Total Control® Case Study

Automated Data Sharing Enables Equipment Access Management

United Rentals’ access solutions boost safety and visibility on athletic center build.

United Rentals partnered with a major contractor and Eyrus to implement a single-badge Equipment Access Management solution at a large athletic center build, improving job site safety, visibility, and control over who can access equipment. By integrating RFID badges, automated data sharing, and cloud-based reporting in Total Control®, the contractor reduced equipment damage risk while gaining real-time accountability and utilization insights.

Controlling who could access and operate equipment on a large, multi-year high-traffic job site while reducing costly equipment damage caused by unauthorized or unqualified operators.

When a large general contractor began planning for a multi-year athletic center build in Western Canada, two of the executive team’s top priorities were controlling equipment access and reducing equipment damage, which proved costly on previous projects. The need for an effective and efficient equipment access management program was a given.

For help, the company turned to United Rentals, which is also supplying all the equipment for the project, and Eyrus, a leading worksite intelligence provider.

A single-badge, multi-use solution

To boost safety on this high-profile project, which will employ as many as 700 workers at peak, the GC sought visibility into who uses their equipment and control over who can access it. Untrained operators pose dangers to themselves and others and are more likely to cause equipment or property damage than fully qualified operators.

United Rentals proposed its single-badge, multi-use Equipment Access Management solution. In this turnkey solution, approved equipment operators use the same RFID-enabled worker ID badge that grants jobsite access to gain access to equipment.

To enter the jobsite, a worker passes through a United Rentals smart turnstile, placing their badge on the card reader. The badge grants authorized workers jobsite access. A digital record of who enters and exits the site is generated in Eyrus, providing accurate headcounts and enhancing jobsite security.

To access equipment, authorized operators placed the same badge on an ignition keypad equipped with an RFID reader. This authenticates the operator and creates a record of who used the machine and when in Total Control®, United Rentals’ cloud-based worksite management platform.

Automated data sharing is the key

Automated data sharing is the crux of the equipment access management solution.

To issue worker ID badges, Eyrus gathers basic worker profile information such as name, company and trade during the worker on-boarding process. That data is sent automatically from Eyrus to Total Control twice per day.

In Total Control, it’s as easy as checking boxes to assign equipment access privileges. The GC can grant rights to individual workers, crafts or subcontractors for certain pieces or categories of equipment based on operator qualifications and business needs. The right to access everything from UTVs to forklifts to aerial lifts can be assigned on a one-to-many basis or many-to-one basis. Rights can be revoked just as easily when needs change.

Equipment Access Management also allows the contractor to track utilization and see who used any piece of equipment and when. If a piece of equipment becomes damaged, the contractor can determine who was operating it at the time.

A proven solution

The single-badge, multi-use solution has been implemented on other jobsites, with outstanding results.

“United Rentals has successfully partnered with Eryus and other site access providers on multiple projects to provide seamless jobsite and equipment access management. It’s a proven technology offering that the customer can feel comfortable with,” said Kevin Noonan, Senior Manager for United Rentals’ Advanced Solutions Group.

A one-stop partner for a range of jobsite needs

On large, complex projects such as the athletic center build, customers rely on United Rentals not only as a provider of equipment but also as a one-stop shop to help them mobilize the project and improve safety, productivity and sustainability.

Equipment Access Management is just one component of a suite of offerings called Worksite Performance Solutions (WPS). Other WPS components include the Supplies OnDemand inventory distribution and management solution, WEDGE™ remote environmental monitoring and greenhouse gas emissions tracking.

As the athletic center project progresses, United Rentals will be there every step of the way to support the contractor in leveraging its digital tools and managing the fleet of rental equipment, as well as suggesting innovative solutions for any new challenges that may arise.