Renta and Hilti partner on asset tagging

Nordic rental company Renta is fitting bluetooth asset tags to powered equipment at 170 of its depots under a new partnership with Hilti.

An undisclosed number of machines will be fitted with Hilti’s Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Runtime Tags, which will be linked to the Hilti ON!Track monitoring App.

Hilti’s AI T320 ON!Track bluetooth tag. (Photo: Hilti)

The tags, which can be attached to any powered item, not just Hilti tools, will measure and store cumulative runtime, daily utilisation and report the last-seen location of the asset.

The Runtime Tags automatically transmit data when they are in range of Hilti Gateways. The Gateways can be installed in rental depots, as well as in vans and heavy equipment at Renta customers’ construction sites, using the Trackunit global network.

Data from Renta’s fleet will transfer from the Hilti ON!Track Application to Renta’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. From there, data will be available for Renta’s customers via the Renta Easy app.

Renta plans to use the tags on all powered assets across more than 170 rental depots, covering those which have a certain level of vibration while in operation. The tag itself is not much bigger than a coin and small powered equipment can be included.

Hilti said the technology will enable Renta to make “informed data-driven decision-making, for example on asset utilisation, thereby allowing for internal operational efficiency gains as well as value-added services and efficiency gains for their customers.”

Joel Särkkä, chief information officer for Renta. (Photo: Renta)

Joel Särkkä, chief information officer for Renta, said; “The Hilti Runtime Tag solution is a real gamechanger. The power of the generated data enables us to rethink our fleet management processes and to deliver unprecedented services to our customers.”

Michael Neidow, executive vice president and head of business unit Tool Services for Hilti Group, added: “We are delighted to partner with one of the most innovative rental companies in the world for the launch of our BLE Runtime Tags.

“Our solution, designed for the rental industry, will deliver sustainable process efficiency gains.”

Hilti and Trackunit, meanwhile, announced a “strategic partnership” in early 2022, and that was expanded in November this year when data from 500,000 ON!Track devices was added to Trackunit’s online management platform.