|
|
|
Posted: Mon, April 19, 2004
Flection UK: Refurbishing and reselling hardware, peripherals Flection International refurbishes used hardware and peripheral equipment, with the aim of turning any kind of used hardware into a high-quality
product. Flection's staff is responsible for every stage in
the procedure, from collection and refurbishing to remarketing. Equipment that is no longer usable is recycled. A subsidiary of Shanks plc, the company has branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and most recently, in the UK. Lee Thomas, business manager for Ystrad Mynach-based Flection UK talks to itwales.com.  "In 2002, Flection started to research into the UK market place to establish a refurbishing facility. About 6
months of full time market research and market analysis was then concluded in a business
plan.
Flection then partnered with Eco-Procurement Ltd, an already established company in a similar market of recycling. I joined Flection to implement the business plan. Having worked with Micro-Star
International (MSI) in helping it set up its UK sales office and played key roles in establishing new businesses in the UK, I found this project a very exciting challenge to start-up."
"Our business plan has three phases; the first is remarketing our products into the computer distribution channels and directly to retail outlets. This first phase is very fast moving and dynamic but it also has the shortest turnover period, so money is coming in to the business from day one, it has taken nearly a year to establish a level of sales that will allow us to now implement phase two." "Phase two is also in two segments - the first being to enter the education and socially economic areas, and the second to launch our own product range called EcoPC. Flection UK has created product packages designed for schools and educational organisations and socially deprived areas. We are also the only Microsoft Authorised refurbisher to offer licensing for the Windows operating system software free of charge to these target markets." "The second part of phase two is the launch of EcoPC and our e-commerce enabled website. EcoPC will be a Flection UK own branded PC range based on the main top makes of personal computers." "Phase three is establishing an inbound customer base; here we want to start taking back computers from UK based firms, organisations and then refurbishing and remarketing them through phases one and two." Flection is one of the largest European enterprises in this field. Distributors sell Flection's products in over forty countries. The services of Flection are widely appreciated: our customers vary from computer manufacturers like Compaq, Dell and HP, to lease companies, big enterprises and government agencies. ITW: What's unique/outstanding about the products/services you provide? LT: Flection's key advantage is mainly in its refurbishing processes. A lot of investment into state of the art technology enables Flection to have a very quick process of refurbishing its computers. Our system has full track and trace ability to any location and level in the warehouse. It also stores all information about every piece of hardware, and produces data removal certification reports for inbound customers, and product information for sales staff. With this system we can offer customers competitively priced products with very low levels of failure. ITW: What one piece of technology has benefited your company the most? LT: Our enterprise management software package called Axcepta, based on Microsoft technologies connects all business departments into one central network, collating information from everyone. It also gives everyone a good business overview for what they need. For example sales can look at inbound planning and what's in production and make decisions very quickly for customers that require certain products. This software enables Flection employees in different countries to help support one another and communicate the requirements of the IT hardware sales/distribution market quickly through built in instant messaging. ITW: What one piece of advice would you give to start up companies in your field? LT: From personal experience, and with Flection the most important factor is investment into market research and good analysis, as decision preceding your business plan are built on this data. Key decisions from your business plan are then made to help develop your 'go to market' strategy. I believe the more effort in this section of starting your business pays high dividends when you are actually developing the business in real time. Having a strong structure to guide you will also give you more confidence in the business you're setting up and also more time to concentrate on the day to day activities. ITW: What's been the key to your success? LT: Our key success was mainly down to the development of a very comprehensive business plan that has enabled us to know how the market is shaped and the best method to enter this market and be financially successful. It is also down to the sheer determination of the members of staff that put all the hard work in over the last 9 months. ITW: Where do you see your company going in the future? LT: Flection is currently ahead of the business financial plans and is preparing to embark on the phase two aspect of the business. This is going to be a very challenging but also pioneering period. With the enforcement of the WEEE European Union directive the market place is about to take on a new shape, with companies and manufacturers in the UK having to now play a more responsible environmentally friendly role in the manufacture, selling and disposal of PCs. This directive will also allow companies of our type to assist in both the remarketing of technology and educating of market sectors into the idea that computers may be economically depreciated but not technically. For example, schools don't need to have the latest P4 based machines to help children run basic software education packages. ContactsFlection UKTel: 01443 866 299 E-mail: info@flection.co.uk Web: http://www.flection.co.uk |
|
|
Subscribe to ITWales Updates Click Here! |