ON!Track provides a snapshot of the forklift's service status

Some forklift manufacturers insist that customers use their proprietary fleet management tools to keep track of their equipment, but an Irish timber frame maker is getting great results for its growing materials handling fleet from an off-the-shelf asset management tool.

IJM, located in Monaghan in Ireland, has more than a dozen forklifts, including 10 Combilifts and a few Mitshubishi FD 30s.

The company had been using the ON!Track asset management application from tool maker Hilti for some of its equipment when it decided to move its fleet management system from a paper-based approach.

IJM machine buyer and maintenance manager Mickey McKinney says his company uses the Hilti asset management systems for 711 separate pieces of equipment, from hand-held drills to CNC machines.

The forklift fleet has been catalogued and each piece barcoded for monitoring, and every Monday, McKinney prints out the status and service requirements for the week.

"We currently have all the forklifts set up for service every two months (approximately every 400 hours)," he says, adding that he has also started monitoring tyre usage through the system.

"We are learning all the time what information we can capture," he says.

The secret to maximising the data is setting it up right, according to McKinney, who says it is simple to add new equipment, registering the serial number, order number, year of manufacture and other information needed to keep track of the fleet.

IJM has been using the system for around 18 months and already IJM is seeing many advantages, not least of which is the ability to capture all costs each year.

According to ON!Track project manager Audrey Duflos, IJM is one of many clients using the solution for equipment fleets.

"ON!Track has been designed since the start to be able to manage all types of assets from big machinery to small consumables," she explains.

The asset management tool is very flexible and totally customisable, but Hilti is tight-lipped about pricing, except to confirm that costs depend on " the expectations from the customers and how complex the set-up is going to be". Pricing consists of a service cost for analysis before implementation, implementation, training and care. There also various tag costs depending on the type of tag chosen by the end-user. Finally, there's a monthly subscription.

Importantly, the system does not require telematics from the machines, so it is totally agnostic and highly recommended by clients like McKinney.