Predator Tool Crib - Tool Tracking & Inventory Control

Predator Tool Crib

Tool Tracking & Inventory

STANDARD FEATURES

Automated Tool Management

Reduce Tooling Costs

Track Disposable Tooling

Automated Ordering

Track Lost, Broken or Scrapped Tools

Reference Tooling Lists

Maintain Tool Certification

Relational Database

Empower Personnel

Tooling Consolidation

Easy-To-Use Wizards

Electronic Attachments

ISO 900X History

80 Standard Reports

Custom Reports

OPTIONAL FEATURES
Access
Oracle
SQL

REPORTS
Tools and Serial Number List
Tool History
Checked Out Tool
Lost and Scrapped Tools
Rework Information and IRR
Part Reference
Material Reference
Work Summary
Tool Ordering
Tool Rework
Inventory
Security
Component
Component History

Upgradeable Configurations
Tool Crib Administrator
Tool Crib Client

Partial List of Tooling Manufacturer's products that Tool Crib tracks

OPTIONAL HARDWARE
Bar Code Readers
BTRs
Hand Held Terminals
Grizzly Cable™
CNC Adapters
Serial Port Devices

CNC Compatible

Partial List of Manufacturers Using Predator Software

Download Demo

FREE CD!

Literature

Automated Tool Management What is Predator Tool Crib? Predator Tool Crib electronically automates the tracking and organization of your tooling inventories, including tools, cutters, inserts and tool assemblies. It helps improve manufacturing processes by empowering tool room personnel, shop floor personnel, engineers and management with an automated, interactive tool management system that operates around the clock. Users can save up to 25 percent on tooling costs by tracking and managing their tool crib.

Reduce Tooling Costs What tools do we already have and where are they? Excess tooling is often ordered because tools become unaccounted for. Predator Tool Crib provides an accurate inventory of every tool and can identify where individual tooling should be at any time. Most manufactures save up to 25 percent of their annual tooling costs by maintaining a computerized tooling inventory.

Track Disposable Tooling How much disposable tooling are we consuming? Predator Tool Crib tracks disposable tooling, such as inserts, separately from standard tooling. Consumption reports can easily be generated by person or machine with weekly, monthly quarterly or yearly quantities.

Automated Ordering What tooling do we need to order? Predator Tool Crib maintains a minimum reorder level for every tool, cutter and insert. It then compares this with current inventory levels and a wizard automates the reorder process. This process records tooling costs over time, which allows vendor performance to be analyzed. Another benefit to automated reordering is the reduction of expedited shipping costs as a result of last minute tooling orders.

Track Lost, Broken or Scrapped Tools Who is accountable for lost, broken or scrapped tools? Predator Tool Crib tracks lost, broken and scrapped tools by providing a history that captures lost tools, who reported them lost, who checked them out last, and where they should physically be. Broken and scrapped tools are officially scrapped after an Inspection Rejection Report (IRR) is completed. This report provides a tracking mechanism for in-house or outsourced rework, and for scrapping tool when all else fails. Optionally, a conditional use mechanism can also be applied to allow tooling to be used for a limited time to complete a specific job prior to completing the IRR process.

Reference Tooling Lists What tools are used for specific parts or materials? Manufacturing engineers or shop floor personnel can use Predator Tool Crib to build lists of reference tooling to be used for specific materials or part numbers. New personnel can quickly capitalize on proven processes and reference reports can easily be generated to identity preferred tooling, material and/or part.

Maintain Tool Certification What tools need to be certified for use? Predator Tool Crib helps maintain tooling quality automatically by identifying tools that require certification or reworking. Predator Tool Crib can also maintain step-by-step rework instructions that include reference drawings, pictures and even video clips. Rework instructions can be broken down to specific steps for initial and periodic rework with some steps being required and others being optional. The tool room manager can then add or modify work instructions as needed and a series of reports can be generated to track certification on all rework processes.

Relational Database Power Why Predator Tool Crib? Manufacturers routinely try to manage thousands of tools and tooling components by memory, index cards, spreadsheet files, an ERP/MRP inventory system, or custom applications. These systems often fail or are inaccurate. Predator Tool Crib utilizes a powerful, open architecture, relational database that provides structure, simplified input and reduced tooling processes. Predator Tool Crib includes support for Oracle^®, Microsoft Access^®and SQL Server. Furthermore, every tooling related process can be performed simultaneously by multiple personnel using Windows-based PCs at multiple locations in real-time.

Empower Personnel Who can benefit from Tool Crib? Shop floor personnel have greater accountability by automating the Check In and Check Out Report of lost or broken tools. This also insures that actual shop floor activities and feedback are reported correctly. By adding bar code readers, tooling processes can be automated to the point of simply swiping bar codes. Manufacturing engineers can easily query the status of tools and identify tools for specific materials or parts right from their PCs. They can also continue to design and document improved tooling methods and processes that will be used in the future. Managers and administrators can automate tool orders, produce electronic inventories, generate scrapped tooling reports, track tooling certifications, and many other processes.

Tooling Consolidation How does organizing my tooling translate into savings? As a tool crib gets larger, manual or semi-automated inventory methods can quickly become difficult to maintain. To complicate matters, if a physical tool crib or centralized storage area is not used, manufacturing personnel are often forced to store tooling in their workspaces. By implementing Predator Tool Crib, thousands of dollars in excess tooling can be saved with a centralized inventory and automated recorder process.

Easy To Use Wizards How easy is it to automate my tool crib? Predator Tool Crib takes advantage of wizards to automate all of your tooling processes and maintenance needs. Wizards are used to automate ordering tools, receiving tools, certifying tools, and checking tools in and out, among many other tooling processes.

Electronic Attachments What about tooling notes and instructions? Predator Tool Crib can assign any electronic file as a reference attachment to specific kits, tools, cutters or inserts. For example, a video clip or written instruction on safety can be attached to a tool for an operator to review before use. Predator Tool Crib also supports specific attachments, which allows an attachment, such as a bitmap of a finished tooling assembly, to only be viewable when that specific assembly is requested.

ISO900x History Are you meeting ISO 900x certification? Tools can be revised with a complete date and time-based histories as engineering changes are made to meet ISO 900x requirements. Alternate tools can be created to facilitate expedited or backup manufacturing methods. Histories for all tooling processes can easily be implemented enterprise-wide automatically.

80 Standard Reports Want to measure tooling usage with real-time shop floor reports? Predator Tool Crib includes more than 80 standard reports. Each report has numerous options and filters to drill down to the appropriate level of detail. All reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel^®or HTML documents for further analysis or processing.

Custom Reports Want to create your own reports? Custom reports that integrate tooling data with ERP or MRP systems can be developed with several third party reporting tools, such as Crystal Reports and Microsoft Access.