Example workflow Automotive

How a Garage Can Track Stored Tire Sets by Rack Slot

Scan the slot, then the label on the tire set. Twice a year, the export tells you where every customer's tires are, without walking the racks reading tags.

This page shows how DataScan can be set up for this task. It is an illustration, not a report about a specific customer. All codes and values on it are examples.

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Mechanic scanning the barcode tag on a stored set of tires on a tire storage rack with an iPhone

The problem

Many garages and tire shops store their customers' summer or winter tires. Twice a year hundreds of sets come in within a few weeks, and each one has to go somewhere in the racks.

A paper tag on the tires and a handwritten list in the office work until the list is incomplete. When the customer arrives for the change, someone walks the racks reading tags while the car waits on the lift.

A barcode on every rack slot and every tire set label turns storing into two scans per set, and finding a set into a lookup.

The setup

One-to-Many Scan in the One-to-One (Pairs) sub-mode alternates between slot and tire set, which matches storage where each slot holds one set. An optional customer list adds the customer to each row of the export.

Scan mode One-to-Many Scan, sub-mode One-to-One (Pairs)
Primary and Secondary Barcode Label Slot and Tire Set
Primary and Secondary Column Header Slot and Tire Set
Labels A Code 128 or QR label on each rack slot (R03-S12); a numbered barcode label for each tire set, with a copy for the customer
Lookup data (optional) A CSV with the tire set label in the first column, then customer name or licence plate, then any other columns. Imported in Lookup Scan from a file or a URL
Cross-reference with Lookup Data On, so the customer name or plate is added to every row of the export; on iPhone and iPad, Enable Cross-Reference also shows it in a pop-up after each scan

Step by step

  1. Label slots and sets Label every rack slot once. When tires come in, attach a numbered set label and give the customer the matching copy.
  2. Scan slot, then set Open One-to-Many Scan in One-to-One (Pairs). Scan the slot, then the tire set you put there. The screen tells you which label it expects next.
  3. Check the customer With the customer list imported, the export shows the customer name or plate next to each set, so a label on the wrong tires stands out. On iPhone and iPad, a pop-up also shows the name right after each scan.
  4. Export after the session Export the pairs as CSV or Excel and add the slot to your storage spreadsheet with a lookup by tire set.
  5. Find a set at pick-up Filter the spreadsheet by set label or plate. Or export the storage spreadsheet with the set label first, import it in Lookup Scan, and scan the customer's copy to see the slot.

What you get out

Each pair of scans becomes one row:

Column Example value What it holds
Slot R03-S12 The rack slot scanned first
Tire Set TS-2026-0418 The tire set label scanned after it
Timestamp 2026-10-20 15:06 When the pair was scanned

With Cross-reference with Lookup Data on, the customer columns are added as well, prefixed Primary and Secondary; the Secondary columns carry the customer details for each tire set.

Fits well if…

  • You store customers' seasonal tires on numbered racks.
  • You can label each rack slot once and each tire set as it arrives.
  • You keep your storage list in a spreadsheet or can export it as CSV.
  • Several people store and fetch tires and the paper list keeps falling behind.

Label One Rack Before the Next Season

Label a rack of slots, store a few sets with two scans each, and try finding them again. The free trial includes every feature.

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