CASE STUDY

Specifics of IT equipment reverse logistics

Industry: Hi-tech Location: Bulgaria

The Client

The client is a world leader for technology deployment, recovery, remarketing, and recycling of technology devices (such as desktop IT, storage, mobility, and network gear). The company provides a wide varieties of spare parts for the IT industry, end-to-end services for deployment of the technology devices, together with different solutions for decommissioning, retiring end-of-life IT equipment and recycling.

The Challenge

The client needs a particular service – transportation of second hand IT equipment from Bulgaria to Germany and other parts of Europe. The challenge comes from the specifics of the product – second hand goods are not in their original package. There are few critical moments in the logistics of used goods, especially if they are high value fragile items:

It is important to be possible to make an arrangement with the sender for a specific day and hour of loading; this is also related with compliance with specific access requirements to specialized premises;
There must be a possibility to prove that any differences between the description of the product and the delivered entity are not consequences of the transportation process;
Each transported item should be registered in the moment of handover – to make sure the declared and the send products are one and the same;
The item should be secured and packed accordingly;
Tracking is essential.

In conjunction with these requirements, the client is looking for:

Reliable partner that will contact the senderand arrange the handover;
The logistics company should provide specialists who will check and put down the serial number of the item before packaging;
The packaging, provided by the logistics company must ensure the smooth transportation of valuable and fragile goodsthat are not in their original packaging;
The process of ordering, collecting, registering, shipping and deliveryin Europe must be executed within 5 business days;
The solution must be cost-effective.

The Solution

The client contacted Unimasters, demanding a tailor made solution. In one business week Unimasters came out with a procedure and ensured:

Highly-qualified professionals who register the serial numbers of the transported item;
Special boxes for IT equipment transportation;
On-time and secure transportation of used equipment across Europe;
Tracking system.

The customized procedure developed by Unimasters is tailored to the needs of the client and to the specifics of the items. It goes through several steps that ensure the reliable transportation of the second hand equipment:

Final customer inquiries are processed by Unimasters within a business day.

Upon receipt of the request, two qualified specialists go to the site. In the presence of the sender they check the serial number in the application with the one of the equipment and enter the number in the record. The sender signs.

The equipment is wrapped accordingly for transportation and placed in a special plastic box. The box is sealed and the serial number of the seal is put down in the record. The box can not be opened without breaking the seal, and it can not be replaced because of its unique number.

Unimasters prepares the boxes for transportation.

The client can track where the shipment is at any point of the process using a self-service platform.

At delivery, the receiver first checks the seal number with the protocol and then the serial number of the equipment.

The Results

The client's feedback is positive. They register:

Increased
sales

More satisfied
customers

Reliable partner in the
respective country

Cost and time
optimisation

Tracking and visibility
of shipments

"One-stop shop"
solution

The Future

As a result of the good service Unimasters and the client are looking forward to expanding the customer's business in the region. This model is a valuable know-how for future reverse logistics successful projects.