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Friday August 7, 2009
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Ford trucks now keep a running tally of what construction tools are back on board and which may have been left on the job site. It's part of Tool Link, a $1,120 RFID tag option for Ford trucks. That sounds like a lot until you leave a $1,000 sliding compound miter saw on the job site overnight and it's not there in the morning. Ford developed Tool Link with DeWalt. You get a 50 ID tags (in DeWalt yellow, of course) that you apply to tools, an RFID scanner and software for creating a database, and two RFID antennas that go in the truck bed and monitor what's onboard and what's missing. You monitor the tool status via the Ford In-Dash Computer. One button press brings up a screen that shows what's missing that you had on board earlier in the day.
While it's meant for construction tools, there's no reason it couldn't be used, say photo or video equipment. A carbon fiber tripod can cost $500-$1,000, a pro's digital camera or HD camcorder many times that. You don't think anyone could be so stupid as to leave a digital camera on the work site, when you bring two or three, those things can happen.
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August 11, 2009 8:55 AM
Wouldn't a NFC mobile do a better job of this?
1) you wouldn't have to get a specific truck
2) you wouldn't have to always use the same truck
3) you could use any tags
4) you could upgrade the software on a whim
5) it would be a lot cheaper
6) you could check where your tools where on site
7) you could combine it with "your van is being robbed" text messages on your mobile
August 13, 2009 1:11 PM
why not just hire competent people that can remember to pick up their tools? DO-OH!
August 13, 2009 4:23 PM
To Bubba chicklikck: the drive of the truck wants to keep track of his tools but maybe another third party contractor "borrows one" or a hired hand doesn't care or even if you check you still have 100 other things running through your head. The tags are a great idea, if there was a way to make then smaller and cheaper that would be even better. A ten dollar wrench times 7 or 10 times adds up
August 14, 2009 8:07 PM
That's a great idea but does it only work in the U.S.? Where doing some building here in Mexico in the resort areas of town & that would be a plus for our work load.
October 19, 2009 3:12 PM
Been a fan of Dewalt ever since my first dewalt track saw