our most commonly used tagging method is QR codes. The itemit tool tracking system also lets you tag assets with RFID tags if necessary. If you’re curious about what the differences between QR and RFID are, check out the article we wrote that discusses exactly that!

In this video, you can see how easy it is to tag your assets in itemit.

Step 4: Populate your asset records

To begin with, we always recommend adding only the key information about your assets so that the initial task is manageable. Once you’re up and running and moving towards having a full fixed asset register, you’ll need to add more information and properties to your asset records. This could be anything as your tool tracking software should allow you to add all sorts of customisable fields. Here are some of our most frequently added properties and documents:

• Item name, serial number, description
• Manufacturer
• Model
• Assignee
• Availability status
• Location
• Item type
• PAT test due date
• Inspection due date
• Replacement date
• Purchase price
• Proof of purchase 
• Warranty expiry
• Profile photo
• User manual

How you track your tools becomes far simpler when you can see all the relevant purchase, insurance, maintenance, and usage information against each and every one of your tools.

If you’d like to see how easy it is to add more properties to your assets, check out some of our quick tutorial videos below:

Step 5: Start Tracking!

The final step in how to track your tools is to, well, track them!

Once your assets are nicely logged in your new tool tracking software, and you’ve invited your team to the account so they can help to keep track of your equipment management, all that’s left to do is use the system and reap the benefits!

Each time a tool is moved to a new site and scanned, the asset’s last seen location is updated in real-time. You will see incoming issues reported against equipment in the itemit web portal.

All this information collected creates an audit trail for each unique piece of kit. With the itemit reports page, you can utilise this data to make informed decisions about maintenance priorities, replacement of assets and purchases.

In fact, itemit can do all of this and a lot more. If how to track your tools is at the top of your priority list, try itemit for free and see how easy your tool tracking can be.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

Equipment maintenance tracking is essential when it comes to ensuring your equipment is fit for purpose, safe and reliable. As your business is reliant upon its tools and equipment, you may already have a form of asset tracking software in place. 

One thing we’ve learnt from working alongside businesses is that it can be very worthwhile to simplify existing processes with the use of new technologies. Here we’ll run you through our top 3 ways to streamline the process of tracking equipment maintenance.

1 – Tag your equipment

When you’re handling large quantities of tools and equipment, it can become a little overwhelming. A really easy way to track equipment is to tag it. We recommend QR code tags as they’re low cost, familiar and easy to scan. If you’re looking to purchase some tags, do check out our metal and vinyl tagging options.

How do QR code asset tags improve equipment maintenance tracking? Great question. Once your equipment is tagged, it’s uniquely identifiable. This is crucial as each piece of kit has a different maintenance history, and so any maintenance or work done on an asset must be recorded against the individual asset. A quick scan of the asset’s tag brings up the profile page for that piece of kit and gives you access to all information related to the asset. Also, your team can update the record to detail what maintenance or inspection has been carried out and even take pictures to confirm repairs.

2 – Make it simple to report issues with equipment

Another way to simplify equipment maintenance tracking is to allow your team to raise issues against tools and equipment so that you have full transparency as to which assets require attention. This is essential to the smooth running of your day-to-day operations as any pieces of kit that are not usable can be removed from circulation.

What’s more, is that your team can scan the QR code asset tag and report any issues with a piece of equipment instantly. You can see all incoming issues in the itemit web portal and monitor assets remotely. As a result, you and the team can have confidence in the assets you require to complete a job.

The itemit equipment maintenance tracking software gives you some added benefits. Issues can be reported by users that have access to the system, but itemit also offers a public issue-reporting feature. When this feature is enabled, anybody that comes across one of your tools can scan the QR tag and report an issue. The user can also see immediately who the kit belongs to and ensure its safe return.

3 – Make it easy to see which assets require maintenance 

Perhaps the most important way to simplify equipment maintenance tracking is to ensure you’re using software that lets you harness the data that it holds. For example, it’s no good having an easy way for the team to report issues on equipment if you’re not firstly notified of them and secondly able to monitor and run reports on affected assets.

The best software will let you configure and run your own reports using any combination of asset properties to ensure you have the answers you need. 

Are you looking for an equipment maintenance tracking system?

If you’re looking for a simple way to track equipment maintenance, itemit can do all of this for you and more. We work with Facilities Management, Construction and IT asset management teams across the world to simplify the process of tracking equipment. If you’d like a demo of our software, email us at team@itemit.com to book your free 20-minute demo.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

If you’re looking for asset tracking software, you’ll already know that it can be a little confusing. There are different tagging options and software designed for quite different purposes. This can make it challenging to know which is the best asset tracking software for your business. We think a good place to start is to know what features are out there and which are the best – so that your life is made a whole lot easier.

Whether it’s core functionality or all the bells and whistles you’re looking for, the best asset tracking software always has a few features that are worth the investment.

Let’s get stuck in and answer the question – what can the best asset tracking software let you do?

Track and Manage with Asset Tags

The core functionality of tracking and managing your assets involves the use of asset tags to track and manage asset use and movement.

