Everyone knows food carries an expiration date. For Toyota de Puerto Rico, so do new cars.

"We pay a property tax on any new cars we fail to move within 90 days from our lot to one of our dealers," says Paul Principe, administration services director for the Toyota distributor in San Juan.

That's one of the reasons Toyota de Puerto Rico replaced a manual data entry tracking system with portable bar code printers (Zebra Technologies Corp., 847-634-6700, www.zebra.com) and handheld wireless terminals (Symbol Technologies, 516-563-2400, www.symbol.com ) at the dock.

"We could spend up to two weeks from the time a car arrived at the port just to enter the data into our system," Principe explains. "Until that was done, we couldn't move the cars."

What's more, says Principe, the manual system was error prone: A vehicle identification number, or VIN, is 14 characters long, and Toyota processes as many as 26,000 cars a year. "Miss one digit on a VIN number, and you could look for that car for days," says Principe.

Now, that information is entered at the port, and the inventory system is updated in real time. Errors have been virtually eliminated.

Toyota can also note dents or scratches in the system at every step in the transportation process. That has reduced losses from damage. "Any scratches reduce the value of a new car on the lot," says Principe. "Tracking where damage occurred in the process is critical."

Once a shipment has been cleared by customs, Toyota may unload the vehicles. That opens a file in Toyota de Puerto Rico's inventory system.

The portable printer generates a 3 by 4 inch wax resin label that is applied to the windshield.

In addition to the VIN number, the bar code includes the time, date, and location of the scan, a five-digit tracking number, and information about the model, color, and options. That information is updated automatically, and can be used for inventory control, invoicing, and loan information.

Once the label is applied, the vehicles are inspected, scanned, and loaded on a truck carrier. The condition of the vehicle is documented in the system.

"If there's any damage when we unload it at our yard, we can compare it to the condition the car was in when it left the port," says Principe.

Scanning the label also alerts Toyota's staff to expect the cars. Once they arrive at the distributor's facility, they are scanned again, inspected for damage, and parked to await shipment to dealers. The system is updated and cross-referenced in real time with the needs of dealers.

Vehicles are inspected and scanned again before they leave the lot. The final scan triggers a replenishment order for another vehicle.

"We are now able to track inventory in cycles and produce detailed reports by department, area, and section," says Principe. "No car leaves our lot without knowing to whom and when it was sent, and in what condition."