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RK Mechanical
RK Mechanical Cuts Tool Loss in Half with ToolWatch—Replacement Costs Shrink as Business Grows
How do you cut tool loss in half in a hurry? RK Mechanical of Denver, Colorado has the answer. ToolWatch!
A regional company with projects like the new Level 3 Headquarters, the Omni Hotel and Lucent Technologies' new office park, RK operates projects throughout Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The company was losing up to 40 percent of the tools on some projects, and spent a staggering $400,000 on tool replacement purchases in 1998.
Says RK's shop manager, Martin Lybarger, "We had a system that just didn't work and something had to be done. A competitor told us about ToolWatch and when we implemented our ToolWatch System, things improved right away."
RK's 500 field employees are deployed at as many as 90 jobsites. Each jobsite has a tool budget and managers are held responsible for cost overruns. Lybarger rides herd on an inventory of more than 7000 small tools and 700 large items, including welding machines, trucks, backhoes and a giant forklift worth $60,000. "We operate two separate ToolWatch databases. One controls our small tool inventory, like drill motors and saws, and we also track larger tools and equipment, which we rent to each job as needed. And, we track consumable products by the job too." Lybarger says.
"If a job foreman is finished with a tool, he turns it back to the warehouse right away to avoid being billed for an item he's not using," Lybarger adds. "Now we can make the most of each tool because things aren't sitting around on jobsites where they can be lost or stolen."
RK implemented the ToolWatch System in October 1998 and in the following months, the company cut its tool-related losses in half. One example of the new ToolWatch efficiency is the company's 130 plus two-way radios. At $450 a piece the radios are a critical link in the company's field communications network. "The radios just disappeared, walked away," Lybarger says. "Since we put ToolWatch in place, we know the radios are where they need to be."
What is RK Mechanical's next move? Cut tool replacement expenses another 75 percent. Lybarger says that with ToolWatch that's a realistic goal.
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