Introduction:
Gillman Home Center, starting as a small lumber yard in 1962 and now spanning sixteen locations, significantly broadened its scope to offer an extensive range of home improvement products and equipment rental. This family-run business, deeply rooted in providing building materials, emphasizes its lineage in the industry, reflecting a tradition of growth and diversification to meet various customer needs.
Challenge:
Despite Gilman Home Center’s rapid growth, fueled by an extensive product range and deep industry expertise, their expansion into the equipment rental sector brought significant challenges. Theft, a common problem within the rental industry, began to affect their operations. Initially, Gilman managed to retrieve stolen items by conducting neighborhood searches—a time-intensive, yet occasionally successful, method. However, as thefts escalated, including items worth over $30,000, this approach proved inadequate. It became clear that a more effective solution was urgently needed to address the escalating issue.
Solution:
Travis Gilman, grandson of the Gilman Home Center’s founder, identified GPS tracking as a transformative solution for safeguarding their rental equipment. After evaluating numerous leading GPS Tracking solutions, Gilman chose Hapn for its comprehensive tracking capabilities. Implementing Hapn’s blend of hardwired trackers for heavy machinery and battery-operated trackers for lighter attachments, the Gilman team quickly achieved real-time oversight of their rental fleet accessible on their iPads.
The success with Hapn soon inspired another innovative application: managing their burgeoning lumber distribution. Plagued by unreliable deliveries and lacking visibility into shipment statuses, Gilman extended Hapn’s technology to monitor their lumber trailers—both company-operated and third-party. Hapn’s long-life, magnetically attached trackers offered a flexible and efficient solution, perfectly suited to the dynamic needs of Gilman’s lumber operations. By setting up boundaries around client sites, Gilman now proactively manages deliveries, ensuring on-time arrivals with real-time tracking and the flexibility to reroute shipments as needed. This strategic move not only optimized logistics but also propelled Gilman Home Center towards greater operational excellence.
Measuring Success
Since adopting Hapn’s GPS technology, Gilman Home Center has significantly mitigated the issue of equipment theft within their Equipment Rental operation. Travis Gilman reports, “We have not had one piece of equipment stolen that we could not recover since we have started utilizing Hapn’s solution.” This achievement has drastically reduced theft incidents and ensured the recovery of stolen equipment, leading to substantial cost savings.
Additionally, the introduction of Hapn’s tracking solutions has enhanced the efficiency of lumber deliveries. The use of battery-powered trackers has improved the scheduling and execution of deliveries, making the process smoother and more reliable. As Travis Gilman notes, “With the ability to track our equipment at all times, we also are able to communicate with our customers when a delivery load can be expected, how far until arrival, and other pertinent information.”
Gilman also praises the support from Hapn, emphasizing the positive impact of their customer success: “Your guys’ communication and customer service is wonderful. I have never had trouble finding an asset while using Hapn’s solution as well.”
