That 2,800th post was not supposed to be the last for a while. I had an attack of seasonal allergies that sapped all my energy for several days. Finally about back to normal. I know about wearing masks for Covid and flu prevention. Seasonal allergies (pollen) are another good reason to wear a mask.
Speaking of the environment (OK, this is bad segue) I have a news item that came a couple of weeks ago relative to the circular economy. That is, reusing products we’d otherwise dispose of in a toxic manner. Here is a company called Assurant that just acquired Hyla and its sustainability in manufacturing activities. It has several plants that refurbish mobile phones for trade-ins.
**I’d like to plug a project at this point that I thought I’d get involved in to write from a manufacturing point of view. The Carbon Almanac tells stories and gives tips for saving the planet. Check it out. Spread the word.**
More than ever, the output from our circular economy – a systems framework that addresses global environmental challenges including waste and pollution – continues to have a markedly positive effect on our planet. Within that, businesses who prioritize CSR by mitigating e-waste through responsible recycling of mobile devices have contributed a significant impact to this positive outcome.
Just a couple of years ago, the extent of the relationship consumers had with their carrier or retailer was limited to purchasing add-ons to their current service in the vein of an upsell model. But the consumer needs often ended there in terms of any additional requirements. Fast forward to 2022: now the consumer wants to know just where the phone goes when they’re done with it. 3G sunsetting is now shining a light on new opportunities for CSR when it comes to sustainability and if carriers and retailers do not take note, it is a missed opportunity. By the end of 2022, the majority of wireless carriers will either have already completed the process of shutting down, or sunsetting, of their 3G networks or will have started the process of doing so.
Technology and Processing (TaP) Center is the nucleus of its operations, as it is the place where pre-owned devices are received, graded and resold into the global secondary device market.
The TaP Center receives and processes over six million devices per year, and this figure is set to rise as continuous innovations and efficiency gains drive increased demand on the facility.
The TaP Center facilitates the end-to-end processing of pre-owned devices efficiently. These steps include:
- Device receipt and validation
- Device identification
- Data clearing
- Functional testing
- Cosmetic grading
- Repairs
- Parts salvaging
- Warehousing/inventory management
- Device resale
- Sustainability management
Furthermore, the secondary device market is one that continues to grow and has displayed its resilience even despite the COVID-19 pandemic. While IDC reports that the worldwide market for secondhand devices will be worth $65 million by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.2% over the next three years, Gartner found a 24% increase in refurbished phone sales during the first quarter of 2020.
The patent pending HYLA Vision Tunnel was developed for cosmetic grading. Unlike other grading and processing technology, it has been designed by those working in industrial and manufacturing environments, which means it has been built with speed and simplicity in mind, and adapted to the needs of this specific industry. Vision Tunnel is also designed with operational efficiency in mind with virtually no training required for in-warehouse personnel.
Vision Tunnel uses AI technology to evaluate and analyze each device. It will take up to seven images of each pre-owned device to determine its grade. This means HYLA has over 1,000,000 high quality 4K images that it uses to continuously train its AI technology, which ensures it grades devices with 99% accuracy.
The beauty of Vision Tunnel is that it simplifies and speeds up device processing. It minimizes manual labor, which means it is less prone to human error, while at the same time delivering consistent and reliable results
