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Performance Contracting, Inc.
ToolWatch Produces ROI in First Month—National Contractor's California Division Tracks Tools, Trucks and TVs
A handy yellow scanning pen has changed Dee McGregor's life. McGregor is purchasing agent and warehouse supervisor for the Interior/Tech Group at Performance Contracting, Inc. (PCI), in Sacramento, California.
PCI is the major subsidiary of Kansas-based Performance Contracting Group, ranked tenth in the nation in 1998 among specialty contractors by Engineering News-Record Magazine. The Interior/Tech Group focuses on drywall, acoustical and clean room installations.
For years McGregor struggled to manage the company's inventory of more than 3000 tools using a patchwork of manual efforts and inefficient spreadsheets. "A lot of tools were disappearing off jobsites and our replacement costs were going up," she says. "ToolWatch has certainly made my life easier."
Then a colleague in another division told her about ToolWatch, a system designed specifically for tracking tools and equipment. McGregor threw away her spreadsheets when the ToolWatch System was implemented in 1996. Now, using the ToolWatch barcode labeling system and the ToolWatch Scanning Pen, she manages a variety of equipment including hand tools, company trucks, even TV/VCR units used for on-site employee training.
McGregor "rents" tools to individual jobsites, tracking tools to individual employees in some cases. With ToolWatch the company can determine whether a tool is in use on a job and can often temporarily "loan" the item to another jobsite. Putting idle equipment to work on more than one project saves time and eliminates costly redundancy.
PCI's projects include the Shriner's Hospital and the new Federal Building in Sacramento along with public and private sector projects in California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. The company averages some 200 field employees on as many as 30 jobsites.
"In the past, I sometimes spent as much as $10,000 a month filling jobsite orders and replacing lost and stolen tools. Now there are some months when I don't spend any money. ToolWatch paid for itself in the first month," McGregor adds.
In addition to tracking tools between the warehouse and jobsites, McGregor says using ToolWatch cuts down on trips spent hunting for equipment. Says McGregor, "We wasted man-hours and wear and tear on trucks looking for items that we needed for another job. With ToolWatch we know where everything is and can move equipment around efficiently."
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