{"id":22,"asset_id":"691","title":"A Day In The Life Of An Ewaste Trader (Part 2)","alias":"color-picker-for-colors","introtext":"<p>The next day, Steven sat in his office looking out into the yard, his focus was on finding out more about this ViewPas\u2122 system that the refiner was using. Still upset about the events from the day before, he was determined to show his boss that the refiner was ripping them off. He'd gone as far as getting new buying leads for his boss to look at, surely these new companies offering higher prices would make the scrap yard a higher profit.<\/p>\r\n","fulltext":"\r\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/media-exp1.licdn.com\/dms\/image\/C4E12AQHtz5GR6l-lmg\/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488\/0?e=1608768000&amp;v=beta&amp;t=_wSq-vNVkTkcIlD2hovKyjhFt_IEq84cl5Y8xmG6cdo\" data-media-urn=\"\" data-li-src=\"https:\/\/media-exp1.licdn.com\/dms\/image\/C4E12AQHtz5GR6l-lmg\/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488\/0?e=1608768000&amp;v=beta&amp;t=_wSq-vNVkTkcIlD2hovKyjhFt_IEq84cl5Y8xmG6cdo\" \/><\/div>\r\n<p>Just then, Steven saw Joe, a colleague in the scrap trade, out in the yard holding a tray with 3 coffee's. Joe was always interesting to talk to, he'd been 23 years in the scrap business and always brought a hot coffee for Steven and his Boss. Steven grabbed his coat, opened his office door and calling to his boss down the hall, \"Marco, Joe's here with coffee,\" he slipped outside smiling to meet with Joe.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Joe,\" Steven called. picking up his pace to greet his colleague.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Steven, Hey! I got you a coffee, double double... just how you like it buddy!\" -- \"Where's Marcos? I got his too.\" he said with his signature groggy voice.<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos was trailing, putting on his coat and shrugging off the cool, spring morning air. They both sipped their coffee's as Marcos trotted the yard directly to where Joe and Steve were standing.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Good, morning Joe,\" said Marcos<\/p>\r\n<p>The two shook hands like two warriors coming from battle. Joe and Marcos had been synergistic rivals for years. Each one outbidding the other on massive amounts of scrap that were being produced all around their State. Neither one realizing, the problem with waste was bigger than the both of them could ever handle together.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Thanks,\" Marcos took the hot coffee from Joe's tray, Joe tossed the cardboard cup tray up on a pile of recyclable packaging.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"There, I come with coffee and help you make a profit.\" Joe said jovially.<\/p>\r\n<p>Joe's face turned serious, and you could tell that he had something on his mind. He started, \"Marcos, I know you've been in business a long time, and I've never steered you the wrong way, we have our differences and for a long time, we've been helping each other out. So, I wanted to come over to you today and show you something because I know it's affected you, and I'm feeling a little guilty about the whole thing. Can we go inside and talk for a few minutes?\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos, a little curiously replied, \"Sure Joe, come on in.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>The three settled into Marcos' office, with their coffees in hand, getting comfortable, Marcos asked. \"So, sounds like somethings the matter Joe? You closing up shop after 22 years? What's the deal\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Joe laughed, \"No, business is better than ever. I came to let you in on something, because I know you're getting e-waste coming over to you that have been driving down your profits, and I wanted to help you stop that.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos and Steven looked knowingly at one another, Joe caught them in the act. \"Listen fellas,\" Joe continued, \"Last week we had an old man come in with some boxes of circuit boards and he was trying to get us to agree to the higher prices, but our software showed us his materials were only worth a thousand bucks all together. So, when we showed him the image assay from this new software we have, he got really angry and told me he was going to sell his stuff to you. So I know you bought his stuff, I know you gave him three thousand and I know you lost money on the deal.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos looked again at Steven, \"well we have some new guys in the yard,\" Marcos interjected \"and we think they missed some lower grade stuff from the boxes he brought in. Not really a big deal, we made money on the rest of the material.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Marcos, I've been doing this for 22 years, I know all the people you know, I also know of at least 4 other orders I declined that came to you and you over paid. I feel a little like it's my fault, so I came over today to try and help you avoid those transactions and hopefully to help you level the playing field, so we can both be making money like we helped each other with that building we scrapped back in 2016.