Sometimes organisations set up their own reuse platforms. This is great! Really, it is!

Our mission is to make reuse mainstream and so it warms our cockles when we hear this!

Competition is healthy and it might just help us stumble upon the next idea for improving Warp It.

This article is for those institutions that are looking to improve their online platforms. 

The following explains the Warp It processes, so that you can take our best ideas and apply them to your platform. Aren't we generous!

First things first- our aim is to make reuse as automatic as possible.  We try to remove all of the bottle necks and friction point so that reuse is easier than buying new or ordering waste disposal.

Wherever we can save time or make things easy we know that the person will come back again to the system as it was easy! Thus making reuse normal. 

 So, lets show the Warp It process just so we know where we all stand:

• Items are deemed surplus to requirements and are marked for reuse.

• Items are then added to the Warp It platform by the disposing staff. See here how easy it is to add items. No need to take pics- we have a pic library! Also no need to try to guess a category sb category- we have predictive categories! 

• Items are given an ‘available from’ date and an ‘advertise until’ date.

• Available from is when the items actually stop being used.

• Advertise until is when they have to be relocated by.

• Items are advertised WITHIN the organisation first. If the wish list function is being used then matches can be found immediately, which reduces the need for storage and double handling. When you find immediate matches it makes things better for 3 reasons 
  1. The disposer finds a home for their item straight away and thus will come back next time
  2. The new owner does not have to keep logging in to check item availability as they get an email
  3. Direct matches mean items do not need to go into storage!

• If you are preloading assets before a building move, the items are usually not available yet, but will be in the future. In this case, staff and 3rd parties can add the item to their watch list. This has a few benefits
  1. The building clearance manager can view how many people are watching each item and communicate with them.
  2. the building clearance manager can plan disposal needs better as s/he can see what items are going to be booked for reuse way in advance
  3. Once again we are getting direct matches which reduces the need for storage and double handling. 

When a claim takes place

• The two parties (the claimant and the member who listed the item) get messages telling them what to do next. This message can be customised. This is important because the new owner needs to know what to do to transfer the asset from A to B.

• These messages help to link up the two parties and also organise the logistics.

• Transport requests are sent out. The responsibility for moving the asset can be handled internally or passed to the new owner. More details here.

• The system tracks who gets what and how many of that item, so it is clear to the logistics people who and what to deliver. No more stacks of emails! No more trying to decide who gets what. 

• The system also counts out how many assets are being claimed, so if you start at 100 chairs, it counts out all the way to zero before the asset is removed. No need to update numbers etc.

If the item is not claimed internally at the first attempt...

• It can be moved into storage and re-listed. In this case, the store manager gets an email advising on the expired item. The store manager then logs in and under "Stored items" extends the item's dates. The item is then viewable online in the virtual store and can be claimed as above.

OR

• If you do not have storage and the item is not claimed internally, the asset can be advertised externally.

• X days before the ‘advertise until’ date, the item/s will become available to 3rd parties. X can equal 5-90 days and depends on how many items you have and how desperate you are to make sure they get reused. We call these ‘share days’. 

• This is a huge time saver if you operate an internal platform as the system will advertise your items to preferred parties automatically. No more calling and emailing. It is all automatic. 

If the item is claimed externally

• The 3rd party receives a different customisable message telling them what to do.

• The 3rd party can then come and take that item away at their own cost.

• The legal agreement is signed electronically to manage liability.

If no claim is made before the deadline, internally or externally

• The person who added it will receive a prompt 5 days before the deadline, asking if they would like to extend the deadline, or telling them what to do to get the item collected for disposal (this message is customisable so you can link it to your disposal request procedure).

• When the deadline is reached, the person responsible for disposals will also receive an email (this message is customisable so you can link it to your disposal request procedure).

• The record is then automatically removed from the marketplace. 

Other nice time savers...

How to you get people to change behaviour or change policy?

A large part of the system is that we track the savings. See here. The savings are used as evidence to increase participation and get more resources put into reuse.

We also provide you with a spectrum of resources to maximise reuse, for example: 

• Campaigns

• Getting buy in

• Ideas to increase participation

Conclusion

Not only do we facilitate the reuse of items, we make it smooth and simple, along with customisable messages that make the process a whole load easier for you so that you can concentrate on other things!

Our aim is to make reuse almost automatic. 

The Warp It process above can also be explained through this flow chart poster for your office.