Every scan of an asset’s tag should automatically update the last seen GPS location and the user who scanned the asset. Without this, the additional accountability you’re trying to gain with an asset tracking software is lost at the first hurdle.

Being able to add location information, whether it’s specific or related to rooms and buildings (or both!), is essential in any asset tracking software. This is particularly true if you’re tracking the whereabouts of assets within a building, rather than from site to site, due to the inaccuracy of GPS addresses inside buildings.

Maintenance and Issues Management

The best asset tracking software will also allow you to track and manage any and all different kinds of maintenance.

This could mean reactive maintenance, but it could also mean routine maintenance. Being able to track both, and to be able to track both separately is essential.

Being able to see which assets have required a lot of maintenance allows better decision-making. For example, if one of your IT assets, such as a laptop, has required a lot of reactive maintenance over the last month, you’ll know it’s more economical to replace it than to repair it yet another time.

Share your Assets

Sharability is the future. The best asset tracking software must be scalable. If it limits your usage to one user, it’s a lot more difficult to create an automated, transparent, and effective audit trail.

Asset tracking software is supposed to minimise the possibility of human error, and the amount of time that would otherwise be spent on updating spreadsheets. As location information is updated per scan, the ability to scan an asset’s tag every time it changes hand creates a simple and speedy audit trail. 

There’ll also be the ability for more people to add maintenance information and contribute to your auditing, as each change against an asset will end up in an effective reporting system. For example, if you want to see how long a contractor has had one of your machines for to charge them the correct amount, run a quick report and you’ll find the data you need.

Booking Management System

Being able to book your assets, and check them in and out is also essential in the best asset tracking software. This way, you’ll know instantly who is using which assets, and when they are due back. You’ll also have the guarantee that the critical asset you need next month is reserved for your usage and can’t be booked out by anyone else.

Reporting and Auditing

Finally, the best asset tracking software will use all the data you collect on the go to assist you in creating customisable and useful reports.

Being able to audit your assets using one system and all of the data that is gathered and stored in it goes a long way to fully streamlining a lot of your business processes.

The best asset tracking software will also automatically generate a fixed asset register at the click of a button, with a highly limited chance of ghost and zombie assets.

itemit can do all of these things and more. Is it the best asset tracking software? We think so! Download it today to find out, or fill in the form below. We promise you won’t be disappointed.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started

All businesses have different types of equipment that are critical for day-to-day operations. For example, if you’re in restoration and remediation, your equipment may include dehumidifiers. If you’re in the construction industry, it may include PPE and Restaurants need effective HVAC equipment.

No matter what your equipment, we all know it’s very important to track and manage it. You must ensure that everything is running smoothly, is economical, and any necessary maintenance is logged.

So, what is equipment management? 

Simply put, it’s using a system to track, monitor, and manage your equipment. Equipment management is often taken care of by an asset tracking system or piece of software.

Using Asset Tracking Software for Equipment Management

One of the simplest ways to manage your equipment is with the use of asset tracking software. 

Asset tracking software allows you to log and track your equipment by linking it to a unique digital profile. What this means is that each unique piece of equipment gets a unique online profile linked to it.

For example, if you’re tracking PPE, you can use a QR code asset tag to link each hardhat to a digital profile. Every scan of the asset tag will update the location of the hardhat and record which user has it.

The main benefit of using asset tracking software for equipment management is that you can create unique asset profiles, meaning that each individual asset has a viewable history that you can then use in reporting and auditing.

Equipment Management and Individual Profiles

Individual profiles are highly beneficial for one main reason: each asset has its own history, which can then inform better decision-making.

For example, if something is damaged and requires reactive maintenance, you’ll be able to look at the piece of equipment’s history to see how much reactive maintenance it has needed in the past. If it has required a lot, you’ll quickly know that it’s uneconomical to repair the asset, and it’s more economical to replace it.

You’ll also be able to add any amount of information against your assets. If you want to add financial information, such as how much you purchased a piece of equipment for, you can. In addition, you can add information such as warranties and user manuals. This means that every important and useful piece of information relating to an asset is safely stored in one place, which is accessible by you and your whole team. Using asset tracking software to manage your equipment will streamline your equipment management and maintenance processes.

Grouping your Assets

Of course, having one profile per piece of equipment is part of the bigger picture.

Equipment management isn’t just about monitoring each piece of equipment one by one. It’s helpful to be able to see how each piece of equipment moves and is used and manage them that way, but it’s also crucial to be able to see how your equipment is used and maintained in general.

The best asset tracking software will allow you to create customisable reports for audits. Whether these be audits for compliance, financial, maintenance, or insurance information, each unique asset profile comes together to create a full, transparent picture.

Being able to customise these reports means that you can see at a glance all the equipment in warehouse B that needs maintenance.

So, equipment management is tracking your equipment both individually and in bulk.

With itemit, you’ll be able to do all of this and more. If you want more accountability over your equipment, you can contact the team, or fill in the form below to start tracking.

Instant access. No credit card details required.

or, download the itemit app to get started