\" He continued, \"Guys, a couple months ago, I found out that Milton Metals was using a program called ViewPas\u2122 which I had no idea what the hell it was before then, but listen, guys, my lips to gods ears, this software has increased our revenue by 44% in 2 months. It's no joke.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Steven rang in \"I was just looking for that program this morning, it's on my searches in my office. What is it, and how is Milton saying they sorted a truck in 20 minutes?\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Those are all good questions, let me tell you, the company that made the software is out of Europe, they've been processing and refining e-waste for 3 years to develop this software. It handles and manages my whole e-waste division right now, but the truly remarkable thing it does,\"Joe went on,\"is when you get a load of e-waste in, you can take a photo, then send it to the program online and it tells you what you should pay for the e-waste it sees in the photo, and it's dead on, every time. Now, we take 30 to 40 images, from each truck that's why it only takes 20 minutes Steven to find the value of an entire truck. We don't sort like you guys are doing any more. we stopped that last month.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos looked puzzled, \"What do you mean it prices the e-waste? how does it know what I should pay? How does it know what it's looking at? How can you not sort? You have to sort, that's what we do? What do my guys do if they aren't sorting?\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos was not accepting what he was hearing, a common response when someone challenges the very essence of your business.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Marcos, I can show you,\" Joe pulled out his phone and with a few clicks was in his ViewPas\u2122 control panel. \"Can we go back outside and I can show you how this thing works?\"<\/p>\r\n<p>The three finished their coffee's and headed out to the yard. \"Ok, show me some motherboards you just purchased.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Steven Lead the two over to a bag of Telecom Boards, Joe said, \"Ok, these are Telecom Boards, what'd ya pay for these? Per pound? 'cause I have the same prices as you, so lets not pretend I don't know what you're paying.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Go look at the list,\" said Marcos, looking at Steven.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Three dollars a pound, cause they're all pretty much high grade. You know? they aren't all gold plated, but these are high grade.\" Steven replied defensively.<\/p>\r\n<p>Joe went on, \"alright, here look at my prices.\" Joe tapped the Pricing Tab at the top of the screen, showing Marcos and Steve that his price list was the same for each material as theirs. \"Alright, now we tap on ImageAssay and it asks for a file, I tap my camera and I take a photo of these boards and then in this dropdown I select Telecom Boards, then I hit here, where it says Scan Image\"<\/p>\r\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/media-exp1.licdn.com\/dms\/image\/C4E12AQEHm_DdjRh3fg\/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488\/0?e=1608768000&amp;v=beta&amp;t=jiZw-Qk7N3KDHgwAE3c03sH70ICT0YBlEeL7p0S2OOk\" data-media-urn=\"\" data-li-src=\"https:\/\/media-exp1.licdn.com\/dms\/image\/C4E12AQEHm_DdjRh3fg\/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488\/0?e=1608768000&amp;v=beta&amp;t=jiZw-Qk7N3KDHgwAE3c03sH70ICT0YBlEeL7p0S2OOk\" \/><\/div>\r\n<p>Steve and Marcos huddled around the phone, patiently waiting as the system took a few seconds to process the image. then showed the results screen.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Don't feel bad Steven, my guy was doing the same thing, there's no way he could know from all these boards what the true assayed values are. So you can see here, the software says you're 50% right, but your price at 3.00 means you paid too much for this material.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Marcos came back, defending his practice, \"That's only looking at the top layer, it can't see what's inside.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"You're right, that's why we always empty the bags on the floor and take 10 or 15 assays. Takes us 4 to 5 minutes, rather then a half hour to sort through it all. We don't make people wait any more while we sort their materials.\" Joe responded. \"Here, Steve, move those around a bit and lets take another assay.\"<\/p>\r\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/media-exp1.licdn.com\/dms\/image\/C4E12AQEmAPW__D5NsQ\/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488\/0?e=1608768000&amp;v=beta&amp;t=hoYh4IrrzQ3-iqmaLf7Hnau3JVnfAz6Sgy0sEM6yg_M\" data-media-urn=\"\" data-li-src=\"https:\/\/media-exp1.licdn.com\/dms\/image\/C4E12AQEmAPW__D5NsQ\/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488\/0?e=1608768000&amp;v=beta&amp;t=hoYh4IrrzQ3-iqmaLf7Hnau3JVnfAz6Sgy0sEM6yg_M\" \/><\/div>\r\n<p>Steven took some of the boards out from underneath, and placed them on the top. Joe went ahead and took another ImageAssay. They waited again, huddled around the screen. This time... Marcos was taken back.