During the tyre-change season every warehouse runs at full capacity. Every mistake – a wrong location, a tyre with a different DOT in a set, an order shipped incomplete – costs time, money and customer trust. The good news: most of these errors can be avoided with a few simple rules and the right tools.
1. Every tyre has an address
An efficient warehouse starts with a location system. Every rack, shelf and stacking area gets a unique code, e.g. A-03-2 (zone A, rack 3, level 2). Print the code as a barcode label and fix it where it is easy to see.
- Zones by season – keeping winter, summer and all-season tyres in separate zones shortens walking routes at peak times.
- Fast movers near dispatch – keep the most popular sizes (e.g. 205/55 R16) close to the packing station.
- Location capacity – define how many tyres each location holds, so the system can suggest a free location at goods receipt.
2. DOT and the FIFO principle
A tyre’s production date is encoded in its DOT number (e.g. 2425 = week 24 of 2025). Customers increasingly ask about it, and older tyres are harder to sell. That is why stock should be tracked not only by product and location, but also by DOT.
The rule is simple: issue the oldest tyres that still meet the customer’s expectations first (FIFO – first in, first out). A DOT age report shows you in advance which tyres to promote before they lose value.
3. Sets from a single batch
A customer ordering four tyres expects four identical ones – same model, same size and ideally the same DOT. When picking, make sure a set comes from one batch and one location. If that is not possible, the system should warn the picker before the tyres go into the parcel.
4. Scanners instead of paper
Paper pick lists and “the picker’s memory” do not survive a season. A handheld scanner with a barcode reader means that:
- at goods receipt, shortages and surpluses against the purchase order are visible immediately,
- at put-away you scan the tyre and the location – stock is updated in real time,
- during picking the system guides the picker along the best route and rejects the wrong tyre,
- at packing every tyre is verified before the parcel is closed.
5. How to survive peak season
- Prioritise by courier – pick orders in the order of courier collection times.
- Batch picking – when many orders need the same size, collect them in a single walk.
- Shortages don’t block the queue – an order with a missing item gets its own status and picking continues.
- Wholesaler stock at hand – if a tyre is out of stock, you instantly see which wholesaler has it and can dropship it.
- Stocktaking without closing – cycle counts by zone instead of one big annual count.
Summary
A well-organised tyre warehouse rests on three pillars: clear locations, stock tracked by DOT and scanning at every step. This shortens picking time, prevents mistakes in tyre sets and makes peak season manageable.