Drake & Farrell
Drake & Farrell's core focus is sustainability, with their mission, vision, and business model revolving around eliminating e-waste and promoting circularity. Since 2013, they have saved over 4 million kilograms of e-waste! How do they achieve this? Their core business is in the refurbishment and repair process. Annually, they handle two million products that are assessed, tested, refurbished, and repaired. This process allows them to repair, disassemble, and recycle frequently used products like computer modems, thereby recovering valuable and rare materials. While the impact of Drake & Farrell's work is significant, it also demands specialized expertise to support these processes.
Challenge
Drake & Farrell aims to revolutionize the handling of electronic equipment in society. With a clear mission to eliminate e-waste, they strive to ensure that nearly 100% of electronic products, including components and materials, are made reusable, repaired, or recycled.
Drake & Farrell offers tailored services that help customers discover the business opportunities of a circular supply chain. This includes backwards logistics such as returns, functional screening, testing, repair and refurbishing, cause analysis, re-kitting, and purchasing (spare) parts. Drake & Farrell creates an ecological impact combined with positive financial results for customers across various sectors, including telecommunications, consumer electronics, healthcare, and electric mobility, by supporting the transition from a linear to a circular business model. They enhance their customers' business goals with a sustainable focus.
Managing and recycling different products is a complex process. While the manufacturing industry traditionally follows a linear process from raw materials to finished products, Drake & Farrell operates in reverse—from product back to raw materials. The logistics around refurbishment were time-consuming and cumbersome, and managing and maintaining the previous application became increasingly challenging. Moreover, the lack of integration with D365 Finance & Operations warehousing led to higher operational costs and hindered their ability to meet the dynamic needs of Drake & Farrell's customers.
Fellowmind X Drake & Farrell
Approach
At Drake & Farrell, the supply chain operates in reverse compared to the standard process in manufacturing. While the traditional manufacturing process moves from raw materials to products, Drake & Farrell works from products to raw materials. This unique approach requires specific knowledge and expertise.
The years of expertise we have built at Fellowmind in the manufacturing industry allowed us to optimize the reverse linear process at Drake & Farrell. The next step was configuring Microsoft platform technology to provide optimal support. Ultimately, we implemented a customized solution based on Microsoft Dynamics Finance & Operations and the Power Platform.
This platform solution enables Drake & Farrell to efficiently support the refurbishment process of electronic devices throughout their lifecycle. For example, it helps in registering the more than 6,000 devices received daily, which need to be assessed to determine if they should be reused or recycled.
By keeping part of the serial number registration outside the system and instead leveraging the flexibility of the Power Platform, we were able to create a more efficient solution together. This included minimal scanning on the production line and increased process agility, leading to a smart and lean return process.
We needed a partner who could combine high levels of technical expertise and innovation with strong project management. Fellowmind's "Can do" mentality perfectly matches our company culture, leading to a proactive and professional collaboration that resulted in a great outcome.
Result
Drake & Farrell has achieved a circularity rate of over 95% and is determined to reach 100%. We aim to take the next step in our collaboration and help them achieve this goal. By genuinely working together and leveraging each other's strengths, we can challenge each other and progress collectively.
At Fellowmind, we are incredibly proud of our partnership with Drake & Farrell and look forward to being part of their journey toward full circularity.
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