<\/p>\r\n<p>Joe started. \"You see guys? Oldest trick in the book, the best stuff is always on top. This time, it shows these crappy little ones that are full of copper, this image is 50% low grade, a far cry from three bucks a pound guys. How long do you guys want to be wrong on your pricing? You know when you send these to Milton, they're going to show you what I'm showing you, and you're gonna lose money.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"I don't even know what to say.\" Marcos started.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"I've already found us other buyers,\" Steven rang in.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"We have a contract with Milton, Steve, we can't just go get another contract in a day.\" said Marcos.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Guy's, I said I was here to help, and I am,\" added Joe. \"I'm gonna help you and I'm gonna help me. You see when I first used this software two months ago, I was like you, I thought it wasn't going to do anything for me, half my stuff we get for next to nothing, but the stuff we buy we just kept seeing a loss on. So when I saw this software work, saving me from bad purchases, keeping money in my pocket and getting me better, safer deals on good materials, I called up the company in Europe and they made me an exclusive distributor for their software here in Washington State. Now, I can give you a monthly subscription, we both make better buying decisions, and I can sleep at night, not thinking that all the e-waste I'm not accepting isn't putting you guys in the hole.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"How much?\" Marcos asked right away.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Well, how many tons of these Telecom Boards did you buy?\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Three and a bit.\" Steve answered.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"So then with your price being an average of $1 per pound too high, and knowing that you'll probably get around 2.50 when you send these to Milton, I'm standing here looking at an order that's going to put you in the negative by Thirty Three Hundred dollars. If you had this software, pricing this material for you, you would have made at least three thousand on this purchase. So for just this one delivery, it would have saved you over sixty six hundred dollars. What if I told you, you could have saved that amount of money for less than five hundred dollars? Not to mention, the number of bags it would continue to save your assets on. haha hey?\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Steve and Marcus were both in shock. \"I have to think about this, it's too new, I don't understand it.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Joe shook both their hands, \"That's right, you think about it. I'll keep sending you over the good stuff,\" he winked at them. \"Thanks boys! Call me when you get your next assay's from Milton. I'll still be here.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>Joe walked out of the yard to his car. Steve and Marcos looked at each other silently for a few seconds.<\/p>\r\n<p>\"I could really use that software,\" Steven said, \"I can't possibly know every value of every board like that thing, it could really save us a ton of money.\"<\/p>\r\n<p>\"Yeah, I know,\"said Marcos \"I just hated that Joe got to it first, I'll call him tomorrow and make the deal.\"<\/p>","state":1,"catid":"10","created":"2020-10-02 05:49:34","created_by":"88","created_by_alias":"RocketTheme","modified":"2020-10-20 13:29:10","modified_by":"88","checked_out":"88","checked_out_time":"2020-10-20 13:28:55","publish_up":"2020-10-02 05:49:34","publish_down":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","images":"{\"image_intro\":\"images\\\/rocketlauncher\\\/pages\\\/blog\\\/et222.jpg\",\"float_intro\":\"\",\"image_intro_alt\":\"\",\"image_intro_caption\":\"\",\"image_fulltext\":\"images\\\/rocketlauncher\\\/pages\\\/blog\\\/et222.jpg\",\"float_fulltext\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_alt\":\"\",\"image_fulltext_caption\":\"\"}","urls":"{\"urla\":false,\"urlatext\":\"\",\"targeta\":\"\",\"urlb\":false,\"urlbtext\":\"\",\"targetb\":\"\",\"urlc\":false,\"urlctext\":\"\",\"targetc\":\"\"}","attribs":"{\"article_layout\":\"\",\"show_title\":\"\",\"link_titles\":\"\",\"show_tags\":\"\",\"show_intro\":\"\",\"info_block_position\":\"\",\"info_block_show_title\":\"\",\"show_category\":\"\",\"link_category\":\"\",\"show_parent_category\":\"\",\"link_parent_category\":\"\",\"show_associations\":\"\",\"show_author\":\"\",\"link_author\":\"\",\"show_create_date\":\"\",\"show_modify_date\":\"\",\"show_publish_date\":\"\",\"show_item_navigation\":\"\",\"show_icons\":\"\",\"show_print_icon\":\"\",\"show_email_icon\":\"\",\"show_vote\":\"\",\"show_hits\":\"\",\"show_noauth\":\"\",\"urls_position\":\"\",\"alternative_readmore\":\"\",\"article_page_title\":\"\",\"show_publishing_options\":\"\",\"show_article_options\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_backend\":\"\",\"show_urls_images_frontend\":\"\"}","version":4,"ordering":"4","metakey":"","metadesc":"","access":"1","hits":"1","metadata":"{\"robots\":\"\",\"author\":\"\",\"rights\":\"\",\"xreference\":\"\"}","featured":"0","language":"*","xreference":"","note":""}