Construction companies spend thousands and thousands of dollars each year on tools, but many of them are lost, damaged, or mismanaged, leading to even more money being spent on replacements or loss of time labor time searching for the necessary tools. Tools are so integral to a project being on time and under budget, but it’s extremely difficult to manage a large inventory that’s constantly moving.
That’s the problem that Milwaukee Tool hopes to solve with their upcoming release of ONE-KEY, a web-based mobile tool management platform. While the program was created by Milwaukee, it’s still important to note that any brand of tool can be loaded into the software for reporting purposes.
“The first phase of ONE-KEY™ will deliver 3 core benefits that will have an immediate impact on productivity: tool control, inventory management and tool reporting,” says Christian Coulis, Vice President of Product Management for Milwaukee Tool. These 3 benefits will roll out over time with separate releases.
Inventory Management – September 2015
The first ONE-KEY release will be the free ONE-KEY Inventory Management app, which will be available on both Android and iOs. With the app, companies will be able to keep detailed records of all of their tools, even non-Milwaukee brand, which will allow them to manage budgets and even assign owners to each tool to increase accountability. Because it’s a web-based and mobile platform, all updates will synchronize in real time, giving companies instant access to data on their tools.
Tool Reporting – October 2015
Combined with the release of Milwaukee’s M18 Force Logic 6T Utility Crimpers, the manufacturer will also release the second phase of One-Key, Tool Reporting. The utility crimpers will be the first of the line of tools to be able to connect to the application wirelessly, allowing the user to create reports that track the success and timing of electrical terminations. This promises to reduce downtime of a tool, because it can assist and track service intervals.
Tool Control – January 2016
The third phase of the initial ONE-KEY rollout will be released in conjunction with new Milwaukee M18 Fuel Drilling and Driving products. Tool Control will allow the user to use the ONE-KEY app on their phone to customize speed and torque settings to make customized user profiles for a specific task with just the touch of a button.
“If you think about the number of fasteners that require different speeds and torques, or the amount of repetitive applications that our users experience on a daily basis, there are hundreds of different tool profiles and setups that can be implemented,” says Coulis. “Tool Control will give users infinite customization capabilities for various applications, allowing them to make small tweaks that make a huge difference.”
ONE-KEY | Milwaukee Tool
