What does your sorting stations look like?

Been scraping for a while but never figured out a decent way to prep and sort everything. Were mainly an IT shop and also buy/sell hardware so have tons of equipment laying around to scrap. Usually wait until we fill our shop then break everything down for a couple months and start stockpiling again.

Desktops seem pretty straight forward, but the main issue is all the telecom and server type equipment. We deal with a ton of enterprise equipment like SANs and specialty servers which are very expensive and high quality components, so feel like we're losing a ton by missorting certain components. I'm hoping we can build better stations/bins to break down in stages so we further process certain items.

My kitchen bench, because it is. ( My kitchen bench.. )

Maybe I should be more clear. We are reorganizing our warehouse and mainly do electronics scrap. I'm trying to figure out how people organize and what bins they use. Problem is our warehouse is only maybe 700sqft and always a disaster full of scrap.

Yesterday we organized and moved everything around. We have a large cart on wheels for scrap steel, 6 44gal trashcans and 6 30gal plastic bins in front of them. We then have a row of stackable bins. Below is a list of everything I think I need a bin for. I think I need to break down everything then after our bins fill up go and sort the bin separating out different types of items (like small/large sockets or single/dual sockets).

Server power supplies
Server motherboards
Risers, backplanes and other odd cards
Desktop power supplies uncut
Desktop power supplies cut
Power cables
Data cables
Desktop motherboards
Pci cards
Cd/floppy/tape drives
Memory
Processors
Heatsinks solid copper
Heatsinks copper/aluminum
Fans
Trash plastic
Smaller items needing more processing (like removable boards encased in steel)
Misc other boards (Telecom and such)
Bin for Laptops
Bin for Small electronics
Stacks of servers
Stacks of desktops
Stacks of battery backups
Stacks of batteries

Originally Posted by Eagleice

Maybe I should be more clear. We are reorganizing our warehouse and mainly do electronics scrap. I'm trying to figure out how people organize and what bins they use. Problem is our warehouse is only maybe 700sqft and always a disaster full of scrap.

I sort my material into the following categories:


Initial Sort (when material first comes in the door)

1. separate initial material into the disassembly and resale/reuse piles. Disassembly items are for units that are either: 1. too old to sell 2. do not sell for enough money 3. are physically damaged 4. have failed testing
*I also have a few additional bins/boxes set up around the disassembly area for wire, steel, plastic, etc.

2. Reuse items are taken to a different area as far away as possible from the disassembly area (it helps reduce any misunderstanding). Items are tested and sorted into the following 4 categories:
a. passed testing
b. failed testing (units are then taken to the disassembly area for processing)
c. failed testing, but still can be sold for parts
d. failed testing, but plan on refurbishing the unit. (usually for units with puffed/blown capacitors)
*on every unit that has gone through testing I label the results. It is extremely annoying when you have to retest something because you didn't label it the first time....or sometimes the third or fourth time

Another thing I like to do is keep 1 wall or 1 shelf completely clear of any electronics. This area is where I put all my boxes of cleaned circuit boards. This helps when you are getting ready to ship your boards out to a buyer so you don't leave any small amount behind.

Originally Posted by 406Refining

I sort my material into the following categories:


Initial Sort (when material first comes in the door)

1. separate initial material into the disassembly and resale/reuse piles. Disassembly items are for units that are either: 1. too old to sell 2. do not sell for enough money 3. are physically damaged 4. have failed testing
*I also have a few additional bins/boxes set up around the disassembly area for wire, steel, plastic, etc.

2. Reuse items are taken to a different area as far away as possible from the disassembly area (it helps reduce any misunderstanding). Items are tested and sorted into the following 4 categories:
a. passed testing
b. failed testing (units are then taken to the disassembly area for processing)
c. failed testing, but still can be sold for parts
d. failed testing, but plan on refurbishing the unit. (usually for units with puffed/blown capacitors)
*on every unit that has gone through testing I label the results. It is extremely annoying when you have to retest something because you didn't label it the first time....or sometimes the third or fourth time

Another thing I like to do is keep 1 wall or 1 shelf completely clear of any electronics. This area is where I put all my boxes of cleaned circuit boards. This helps when you are getting ready to ship your boards out to a buyer so you don't leave any small amount behind.

This is great. Can you expand on what bins/boxes you have? I'm really working on what bins to use when we receive items before sorting. We've been just having a scrap pile which seems to be mixing up with our items to sell so need better separation

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

I may have missed it but do you have forklift and loading dock?

Not here. We have a couple 1000sqft warehouses with dock and forklift we use when receiving inventory and store pallets of servers for sale.

GlobalIndustrial is also a good source for all things material handling.There are almost too many different kinds of totes and parts organizers to choose from.

Their pallet jacks and hand trucks are quite good and reasonably priced.

The 1/2 yd. grey plastic tilt truck shown on the main page would be really useful for plastic and metal waste.

Maybe check it out ?

https://www.globalindustrial.com/