We've got tools and kit spread across three workshops how do you actually keep track of everything without losing your
Been running a small fabrication and install crew for a few years now. We work out of two vans and a main workshop, and honestly, the amount of gear that just vanishes between jobs is doing my head in. Drills, impact drivers, levels, even a plasma cutter once — nobody ever seems to know where anything is when we need it urgently.
We tried a sign-out sheet on a clipboard by the door. That lasted about four days before everyone stopped filling it in. Then we stuck a whiteboard on the wall, but that only covers the workshop — if someone grabs something on a Friday and takes it home in their van, Monday morning is a full-on treasure hunt.
I'm not looking for anything crazy high-tech that'll scare off the older guys, but I just need a solid way of knowing:
Who has what
Whether it's in a van, in the workshop, or on site
What's due back and what's overdue
Bonus if it can remind people to return stuff without me being the bad guy.
Has anyone cracked this? What kind of system do you use, and does it actually work day-to-day, or does it just look good on paper? I'm open to suggestions just tired of replacing gear I know we already own.
I was in the exact same spiral clipboards, whiteboards, then a shared spreadsheet nobody updated. What finally broke the cycle for us was sticking RFID tags on everything and running an rfid asset tracking software that works with a simple handheld reader. The older guys actually adapted fastest because it’s just a scan, no typing. Now I can see instantly whether a drill is in the workshop, van, or still on site, and the system nags the right person before I have to.