Hilti ON!Track vs AirTag: Do Hilti Tools Have GPS?

Do Hilti tools have GPS?

Hilti hand tools do not have GPS. Hilti's ON!Track page lists GPS for three pieces of hardware only. A geo tag goes on machinery such as concrete mixers and trailers. A vehicle gateway tracks on-road vehicles, and a heavy equipment gateway tracks larger machines (Hilti ON!Track page).

Hand tools are found another way. A coin-sized Bluetooth smart tag shows a tool's last known location in the ON!Track app (Hilti ON!Track page). A Nuron battery shows where it was last charged (Hilti smart battery tool tracking page).

How does Hilti ON!Track work?

Hilti tool tracking records each tool in ON!Track through a barcode label, a Bluetooth smart tag or a Nuron battery. ON!Track is Hilti's asset management software for tools, plant and consumables. Crews use it on a mobile device or a desktop. Hilti calls it manufacturer independent, so it manages other brands too (Hilti ON!Track page).

The smart tag broadcasts over Bluetooth, and a smartphone running the ON!Track app records where it heard the tag. The tag is sold only with an active ON!Track subscription (Hilti smart tag product page). Hilti gateways in vans and heavy equipment read the tags too (Hilti telematics page).

Nuron batteries report through connected Hilti chargers, so the map shows where each battery was last charged. This needs Hilti Fleet Management and ON!Track (Hilti smart battery tool tracking page).

How does a tag find a tool without GPS?

Any phone that passes finds a tagged tool. The tag broadcasts a Bluetooth signal, and the phone reports where it heard the tag. These networks are large (Apple counts over a billion iPhone, iPad and Mac devices, and Google over a billion Android devices).

A GPS tracker needs power and a data plan to send each fix. That is why GPS went on the vans, the machines and the trailers first. A crowdsourced tag needs neither.

The phones report in the background. Nobody has to open an app or scan a label for a tag to be reported. It fits a drill case, a laser level or a saw of any brand.

Hilti ON!Track vs AirTag: who reports a tool once it leaves?

Any phone that passes reports an AirTag or other crowdsourced tag, whoever carries it. Apple and Google each count over a billion devices in these networks.

A Hilti smart tag is reported by a phone running the ON!Track app or by a Hilti gateway. Hilti also names a global Bluetooth network, depending on the subscription, without giving its size (Hilti smart tag product page). A Nuron battery reports through a connected charger, or through a gateway or the ON!Track app between charges.

That matters once a tool leaves your hands. Think of a saw lent to another crew, a laser left at a finished job or a drill taken from a van. Other trades, drivers and people on the street pass it.

Hilti says the last-charged location helps a team start a recovery (Hilti smart battery tool tracking page). A crowdsourced tag keeps being reported after that, wherever the tool is taken. Each report adds a dated point to the trail.

For a stolen tool, give the police the last reported position along with the serial numbers. The stolen tool and equipment recovery guide covers the first hour after an alert. Tool theft from work vans covers the van itself.

Which tools should carry a tag first?

Start with the tools that leave your sites, Hilti or any other brand.

• Tools shared or lent out. Laser levels, breakers, saws and core drills that move between crews and subcontractors stay on the map until they come back.
• Tools that ride in vans. A van is parked at a job, a supplier and a driveway in the same week.
• Tools left on site overnight. Draw a geofence around the site, and an exit alert tells you once the tool is reported outside it.

Put the tag inside the case or on a flat face the work cannot reach. The asset tracking tags guide covers mounting by surface.

What to expect from tags on tools

Tags report through the phones that pass them, whoever those phones belong to. That shapes how they update.

• Updates come from passing phones. A staffed site updates all through the working day. A locked yard at night updates less often, and picks up again when people return.
• Building-level position. The position comes from the phone that heard the tag. It gets you to the right site, van or yard, and the tool number does the rest.
• Location, not usage data. A tag reports where a tool is and when it reached or left a site.
• Where, not who. A tag shows where a tool is. A sign-out sheet shows who took it and for which job.

The tool tracking system guide covers setting up tags across a whole tool fleet.