Your cable tester is in a van. Which van is the question.
Knowledge ERP checks tools out to the tech who has them and keeps spare stock counted by van, so "where is it?" is a lookup instead of a group text.
Gear that lives on the road
An installer doesn't lose things in the shop. The good crimper goes out with one tech on Monday and is in a different van by Wednesday. The spare cameras, keystone jacks and patch cables get bought twice, because nobody knew there were ten of them sitting in van two.
None of that is carelessness. The vans were just never set up as places that hold stock, and the tools were never signed out to anyone.
Each van is a Location
Set up the shop and each van as a Location in Knowledge ERP. Restocking a van is a transfer from the shop, and while the stock is moving it shows as in transit. After that, every item shows the van it's in.
- Stock counts per van, so "is there one on a truck?" has an answer
- Barcode labels on items and bins, printed from label sheets
- Reorder points per Location, because a van and the shop don't need the same minimums
- Cycle counts one van at a time, a quick count in the parking lot before the first job
Vans need the Growth plan (three Locations: the shop and two vans) or Business (up to ten). Starter covers one Location, which suits a shop where tools go out by check-out and stock stays on the shelf.
Knowledge ERP shows the van the last transfer put an item in, so the habit that makes it work is scanning when stock moves.
Tools are checked out to the tech
Tools are checked out to a named person with a due date, and every check-out and return is logged. Each tool's page shows who has it now and since when. "Who has the good crimper?" becomes a lookup.
A check-out is: scan the item's label, pick the person, done. When a tool comes back, add a note at check-in, which is how you find out the drill came back with a cracked chuck before the next tech does.
Every check-out has a due date, so what's late is a question the system can answer, and you can set up an automation that emails you when a checked-out item becomes overdue.
A 6-person crew with a shop and two vans pays $161 a month
That's $89 for Inventory plus six Growth seats at $12. Growth covers three Locations. With more vans, Business covers ten, at $15 a seat ($179 for the same crew). See pricing.
Where to start
Set up the shop and your busiest van this week. Not the whole fleet. One van shows quickly whether the process survives a real working day. If your parts list lives in a spreadsheet, import it as CSV and start from that. The trial is 30 days.