A cardboard tag doing far too much work
In most bike shop workshops, the job is a brown tag tied to the handlebar. It has the customer's name, a phone number, what they asked for, maybe the price quoted at the counter, and whatever the mechanic scribbles on it as the job goes on. Worn chain, needs cassette, rang customer, no answer. It is quick and everyone understands it.
Until it rains on the bikes waiting outside, or the tag tears off when bikes are shuffled on the rack, or the mechanic's note says 'rang, OK' without saying what the customer agreed to. At collection the counter has to charge from the tag, and if the tag and the customer disagree about what was approved, there is nothing else to go on.
The tag is the only copy of the job
The issue is not the tag itself. Mechanics need something physical on the bike. The issue is that the tag is the record. Nothing else in the shop holds the job detail, so the counter, the phone and the workshop all depend on one piece of card hanging in the back.
- The counter cannot answer a customer's question without fetching the tag.
- Handwriting varies, and abbreviations mean different things to different mechanics.
- Approvals by phone are noted briefly, with no time or detail.
- Parts fitted are written on the tag and then keyed into the till again at collection, or forgotten.
- Once the bike leaves, the tag goes in the bin, and so does the history.
Small errors that add up at the till
Lost tags mean bikes nobody can identify, and a mechanic has to work out whose bike it is from the booking diary. Unclear notes mean parts fitted but not charged, or charged when the customer says they never agreed. Every one of those is a small argument at the counter, and some of them end with you giving the part away to keep the peace.
There is also no history. When the customer returns next year, nobody knows the chain was replaced last spring or that the rear wheel was trued twice.
A tag that points to a job card
We build a digital job card system for the workshop, working alongside your EPOS or replacing the paper-only process.
- At check-in the counter creates the job on a tablet or PC: customer, bike description, frame number if known, what was asked for and any agreed price.
- A tag prints with the customer's surname, the bike, a short job number and a QR code. It goes on the handlebar exactly as the paper tag did.
- At the stand the mechanic scans the tag with a phone or workshop tablet and adds notes, extra work found and parts used from a picklist.
- Extra work goes to the customer for approval by text or email, and their answer is recorded on the card with the time.
- When the job is finished, the card shows parts and labour ready for the till, so nothing is retyped.
- The finished card stays on file against the customer and the bike.
| Moment | Paper tag only | Tag plus job card |
|---|---|---|
| Customer rings | Walk to the back | Look up the job on screen |
| Extra work found | Scribble and phone | Approval recorded with time |
| Collection | Charge from handwriting | Parts and labour listed |
| Next visit | No history | Previous jobs on file |
What the mechanics and the counter notice
Mechanics still have a tag on the bike and still work the way they do now. The difference is that their notes are readable by anyone, and a quick scan replaces a phone call to the counter. The counter can answer questions without leaving the till, and collection takes less time because the bill is already built.
Disputes about what was agreed mostly go away, because the approval sits on the job card with the customer's reply.
Signs the paper tags are costing you
- Bikes turn up in the workshop with no tag or an unreadable one.
- Parts fitted are sometimes missed off the bill.
- Customers dispute what they agreed to by phone.
- Staff walk to the back to answer every status question.
- You have no record of what was done on a bike last year.