After three robberies in the past 12 months, a Thomastown based factory decided to utilise FleetLocate’s BAT50 Battery Asset Tracker, fitting the device to one of its toolboxes. When this toolbox was stolen in yet another break in, the BAT50 led police straight to the culprits.
The Thomastown factory, along with 12 other factories in the area, was last robbed around six weeks ago, with workshop tools and equipment including an air compressor stolen by the thieves.
“Since the first robbery, the factory has basically been broken into every four months or so; and there have been at least 20 robberies in the area over the past few months, with no suspects identified,” said factory owner, Hank.
Fed up with the constant robberies, Hank decided to hide a BAT50 asset tracker, which is monitored by FleetLocate, in one of the factory’s toolboxes. Once the toolbox was stolen, the signal provided by the tracker identified its whereabouts.
The address was passed onto the police who monitored the location for a few weeks before initiating an early morning raid on the suspected property, resulting in the recovery of a substantial amount of stolen goods. The property was occupied by the ‘receiver’ of the goods, who subsequently provided details of the thieves. They have since been arrested.
The BAT50 is available through FleetLocate, a division of Procon MRM Pacific. It is designed to provide users with a location notification every 24 hours via a GPS data network, meaning that the battery is only used for a few minutes each day, enabling this self-contained battery-powered device to last at least one year on a single battery.
As the BAT50 is fully mobile, it can be fixed to any non-powered mobile or fixed asset. It is water resistant and fully protected against dust and high-pressure water jets, with completely integrated GPS and cellular antennas.
This device is now being widely used within the construction industry in order to protect valuable assets in the event of a robbery, and is also becoming a popular choice within the transport industry.
Hank added, “The factory had been robbed numerous times and there were no leads prior to using the BAT50. Without installing this device, it’s very unlikely that the police would have been able to track down the thieves. We will definitely continue using it and we’ve had several tradesman working at our factory who are keen to purchase the BAT50.”
FleetLocate will also soon be releasing the BAT1000 which has additional features including a motion sensor, stronger GPS signal and a five year battery life.
CEO of Procon MRM Pacific, Tim Bos commented, “With the BAT50 already receiving such attention, it was only natural for us to further expand on this successful product. The BAT1000 is suitable for a wide range of applications and will be available within the next few months.”