Do the impressive enhancements from ONE-KEY resolve all concerns?

Recently, that’s a question I’ve been thinking about and it's why I’m reaching out to other information systems professionals. 

As a robust digital platform for tools and equipment, Milwaukee? ONE-KEY? provides easy access to vital information and an advanced level of control. I was excited when ONE-KEY announced product updates.

Here’s one great example: a user now has the ability to set cut and blade type, and material to be cut, through the ONE-KEY-enabled M18 Fuel Sawzall.

As much as I like these enhancements, I want to share key concerns, which I believe my peers and colleagues will understand.

I’d also like to offer suggestions and potential solutions and look forward to your responses.

First, I’ll provide a brief background of my experience with ONE-KEY.

I’ve long championed ONE-KEY at our custom-building company 

Though we have non-Milwaukee tools, we use a barcode system in conjunction with ONE-KEY for two core reasons:

1. We know the locations of larger equipment at all times. With ONE-KEY’s geofence alerts, we’re notified when equipment is outside of a designed geofence. This is expediently executed by setting up geofences around job sites with our main office as the home hub.
2. We can ensure fair rates for rental equipment based on when the equipment arrives at a job site and when it’s returned. 

ONE-KEY’s new advantages 

Using ONE-KEY, we can systematically double-check on tools and equipment, which helps us minimize “lost” items. However, one reason we still experience "lost" equipment is that not all employees have installed the app.

If you’re facing this challenge, ONE-KEY’s new individual user setup feature can provide a solution. Compared to one shared group login, ONE-KEY’s multi-user platform now offers individual sign-ins. As a result: 

• I know which employees accept my app invitation and if they turn on Bluetooth and Location services for proper tracking. 
• I can regularly ping employees who’ve not yet set up the app, especially higher-level staff who really need to install it. 

Furthermore, if employees express concern over the app’s “big brother” surveillance aspect, I can assure them that only ONE-KEY reports when a location is updated, not which device pinged a tool, as you can see below. 

If you’re like me, you’re also committed to better communicating ONE-KEY app’s benefits to employees. 

Do the enhancements resolve the ONE-KEY battery challenge?

A major reason that we experience “lost” equipment is the continual need for users to make sure the batteries, the lifeblood of ONE-KEY’s ticks, remain adequately charged for accurate readings. Needless to say, this has long been a concern.

To rely solely on the Milwaukee system, I’ve long believed that ONE-KEY needs better follow up when ticks are not being pinged at an allowable interval. 

With the recent improvements, ONE-KEY’s batteries now indicate they are "dead" when they reach 0-10% battery life. 

This is a highly efficient way to identify tools that are on the brink of death. Batteries are automatically downgraded to "Poor" when they’re between 25%-11%. 

If you didn't watch these videos before or want to look at them again, here are concise explanations on the enhancements:

Are you as impressed by the new “Asset ID tags,” which act like barcodes, as I am? To learn more, I recently purchased a set for metal surface tags and a set for plastic surfaces as tests. I look forward to sharing the results with peers and colleagues. 

The takeaway: I really like ONE-KEY’s enhancements and believe the formerly formidable battery challenge is resolved…which leads to my second concern.

Do recent improvements address ONE-KEY’s backend reporting issue? 

To increase productivity and profitability at my company, we need an app that runs reports on key variables. This will help us make fully informed decisions on allocating funds to tools and equipment. 

Because it’s essential to know how often a tool is on job sites versus at the home hub, we must have the ability to:

• Run reports of tools/equipment at all of our job sites (including over 100 locations).
• Apply filters (i.e. for sites that don’t have any tools/equipment).
• Expediently access history.
• Export data in an easy to manipulate .csv format for better analytics.

After delving into ONE-KEY’s enhancements, I’m pleased that I can run a report “by location,” but I haven’t found a way to run one report showing all locations with tools/equipment, which does not require inputting data manually. 

ONE-KEY states that reporting will be improved, which is fantastic.

• When this happens, I look forward to considering the rollout of ONE-KEY as a replacement to our barcoding system.
• Once reporting is enhanced, I plan on testing it with our larger equipment already in the ONE-KEY system to see if I’m missing any reporting features that are part of our current barcoding system. 

A suggestion I'd like ONE-KEY to consider 

Because the QR code tags act more like barcodes, ONE-KEY currently does not provide real-time information unless scanned. I suggest they incorporate RFID technology into their new Asset ID tags. This would resolve the need to manually scan each tag. 

RFID would empower site supervisors to use touchless technology to audit on-site tools without ticks.

I envision supervisors periodically scanning the tags to identify and verify the location of items if they appear to be at a job site for too long. This would enable supervisors to identify a report’s accuracy and raise a flag if an item unknowingly “walks off the job.”

Looking ahead with anticipation 

I’m very pleased with ONE-KEY’s upcoming improvements and I’d love to partner with them to enhance the system for non-Milwaukee users. 

• For example, without impacting the platform’s profitability, I envision ONE-KEY increasing their marketing to non-Milwaukee manufacturers.
• I suggest that ONE-KEY focus on smaller equipment as well as larger equipment (i.e. lulls and material lifts) and equipment not yet offered in the platform. 

I’m feeling good about ONE-KEY’s stated commitment to executing and communicating continued improvements. I’m inspired by the scalability of the ONE-KEY platform as it allows non-Milwaukee tools to utilize it. This alone shows Milwaukee’s “team” mentality, which I greatly admire.

I’m eagerly anticipating the important role that Milwaukee will play in our organization. I envision the ways that ONE-KEY can help increase my organization’s efficiencies and save time and costs. 

What do you think?

I’ve shared my positive take, key concerns and suggestions regarding ONE-KEY enhancements.

Now, I look forward to hearing from my peers and colleagues who share a commitment to information systems innovation.

If you’d like to communicate privately, just email me: [email protected].