Employee badge
Using an employee badge for tool vending: staff hold it against the reader of a connected tool dispenser and take out drills or cutting inserts. Every withdrawal is recorded automatically in the SAP system.
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Employee badge for tool vending: IoT-based withdrawal
In the solution example, the standard employee badge is all that is needed to operate the dispenser via its touch display. To assign withdrawals to cost centres, staff also scan worksheets printed with a barcode at the control unit. The dispensers are fitted with connectivity modules and SIM cards and transmit their consumption data overnight via 4G and 5G to a central server, which buffers the data and passes it on to SAP. In the other direction, SAP delivers configurations, software updates and tool catalogues to the dispensers.
The example comes from the metal and electronics industry, with inventory management and reordering as use cases. Tool manufacturer CERATIZIT moved its Tool-O-Mat concept to the cloud together with IT service provider Materna. Around 1,000 dispensers in 22 countries, each holding up to 840 products, communicate with SAP, previously often via the slow CSD mobile standard. Remote access allows system reboots, for instance, and on-site interventions have become very rare. In episode 72 of the IoT Use Case Podcast, Marcus Götting and Tobias Baur explain how service calls in places such as Mexico are handled directly from Kempten.
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Employee badge for tool vending: frequently asked questions
How does an employee badge open a tool dispenser?
Staff hold their standard employee badge against the dispenser's reader and then select the tool on the touch display. CERATIZIT's Tool-O-Mat dispensers need no separate login. For the user it makes no difference which compartment a tool is in; it is simply made available. The withdrawal flows into the SAP system as a consumption record.
How are tool withdrawals assigned to a cost centre?
Via a barcode on the worksheet, which is scanned at the control unit in addition to the employee badge. This way CERATIZIT's dispensers assign each withdrawal to a cost centre. In the SAP system, withdrawals are assigned to customers and projects, and administration, stock levels and billing for the dispensers come together centrally. Payment is based on consumption.
How does data get from a tool vending machine into SAP?
Through a central server between the dispensers and SAP, which controls the data flow and buffers it if a dispenser is unreachable. At CERATIZIT, the dispensers send their consumption data overnight via 4G and 5G, because GSM has already been switched off in some countries. In return, SAP delivers configurations and software updates. IT service provider Materna implemented the solution.
Can an employee badge also be used to dispense PPE?
Technically, the system is not limited to tools. CERATIZIT and Materna explicitly mention dispensing personal protective equipment as a possible extension, although it has not yet been implemented in the solution example. The basis would be the same: withdrawal by employee badge, consumption data in SAP and reordering through inventory management with analytics that optimises stocking and order lists.
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