Let me tell you how you can improve your work flow!

I was thinking to share what I like to do in order to get organised and to be more productive. And yes is not easy job for everybody!
Here are 3 steps that you can try!
1. Sort - put your same kind of stuff togheder
2. Deposit or store - put your usual things near you - the others store them away!
3. Arrange - and I mean clean, put back in the right place, avoid accidents
Check out my video to see how I do it

The main issue we have with workflow is that we get things brought to us in boxes and we end up sorting, piece by piece. I have had limited success in getting other staff to understand distinctions like wire grades, etc. so I often end up dealing with it, myself. That means piling up boxes until I have free time to do a mass sort. But I usually just pull the high-value stuff or trash off the top, as I go, letting the smaller items like batteries and phones sink to the bottom, which I then dump into another box for later sorting, again because I do it myself. Then, things go into rough categories like "vintage" or "needs batteries removed," further adding to the granularity of sorting (and the difficulty of training staff). It makes the whole "touch it once" philosophy hard to maintain. I've been wondering about having a way to get access to each and every sort bin/box as I handle every "comingled" customer package that I begin to sort out but I feel like that would be like an enormous cubby system. And even then, how do you apportion floor/shelf space? Ten laptops take up much more space than ten drill batteries. Fully modular shelving is expensive but I think the current system of salvaged plastic totes shoved into salvaged (and mismatched) racking is beginning to show the limits of capacity. What do you all do for the hand sorting process?

Originally Posted by Breakage

The main issue we have with workflow is that we get things brought to us in boxes and we end up sorting, piece by piece. I have had limited success in getting other staff to understand distinctions like wire grades, etc. so I often end up dealing with it, myself. That means piling up boxes until I have free time to do a mass sort. But I usually just pull the high-value stuff or trash off the top, as I go, letting the smaller items like batteries and phones sink to the bottom, which I then dump into another box for later sorting, again because I do it myself. Then, things go into rough categories like "vintage" or "needs batteries removed," further adding to the granularity of sorting (and the difficulty of training staff). It makes the whole "touch it once" philosophy hard to maintain. I've been wondering about having a way to get access to each and every sort bin/box as I handle every "comingled" customer package that I begin to sort out but I feel like that would be like an enormous cubby system. And even then, how do you apportion floor/shelf space? Ten laptops take up much more space than ten drill batteries. Fully modular shelving is expensive but I think the current system of salvaged plastic totes shoved into salvaged (and mismatched) racking is beginning to show the limits of capacity. What do you all do for the hand sorting process?

Nice tips! For me here in Europe I think shelving made diy from wood is the cheap solution.

Here are several that I use:
1) Pails and buckets to place the material in. If I breakdown any equipment, I put the parts in the pail/buckets, according to the material (copper, brass, etc.).
2) Tools: I have plenty of tools on hand to work. Screwdrivers, wire strippers, bolt cutters, etc. It saves me time from retrieving tools.
3) Storage totes to put like items in. Wire as an example. Sort by wire material (copper, aluminum, etc.) and size/type.

If you're using a vise to hold something, make sure the vise is bolted to something sturdy.

I remember watching a Moose the Scrapper video a few years ago and he had something in a vise working on it but the vise wasn't attached to his work bench.

Originally Posted by jimicrk

If you're using a vise to hold something, make sure the vise is bolted to something sturdy.

I remember watching a Moose the Scrapper video a few years ago and he had something in a vise working on it but the vise wasn't attached to his work bench.

lol. I just made a video where I threw a vice on to the tailgate of my truck and start using it. I keep saying i'm gonna mount it somehow, but never get around to it. And I'm with the guy from college station, get rid of it quickly. I usually only break appliances at the junk yard anymore. just throw it off the truck, whack it with the splitting maul and get what I can. Although Im not doing the Ewaste that much. Thats where storing stuff for a full load might pay off.

Originally Posted by Gravitar

I just sell everything I have when I get it. I don't have room to store stuff very long, so I take the easy to grab stuff and a lot of mixed items get thrown in shred. But I've found that I am increasing my profits because I'm not investing time into taking stuff apart for hours. For example I usually leave appliances whole and just cut the cord off and pull compressors, and leave brass on water heaters. By not taking everything apart down, I give myself more time to get more scrap and can move more weight faster. Definitely not for everyone but it works for me and has made my business much more efficient.

This is pretty much how I do it to. Keep a cord bucket. Seperate my load best as possible and keep it moving. I don't take that many huge loads to the scrap yard but I'm they're more often than other and the yard is only 5 minutes from my house so an extra trip or two is no big deal.

Originally Posted by EuroRecycling

I was thinking to share what I like to do in order to get organised and to be more productive. And yes is not easy job for everybody!
Here are 3 steps that you can try!
1. Sort - put your same kind of stuff togheder
2. Deposit or store - put your usual things near you - the others store them away!
3. Arrange - and I mean clean, put back in the right place, avoid accidents
Check out my video to see how I do it

Wow this is awesome. Thanks for this