Bosch Bluehound Asset Management System is the latest smart tool system to enter the fray. The cloud-based system is accessible on the web or mobile app, so you can access your data from anywhere you have a data connection. There’s no more wondering if you can recover a hard drive that crashes. Currently, Bosch Bluehound is in an open pilot phase. That means they’re looking for large firms to partner with on testing, but it’s not available on the open market.
Here’s a quick look at what you can do using Bosch Bluehound:
- Cost Accounting
- Certification Tracking
- Asset Information Warehousing
- Personnel Monitoring
- Hierarchy Asset Assignment
- Automated Asset Storage Checking
- Delivery Tracking
- User Customization
In short, your personnel and tool resources can be tracked to help make you more efficient. With a one-stop, big-picture glance, you can see can ensure your assets stay in play so they’re out earning a profit instead of sitting idle.
How Bosch Bluehound Works
Bosch Bluehound is a Bluetooth-based system to make it easy for smartphones and connected equipment to talk to each other and upload their information to the cloud. On one hand, security is paramount, but Bosch is also designing it so that authorized user can easily manage the system. You can track any brand’s tools and equipment using Bosch’s new GCC 30-4 Professional (more on that later) and the system allows you to customize reports to give decision makers the data they need.
Dig a Little Deeper
Looking more closely at the Bosch Bluehound Asset Management System feature set, there are more details into what’s possible. Here are a few key examples:
- Register tools, job boxes, vehicles, and more in Bluehound and actively manage them as stock
- Create employees and assign work equipment and responsibility
- Know when work equipment was last seen and which employees were responsible
- Overview of inventory on the homepage
- Check with an environmental scan that all assigned tools are available
- The ‘automatic driver reminder’ feature reminds you of any work equipment that was forgotten on site
- Borrow tools easily from colleagues or lend to colleagues
- Manage defective or missing work equipment by pressing a button, so that all colleagues are informed
- Build Invoice Reports
In a sense, it combines asset tracking with project management.
What Bosch Says
“Bluehound is a broad connectivity solution for the large user, the large construction company that’s working on a complex project. This is a comprehensive tool tracking program that integrates with some of the construction industry’s best-known enterprise-wide software solutions. Our goal is to build an end-to-end system that encompasses everything from individual tool tracking to how that tool fits into asset requirements for an entire jobsite.”
– Eli Share, IoT and mobile lead, Bosch Power Tools
Bosch GCC 30-4 Professional Tracking Tag
At the heart of the system is the Bosch GCC 30-4 tracking tag. This allows you to attach a Bluetooth tracker to any tool or equipment. If it has a cord, you can crimp it on. If it doesn’t, you can glue it or screw it in place. It uses a simple coin cell battery for power and a QR code on the side makes it easy to use your smartphone for identification. With a footprint less than 1-1/2″ square, it’s easy to find an installation point on most tools and equipment.
Final Thoughts
The idea behind Bosch Bluehound is asset tracking and project management, not tool theft prevention or recovery. Even so, there may be some secondary benefit there. What’s going to be interesting to discover is just how user-friendly the system is. Keep in mind that Bosch came right out and said it – this is a system designed around the needs of large construction firms. Smaller businesses may find that it’s more comprehensive than they really need. However, there will certainly be some benefits on a smaller scale. Every large firm started as a small one in some form, so maybe this will help propel you to the next level!
