How Prevent Flats streamlined tire installation, warranty, and dealership operations with Zoho Creator

Overview

Prevent Flats (PST Plus) partnered with YAALI Bizappln Solutions, a Zoho Authorized Partner, to develop a customized digital platform for managing its tire-sealant installation, warranty, dealership, and inventory processes.

Prevent Flats operates through dealerships where service advisors and installers apply tire-sealant products to vehicle tires. Because the product is covered by warranty, the business needs accurate installation records that can be retrieved when a customer later raises a qualifying tire issue.

The business required a centralized solution that could connect multiple operational processes, including tire-sealant calculation, vehicle identification, installation recording, warranty management, dealer onboarding, dealer-specific access, inventory tracking, and stock forecasting.

YAALI Bizappln Solutions designed and implemented a customized Zoho Creator application as the central operational platform, integrating it with Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and Zoho Books. The solution also uses Zoho Creator OCR to capture VIN numbers from vehicle images and integrates with an external U.S. government vehicle information API to retrieve vehicle details.

Key Takeaways

• • Customized Zoho Creator application built around Prevent Flats' dealership workflows

  • Centralized tire-sealant calculation and installation management

  • OCR-based VIN number capture for vehicle identification

  • Automated retrieval of vehicle make, model, and year

  • Installation records connected directly to warranty claims

  • Dealer-specific access through the Zoho Creator portal

  • Dealer and user onboarding through Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and Zoho Creator

  • Zoho Books integration for dealer product sales and stock transactions

  • Dealer stock visibility, stock forecasting, and low-stock warnings

  • Application currently used by 200+ users

  • Roadside assistance appointment capability developed and currently under testing

Executive Summary

Prevent Flats, also known as PST Plus, operates in the tire-sealant industry, distributing its products through dealerships. The company's products are installed by dealership service advisors and installers and are covered by warranty. As a result, installation information needs to be accurately recorded and remain accessible when a customer later experiences a qualifying tire issue.

Prevent Flats' dealership operations involve several interconnected activities, including dealer and user onboarding, dealer agreements, tire-sealant calculation, vehicle identification, installation recording, warranty claims, product consumption, dealer stock tracking, stock forecasting, and roadside assistance.

The company required a centralized digital platform capable of supporting these operational requirements while being practical for the service advisors and installers who primarily use mobile devices during installation and warranty activities.

The solution was implemented by YAALI Bizappln Solutions, a Zoho Authorized Partner, using Zoho Creator as the central application platform. The implementation currently supports 200+ users and connects the operational processes required to manage tire-sealant installations, warranty claims, dealership access, and inventory-related activities.

Problem Statement and Key Challenges

Prevent Flats needed to centralize multiple dealership processes that were closely connected but required different types of information and workflows.

The key challenges included:

Accurate Tire-Sealant Calculation

Installers needed to determine the appropriate amount of tire sealant based on:

• • Tire width

  • Aspect ratio

  • Tire diameter

  • Product concentration

  • Measurement system

The calculation needed to be available within the installation workflow so that installers could determine the required product quantity while recording the installation.

Vehicle Identification

Every installation needed to be associated with the correct vehicle using its VIN number.

Manually entering a long VIN number was inconvenient for users working primarily from mobile devices. The application therefore needed a more efficient method of capturing the vehicle identifier.

Vehicle Identification

Once the VIN number was captured, the application needed to retrieve relevant vehicle information, including:

• • Make

  • Model

  • Year

Installation Tracking

The business needed a structured record of each tire-sealant installation, including:

• • Vehicle

  • Tire position

  • Tire brand

  • Tire model

  • Product volume used

Warranty Management

Because the tire-sealant product is covered by a warranty, warranty claims needed to be connected to the original installation record.

The process also needed to capture supporting information such as damaged tire photographs and damage details.

Dealer-Level Access

The application needed to support multiple dealerships while ensuring that users could access information relevant to their respective dealership.

Inventory Visibility

Prevent Flats needed visibility into product supplied to dealerships and product consumed during installations in order to determine current dealer stock.

Stock Forecasting

Historical installation activity needed to be used to estimate future product requirements and provide visibility into potential stock requirements.

Roadside Assistance Capability

For roadside assistance, the business needed a way to identify available installers based on dealership, ZIP code, working dates, and working hours and provide suitable appointment slots.

Evaluation of the Problem

Prevent Flats' requirements involved several interconnected processes, from dealer onboarding and installation to warranty management and inventory planning. YAALI Bizappln Solutions evaluated these processes as a connected workflow to determine how they could be managed within a centralized Zoho environment.

The assessment identified Zoho Creator as the central platform because the solution required customized forms, business logic, mobile-friendly workflows, portal access, and integrations.

The supporting Zoho applications were mapped to specific business requirements:

• • Zoho CRM: Dealer and user onboarding

  • Zoho Sign: Dealer and user agreements

  • Zoho Books: Product sales and stock transactions

  • Zoho Creator: Installation, vehicle identification, warranty, portal access, inventory, and forecasting

A key usability challenge was the manual entry of long VIN numbers on mobile devices. YAALI addressed this by using Zoho Creator OCR to capture the VIN number from an image, followed by an external vehicle information API to retrieve the vehicle's make, model, and year.

The evaluation also established the connection between installation, warranty, and inventory. Installation records provide the basis for warranty claims, while product consumption from installations contributes to dealer stock and forecasting.

This assessment resulted in a connected architecture that brings the dealership's core operational processes together within a centralized Zoho-based platform.

Proposed Solution(s)

YAALI Bizappln Solutions implemented a customized Zoho Creator application as the central platform for Prevent Flats' dealership operations, connecting installation, warranty, dealer access, and inventory processes.

