How Coboss tracks nearly 500 assets with Allokit
Tools, vehicles, trailers and jobsite equipment brought together in one platform.
Coboss Construction is a general contractor on Quebec’s South Shore. Its crews deliver residential, commercial, institutional and industrial projects, from new construction to renovations, additions and structural work.
That variety of projects creates an equally varied asset inventory: power tools, job boxes, ladders, generators, trailers, specialized equipment and vehicles.
Samuel Grant is central to Coboss operations and Allokit’s field development. The goal was clear: know where tools and vehicles are, who is using them and what is moving between jobsites.
Coboss Construction manages nearly 500 assets in Allokit. The company combines 100 QR-identified assets, 25 traceurs Bluetooth, 4 GPS-tracked vehicles and 6 standalone GPS devices based on each asset’s value and mobility.
Several tracking technologies, but one inventory.
- ≈ 500
- assets tracked or managed
- 100
- assets with QR codes
- 25
- traceurs Bluetooth
- 4
- vehicles tracked by GPS
- 6
- standalone GPS devices on trailers and equipment
Bring visibility to everything that moves
“I lost close to $30,000 of tools in the past year.”
Coboss tools constantly move between employees, vehicles, the warehouse and different jobsites. When information lives in memory, text messages and phone calls, a simple question like “Where is that saw?” can take time to answer.
The issue went beyond lost tools. Coboss also needed to track vehicles, trailers and larger equipment moving across several projects.
An inventory as varied as the jobsites
A general contractor does not always use the same tools. That variety is reflected directly in its inventory.
A crew may need a saw and laser today, a generator and trailer tomorrow, and a completely different set on the next jobsite.
These assets differ widely in value, use and mobility. The same tracking method does not necessarily fit every one of them.
- Small tools
- Corded and battery-powered tools
- Job boxes and tool kits
- Ladders and jobsite equipment
- Generators and specialized equipment
- Trailers
- Service vehicles
Know where tools and vehicles are
For Coboss, inventory is not an end in itself. The priority is finding the assets that move through the company quickly.
A saw can leave the warehouse in a truck, spend several days on one jobsite and then move to another crew. Vehicles and trailers are moving between projects at the same time.
Allokit brings this information together so Coboss spends less time searching and better understands what is happening to its assets.
- Who has this tool?
- Which vehicle is it in?
- Which jobsite is it on?
- Where are the trailer and truck?
- Is this equipment available?
- Do we already own it before renting or buying another one?
Bring everything into one inventory
Coboss now uses Allokit to track or manage nearly 500 assets. Each asset has its own record with the information needed to understand what it is and what is happening to it in the field.
Depending on the asset, Coboss can track its holder, assignment, last known location, condition and history. The value is not merely a list, but a living inventory used every day.
QR code, traceur Bluetooth or GPS based on the need
Putting GPS on every drill would be needlessly expensive. A QR code alone, however, cannot automatically locate a trailer that moved to another jobsite. Coboss chooses the technology based on the asset’s value, mobility and use.
Identified by QR code
Employees quickly identify a tool, open its Allokit record and retain its identity and history without requiring permanent automatic location data.
Detected by traceur Bluetooth
A traceur Bluetooth can be detected near a vehicle or compatible device, adding visibility without cellular GPS on every tool.
Tracked by GPS
Vehicle positions appear in the same platform as tools and other equipment instead of putting the fleet in a completely separate system.
Tracked by standalone GPS
Standalone GPS devices are reserved for trailers and mobile equipment where remote location information creates enough value.
A tool can change locations several times in one week
A saw begins in the Coboss warehouse. It is loaded into a truck Monday, reaches a jobsite, moves to another crew and eventually returns to the warehouse.
Without a tracking system, its latest location can easily depend on an employee’s memory or a few text messages. With Allokit, every movement remains attached to the same asset and can be reviewed by the crew.
Two realities that constantly intersect
At a general contractor like Coboss, tools do not move by themselves. They travel in trucks, leave with employees, arrive on jobsites and may transfer to another crew.
Allokit brings tools and vehicles into the same operational picture. Coboss can understand not only what the company owns, but where its assets are and how they move.
A customer and a field partner
Coboss tests Allokit against the realities of a working general contractor. Samuel Grant takes part in product discussions and new features are validated in real situations.
- Define the needs
- The problems to solve come from situations a construction SMB actually experiences.
- Test on real jobsites
- Features are used under the conditions they were designed to support.
- Simplify for the field
- A feature that is too complicated for a jobsite crew needs to be reconsidered.
- Guide Allokit’s evolution
- What Coboss learns helps prioritize improvements that deliver real value.
How Coboss uses Allokit today
Coboss Construction uses Allokit to centralize and track nearly 500 assets spread across its employees, vehicles, warehouse and jobsites.
- 100 QR codes
- to identify and manage tools
- 25 traceurs Bluetooth
- to improve visibility into moving equipment
- 4 vehicle GPS devices
- to track part of its fleet
- 6 standalone GPS devices
- to locate trailers and mobile equipment
Everything is brought together in Allokit, with particular attention given to tool and vehicle tracking.
Do your tools move between vehicles and jobsites too?
Show us how your company manages tools, equipment and vehicles today. Together, we’ll identify which assets should use a QR code, a traceur Bluetooth or GPS.
