Intelligent ServersKanban in IT Hardware Refurbishement & Sales

Founded in 2011, the UK’s Intelligent Servers is one of Europe’s leading providers of reliable, refurbished IT hardware—including servers, storage, and networking solutions. Specialising in HPE, Dell, and Cisco equipment, the company helps organisations meet their commercial objectives as well as sustainability goals.

We interviewed Andy Hughes, Intelligent Servers owner, Managing Director and CTO, to learn how the team utilizes Kanban Tool boards for their various needs.

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Please, tell us what your work is about.

We buy and sell used and refurbished enterprise IT hardware like servers, server components, SAN storage arrays, network switches, network routers, etc. from vendors like HPE, Dell, Cisco, IBM, Lenovo and Juniper. We test and refurbish the used hardware we buy for stock in-house, in our technical warehouse facility and then ship the refurbished hardware to customers all over the globe.

What kind of processes do you manage using Kanban Tool?

• Order Processing → PO’s (Purchase Orders), SO’s (Sales Orders) and both Supplier and Customer RMA’s.
• Accounting → Bank Payment Checks, Customer & Supplier Checks
• All Internal Projects → Physical warehouse facility upgrades; Maintenance and health and safety; Internal Intranet Application software development projects; Our own bespoke internal Data Centre jobs and customer onboarding
• Product Development → Documenting and working through tasks relating to the reverse engineering of complex hardware like HPE and Dell SAN Storage Arrays for future resale to our ‘End User’ customer base.
• Critical Tasks → Any critical tasks or issues that need to be worked on, whether internal or external.
• Staff Training → We have a Kanban Board for all internal ‘Technician Training’ where our head of ‘Technical Training’ can keep track of what each staff member has completed as part of their ongoing training plan.

Could you describe one of your workflows?

We use Kanban Tool to be able to collaborate between departments. Whether it’s processing an order, or checking in from a Senior Management perspective on ongoing internal or external projects.

An example workflow for processing a customer Sales Order (SO) would be:

• Started by a ‘Sales’ staff member
• Then passed onto an ‘Export Control’ staff member to check if an order is an export order, and if the hardware we’re selling requires an ‘Export License’
• The order would then get picked from stock, or
• We might be waiting for incoming Purchase Orders (PO’s) from suppliers to fulfil the SO, which will be checked by our ‘Goods In’ team
• The picked hardware will then move to our ‘Tech Team’ to be built, tested and firmware upgraded
• The order will then be passed back to our ‘Goods Out’ team to be cosmetically cleaned, boxed and shipped to the customer

All of these processes and procedures are documented as part of a tick box list for each department, depending on the ‘Order Type’ which is selected when a ‘Sales’ staff member creates the Kanban Job Card on the order board. This is probably the best example of one of our workflows that we use kanbantool.com for.

What adjustments did you make in order to improve your workflow?

We’ve been refining each Kanban Board ever since we signed up. These refinements can be everything from the Kanban Board layouts, the tick box list templates, new Process Automations, or changes to the Job Card templates.

What features or integrations do you value most in Kanban Tool and why?

• The chat section
• The Checklist Templates
• The Job Card Reminders
• The customisation of the Kanban Board elements
• The logging of any changes in the chat section by users that have been working Job Cards

All of these things ensure accountability across departments and also keep everyone up to date in regards to an order, RMA or a project across all departments within our company.

What are the most important benefits of using Kanban Tool for you and your team?

Accountability, collaboration and reviewing past staff member collaboration and work, task reminders. There’s probably loads more!