Flannery Hire, the Yorkshire-based construction equipment hire specialist, has implemented a groundbreaking web-based antitheft system from Masternaut Three X. Used to protect high-value equipment such as excavators and telehandlers, the Masternaut Asset Track system provides automatic, self-monitoring surveillance of Flannery Hire’s equipment used on sites throughout the north of England. The system has already helped to pinpoint and recover a stolen excavator within a few hours.
"The Masternaut Asset Track system provides round the clock security for us and for our clients. They are recognising the value that the system provides them and are requesting equipment that has Asset Track installed. It gives them peace of mind, knowing that we geofence and automatically monitor the equipment on site," says Pat Flannery, Director, Flannery Hire.
The National Plant Equipment Register – TER – has more than 100,000 equipment thefts registered on its database. Insurers have reported more than 48,000 thefts, with the balance being Police National Computer data. TER indicates that at any one time there is around £200 million of stolen equipment on its database. The implications for construction companies and equipment hire companies are high insurance premiums and the onus to tighten up security.
"Customers know that if our equipment is stolen it will be recovered quickly and they won’t be faced with paying a large bill to replace it – some construction companies have policies carrying £10,000 excesses, so the added security is essential for them," says Pat Flannery
The cloud computing security system provides real-time visibility of equipment and Flannery Hire can set up individual geofences to suit any site via the web. The tracking units transmit their precise geolocation and if it moves outside of its set boundaries, the Flannery Hire team receive instants alerts on their BlackBerry smartphones and office PCs. They can then alert the police and track the equipment on line to aid recovery.
"The system has been tailored to suit our needs. It is intuitive, allowing us to assign geofences to suit any site and it provides a live view of our tracked equipment wherever it is deployed. This allows us to go about our business with the confidence that the system is constantly monitoring our assets and our customers no longer need to worry about theft of valuable hired equipment from their sites," concludes Pat Flannery.