The solution includes:

• • Tire-Sealant Calculator: Calculates the required sealant quantity based on tire specifications, concentration, and measurement system.

  • Installation Management: Records vehicle, tire, and product usage details and locks completed installation records.

  • Vehicle Identification: Uses Zoho Creator OCR to capture the VIN number from an image and an external vehicle API to retrieve vehicle make, model, and year.

  • Warranty Management: Links warranty claims to the original installation and captures damage photographs and details.

  • Dealer Portal: Provides dealership-specific access to relevant records.

  • Dealer Onboarding: Connects Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and Zoho Creator for dealer and user onboarding.

  • Inventory Management: Integrates Zoho Books with Creator to track product supply, consumption, and dealer stock.

  • Stock Forecasting: Uses installation history to estimate future product requirements and provide low-stock warnings.

  • Roadside Assistance: Provides appointment booking based on dealer, ZIP code, installer availability, working dates, and hours. This capability is currently under testing.

The solution brings these processes together within a single customized Zoho ecosystem, with Zoho Creator serving as the central operational platform.

Implementation

The implementation focused on connecting the business processes into a single operational workflow while ensuring that the application could support users working primarily from mobile devices.

Customized Zoho Creator Application

A customized Zoho Creator application was developed to manage the core operational processes, including:

• • Tire-sealant calculation

  • Vehicle identification

  • Installation management

  • Warranty management

  • Dealer-specific portal access

  • Stock transactions

  • Stock forecasting

  • Low-stock warnings

Custom forms and business logic were implemented to reflect Prevent Flats' specific operational requirements.

Installation and Vehicle Identification

The installation workflow was built to capture the required vehicle and tire information along with the quantity of tire sealant used.

To simplify vehicle identification for mobile users, Zoho Creator OCR was implemented to extract the VIN number from an uploaded vehicle image.

The extracted VIN number is then used with an external vehicle information API to retrieve the vehicle's make, model, and year.

Warranty Workflow

The warranty process was connected to the original installation record.

Users can locate an existing installation using the VIN number, create the associated warranty record, capture damage photographs and related information, and proceed through the warranty approval workflow.

Dealer and User Onboarding

The implementation connected Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and Zoho Creator to establish the dealer onboarding process.

Dealer information is managed in Zoho CRM, agreements are processed through Zoho Sign, and Creator portal access is provided as part of the onboarding workflow.

Users are associated with their respective dealerships so that they can access relevant information through the Creator portal.

Dealer and User Onboarding

The implementation connected Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and Zoho Creator to establish the dealer onboarding process.

Dealer information is managed in Zoho CRM, agreements are processed through Zoho Sign, and Creator portal access is provided as part of the onboarding workflow.

Users are associated with their respective dealerships so that they can access relevant information through the Creator portal.

Automated Dealer Inventory Tracking via Invoice & Installation Activity

Zoho Books was integrated with Zoho Creator to connect product sales with dealer inventory

When relevant products are included in a Zoho Books invoice, a corresponding stock transaction is created in Creator. Product consumption recorded through installation activity is then used to maintain dealer stock information.

Stock Forecasting

The implementation uses historical installation activity to estimate future product requirements.

Current dealer stock, product consumption, and historical installation information are brought together to support stock forecasting and low-stock warnings.

Roadside Assistance

A custom roadside assistance appointment booking capability was also developed

The functionality is designed to identify installers based on dealership and ZIP code, consider working dates and hours, and generate available appointment slots.

This capability is currently under testing.

Mobile-First Operational Use

The application was implemented with mobile usage in mind, as dealership service advisors and installers primarily use Android and iPhone devices for installation and warranty activities.

This implementation approach resulted in a connected Zoho environment in which Zoho Creator acts as the central operational application, while Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, Zoho Books, OCR, and the external vehicle information API support the surrounding business processes.

Implementation Duration: The project was implemented over a period of three weeks.

Results

The implementation has transformed the way Prevent Flats manages the operational processes surrounding tire-sealant installation and warranty management. Instead of handling these activities as disconnected requirements, the business now has a centralized application that connects installation, vehicle information, warranty, dealership access, and inventory processes.

The solution delivers the following business outcomes:

Centralized Installation Management

Installers can calculate the required sealant quantity, capture vehicle and tire information, record the product volume used, and complete the installation record within the same Zoho Creator application.

Installation-to-Warranty Traceability

The connected workflow reduces manual effort across intake, conflict checking, document signing, document management, communication, and payment authorization.

Earlier Conflict Identification

Warranty claims are connected to the corresponding installation record through the vehicle's VIN number. When a qualifying tire issue occurs, dealership users can locate the original installation and submit the relevant warranty information, including damage photographs and details

Simplified Vehicle Identification

The application uses OCR to extract the VIN number from an uploaded vehicle image. The extracted VIN number is then used with the integrated vehicle information API to retrieve the vehicle's make, model, and year.

Connected Dealer Operations

Dealer management, agreements, user onboarding, and portal access are connected through Zoho CRM, Zoho Sign, and Zoho Creator, providing a structured workflow for bringing dealerships and their users onto the platform.

Dealer Inventory Visibility

The integration with Zoho Books brings product sales into the Creator-based inventory workflow. Product consumption recorded during installations is used alongside supplied product information to determine dealer stock.

Stock Forecasting and Monitoring

Historical installation activity is used to estimate future product requirements. Low-stock warnings provide visibility into potential shortages and support proactive dealer inventory management.

Extended Operational Capability

A roadside assistance appointment booking capability has also been developed to identify installers based on dealership, ZIP code, working dates, and working hours and generate available appointment slots. This capability is currently under testing.

Overall Business Result

The addition of OCR-based VIN capture and vehicle information API integration further adapts the platform to the practical requirements of mobile users working at dealerships.