Equipment tracking for HVAC contractors
Know which van has the recovery machine
HVAC shops share a handful of expensive tools across every truck. FlowNext tags each one, so a tech scanning it with their phone camera records where it went — and the office stops making the 7 a.m. phone calls.
No card. Unlimited field users. From $39/month.
FlowNextWhat a tech sees after scanning a tag with their phone camera
Where it goes wrong today
Shared tools, no record
There are three recovery machines for nine trucks. When one is needed, nobody knows whose van it is in until someone calls around.
Gauges drift out of calibration
Digital manifolds and scales get checked when someone remembers. With a due date on each tool, the office sees what's coming up before a reading is wrong on a job.
Seasonal crunch
In the first heat wave every tool is out at once. A live list by van and by job shows what's actually free.
What HVAC contractors tag first
- Refrigerant recovery machines
- Vacuum pumps
- Micron and digital manifold gauges
- Refrigerant scales
- Nitrogen regulators and brazing kits
- Duct cleaning equipment
Locations are whatever matches how you work: “Van 3 (Luis)”, “Shop - shelf B”, “Hillcrest Medical - RTU replacement”. Every move is recorded with who made it and when.
New accounts can start from a ready-made HVAC category set: Recovery machines, Vacuum pumps, Gauges and meters, Refrigerant cylinders, Ladders, and Power tools, each with a typical inspection or service interval you can change.
Inspections and due dates
Give a category an inspection interval — gauges and scales yearly, say — and record each calibration as an inspection document. FlowNext emails the office a digest of what falls due in the next 30 days.
Before the first heat wave
Spring is when the shared tools scatter. Before the season starts, open the equipment by location report: every van is listed with the tech in charge of it, how many items it carries and a breakdown like “1 × Recovery machine, 2 × Vacuum pumps, 1 × Refrigerant scale”. The van that has two recovery machines and the van that has none show up side by side, so you can rebalance in the shop instead of on a roof in July.
During the rush, the office answers “who has the recovery machine?” from the item itself: the last scan, the van it was moved to, who moved it and when. When a tech brings it back, a scan to “Shop - shelf B” checks it in, and the next caller gets the right answer.
Calibration rides along. Give gauges and scales a yearly interval, upload each calibration certificate to the tool, and the morning email lists the ones coming due in the next 30 days — weeks before a bad reading on a charge.
How tags, phone updates and reports work in detail: features. Plans and limits: pricing.
Questions
Do my techs need to install an app?+
No. Any phone camera opens the tag's page in the browser. They sign in once, by an emailed link, and stay signed in.
Can I track refrigerant cylinders?+
Yes, as items with their own tag and location. FlowNext tracks where a cylinder is and who has it; it does not track pounds of refrigerant or EPA recordkeeping.
Can I see what's on each van?+
Yes. Each van is a location with the tech in charge of it. The equipment by location report lists every van with its item count and a breakdown by category, and downloads as CSV.
Tag your first ten items this afternoon
14-day free trial, no card. Unlimited field users on every plan, from $39/month after that.