People are the Solution | Gilbert Mechanical

“with guys who’ve given many years to the company, he wanted a solution built on trust, not accusation.”

People are the real solution to successful tool management

When deciding on what tool tracking solution to purchase for Minnesota’s Gilbert Mechanical, Tool Coordinator, Shawn Miller had a unique thought in mind. While lost or misplaced tools on his projects was certainly the result of careless or forgetful (and on rare occasions, dishonest) people, he knew that ultimately it was those same ‘people’ who could solve the problem. That’s why he decided on ShareMyToolbox for the company’s tool tracking solution.

As Miller explained, “Even with a team of 200 great guys in the field and office, tools would go missing, get misplaced, or get left behind.” Yet, he understood that technology couldn’t replace people when it came to responsible decision-making and accountability. “With these important factors at the core of my workforce, I knew my team could become more reliable, efficient and successful.” ShareMyToolbox has helped Miller to build a culture of responsibility so that his project workers take ownership for keeping track of tools.

How it works

ShareMyToolbox creates a “catalog” of tools and assigns the asset (the tool) to an employee who “accepts” it in the App. His/her responsibility for the tool is easily track-able and once the tool is returned to the warehouse, the name of the borrower is removed as the responsible party. Any transfer of the tool to another employee is tracked by the employee transferring responsibility, establishing continuous accountability with a digital record.

The right decision

Having been in the sheet metal, pipe fabrication and electrical contracting game for decades, Gilbert Mechanical knew they didn’t want to go down the same path that other’s have travelled for managing their tools. Instead of relying on the “honor system” and working off of an inventory grid or truck tool list for tracking tools, Miller decided not to add anything complicated to the mix for his team. Plus, with guys who’ve given many years to the company, he wanted a solution built on trust, not accusation.

Miller concluded, “Everybody’s fully on board and they get it. ShareMyToolbox provides real transparency to where the tools are and how the location of that tool applies to them.” He continued, “They can do a search for a tool and find out it’s at the job they’re already working on. That saves a ton of time since hourly labor rates are expensive. In that regard, the solution pays for itself.”