A decade of processing end of life IT equipment - lessons learned at the IBM™ Endicott asset recovery center

Since 1994, the asset recovery center in Endicott, NY has processed over 300 million pounds of returned end of life computer equipment. During the ten years, the operation has successively built on its experiences and competencies to change the scope of its services. It has transformed itself from a basic asset protection and commodity recovery process that handled only IBM´s internal assets to an operation that now offers product end of life services to external customers as well, including parts harvesting and broker sales processes. Some of the changes, such as increasing commodity recoveries and operational productivity improvements, have been the result of internal optimization efforts. Other changes have been driven by specific customer requirements, the availability or capability of recycling/reclamation processes, and environmental and legislative influences. This paper highlights and discusses some of the challenges, changes, and lessons learned during the growth and transformation of the operation over the past ten years.