Tool Link Tracker

June 2, 2010 by Matt Keegan

Imagine you are out on a job with your F-150 and there are some 70 plus tools you need to track. You brought along power saws, a ladder, generator, compressor, welders and a host of other tools. Collectively, the cost for replacing these tools might run in the thousands of dollars, expensive inventory you don’t want to lose.

Well, we all know that it is easy to leave something behind…costly too if those tools are never found. What’s more, if you remember where you left your tools, you’ll have to return on your own time, expending your own gasoline and being aggravated in the process. That is, IF you remember where you left it.

The Ford Motor Company in cooperation with DeWalt Power Tools and Accessories has developed a nifty product sure to be embraced by F-Series enthusiasts who use their trucks for business purposes. Tool Link by DeWalt tracks your inventory by “looking” in and around your truck for inventory. What it does is track all of your tools and if something is missing let’s you know what isn’t onboard.

Tool Link works when radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are fastened to tools, safety equipment and other valuable assets. Once the items have been tagged you’ll scan them and they’ll be added to your inventory. Through the required Ford Work Solutions panel on your truck, a pair of RFID scanners located in the pickup truck bed (or van cargo area) will scan these items.

The display panel will show which items are accounted for as well as alert you to anything that you may have missed. You can update the program for every job, taking inventory before you head out and retaking it before you leave the job site.

Your inventory doesn’t have to consist of DeWalt products; you can tag anything and add it to your inventory. When I was at Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, I had this system demonstrated to me. It picked up everything except for a saw left immediately outside of the driver’s door. Yes, that item was missed…then again you would have stumbled it when entering the cabin. When moved a few feet away from the truck, the saw was picked up by the scanner.

The tool link tracker is part of the Ford Work Solutions package which allows truck crews to do a host of other stuff including accessing the files of an office computer miles away, access computer programs including spreadsheets and business accounting, and print documents with a Bluetooth enabled printer. Yes, no need to mail out an invoice. That task can be handled on site.