Tool loans with the mobile app: take out and return with QR

Tools that "disappear" are rarely stolen. They are usually with a colleague, in a service van, or on a site nobody quite remembers. This guide covers tool loans from your phone: you scan the QR code on the tool when you take it, and scan again when you bring it back. In between, the app knows who has what, and where it belongs.

In short, you lend and return in four steps:

Scan the QR code on the tool.
Take it out: tap Assign to yourself, and the tool is registered to you by name.
Give it back: scan the tool again and tap Return.
Confirm the checklist: the tool is now home and free for the next person.

Tools or materials? This guide is about tools, meaning items that go out and come back, where one specific unit is tracked over time. Materials work differently: they get consumed over time, and you book quantities in and out. Taking out materials with the phone is covered in the separate getting-started guide.

Before you start

Two things need to be in place before the first loan:

The tool must be registered and carry a QR label. Unlike materials, where the label sits on the shelf, a tool label goes on the tool itself, so it travels with the item.
The app must be installed and you must be signed in as yourself. It is the login that decides who the tool is registered to.

The login screen of the Lagerdrift mobile app with email and password — Log in with your own email and password. This is the user the tool stays registered to when you check it out.

Step 1: Scan the QR code on the tool

Everything starts with the scan of the label. You do not need to look the tool up in a list first, because the code opens the right card directly.

Open the Scanner tab at the bottom of the app.
Tap Scan Item and hold the camera over the QR code on the tool.

The Scanner tab in the mobile app with the text Scan Material, Tool, Key or Storage Bin and the Scan Item button — **Step 1:** Open the **Scanner** tab and tap **Scan Item**.

The scanner screen in the mobile app pointed at the QR code on a drill — Hold the camera over the QR code on the tool. The scanner recognises the code automatically in **Auto** mode.

Code will not read? The scanner has several modes in the row along the top. The automatic mode handles ordinary QR codes; there is also an area mode for when several codes sit close together, and a manual entry option for when a label is worn.

Step 2: Take the tool out

Once the code is read, the tool card opens, with the tool's number and name at the top, for example 124: Cordless drill #2.

The tool card in the mobile app with the Home and Assigned to fields and the Assign to yourself button — **Step 2:** The tool card. The **Assigned to** field shows the location while the tool is at home. Tap **Assign to yourself** to take it with you.

Two fields matter most day to day:

Its home location: the fixed place the tool belongs to, for example A 1.2.
Assigned to: when the tool is in, this shows the location. When it is on loan, it shows the name of the person who has it.

To take it out, tap Assign to yourself. The tool is now registered to you, and everyone else on the team sees the same thing when they look it up.

Step 3: Give it back

The return runs the same way: scan the QR code on the tool again. The card now offers Return instead of the loan button.

Tap Return. A return dialog opens, showing the tool number, name and home location at the top.
Work through the Checklist and tick the items: Complete, Clean, Functional, and a final tick confirming the tool is physically back in place.
Tap the green Return button.

The Return Tool dialog with the checklist Complete, Clean, Functional and Returned — **Step 3:** The checklist in the **Return Tool** dialog. Tick the points and tap **Return**.

Afterwards Assigned to shows the home location once again, and the button on the card is back to Assign to yourself, ready for the next person to use. The whole return takes only a few seconds.

Why a checklist on return?

The checklist is what separates "the tool has been returned" from "the tool is ready to use". Without it, the next person inherits the problem: they collect a drill with no battery, and find out on the roof.

Complete: case, charger, battery and bits are all there, not just the machine.
Clean: the tool is in the state you yourself would want to find it in.
Functional: it still works, and it picked up no damage along the way.
Back in place: it is physically back at its home location, not still in your van.

If something is not right, do not simply leave the box unticked. Report it with the Broken button in the return dialog, so that the next person knows before they go to fetch the tool.

Seeing who has what

The whole point of scanning is the overview it gives everyone else. When someone looks the tool up, by scanning the code or finding it under Lists, they see:

The tool card of a checked-out tool, where Assigned to shows the borrower's name — A checked-out tool: **Assigned to** shows who has it. **Return Date** is empty here, but can be set when the tool has to be back by a certain date.

Assigned to: the name of whoever took it, or the home location if it is in.
Its home location: where the tool goes back to.
Return Date: when it is expected back, if a return date has been set.
A history of the bookings made against the tool.

This is what replaces the round of phone calls. Instead of ringing three colleagues to find the big hammer drill, you look it up and read the name.

When something is broken or missing

Damage is almost always noticed by whoever had the tool last, and it is far cheaper to record it there and then than to let the next person discover it.

Alert Defect: on the tool card, usable at any time, and not only on return.
Broken: in the return dialog, for when something is wrong with what you are handing in.
Add Task: puts a task on the tool, for example a service, calibration or "needs a new charger". The whole team finds these again under the Tasks tab at the bottom of the app.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between tools and materials?

Tools are lent out and come back: one specific unit is followed over time, and the system tracks who has it. Materials are consumed, and it is the quantity that is booked in and out. That is also why the QR label goes on the tool itself, while a material label goes on the shelf.

Does every tool need its own QR code?

Yes. If two identical drills are to be told apart (which is exactly what you want when one of them is out), they need a code each. That is also why tools carry their own number and name, such as 124: Cordless drill #2.

What happens if someone forgets to scan?

The tool still shows as being in, and the overview no longer matches reality out in the warehouse. That is the one habit that really has to stick. In return, it is the whole job: one scan out, one scan in, which is quicker than signing a sheet on the wall.

What do I do if the tool is damaged when I return it?

Return it anyway, but tap Broken in the return dialog instead of ticking Functional. The damage is then recorded against the tool, and the next person sees it before they go to collect it.

In short

Tool loans on the phone come down to two scans: one when you take the tool, one when you bring it back. In exchange, the team stops guessing where things are, damage gets recorded by whoever caused it, and tools that do not come back become visible while they can still be found.

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