When you request white glove packing for laptops, monitors and other IT equipment, don’t expect actual white gloves. Instead, look for the special care and attention that ensures that your IT inventory-to-be-shipped will be expertly packed.
What’s included in IT asset white glove packing?
For any type of IT hardware, devices or equipment, white glove packing is the quality level that ensures the integrity of high-value assets that are being transported.
There’s no formal definition of white glove packing; what’s more important is that the customer and packing service have a mutual understanding of the project’s scope and expectations:
- Packing expectations should be clearly laid out in the SOW (Statement of Work)
- The project may require site-specific safety and security measures like uniforms, background checks, safety vests, eye protection and visitor access control limitations.
- Packing materials should be described and delivered per the SOW (skids, gaylords, metal cages, locks, dividers, bubble wrap, foam, corrugated board, recycled cardboard packing, strapping, black plastic wrap for privacy, security tape and numbered security tags) included and delivered onsite including pallets, box/and or skid labels.
- Informed/skilled labor
- Removal of excess packing materials and a broom-swept space at project completion
- A full count to verify what is packed
- Compliance with customer ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) policies to meet their circular economy and corporate waste goals
- Every shipment has both a BOL (bill of lading) and signed ATF (asset transfer form) as part of chain of custody documentation
- When packing is complete, photo documentation of the empty room (or area).
What IT equipment should be white glove packed?
At Guardian, we (generally) divide packing levels into two categories: white glove or end-of-life/recycling. Packing for end-of-life assets (mice, keyboards, phone systems, copiers, printers, medical equipment) that has no market or donation value focuses on accuracy, quickness and space efficiency.
Everything that has value or a next life (resale, redeployment, lease return, etc.) is white glove packed.
The execution of white glove packing of IT assets is dependent on the size, value and destination of the equipment, as well as any client request:
- Valuable, large and oddly-shaped equipment like live server racks, oversized monitors, server lifts and medical equipment, may qualify for custom crating and shock pallets.
- Laptops, MacBooks, tablets, iPads, Chromebooks and similarly-sized devices are typically packed in cardboard gaylords mounted on a pallet with cardboard vertical separators and a combination foam/bubble wrap and cardboard horizontal cushioning.
- Full or populated server racks, desktops, monitors, all-in-one printers, copiers, iMac and other large but standardized equipment are either blanket- or bubble-wrapped, then strapped and shrink-wrapped to pallets.
Does IT asset white glove packing include security measures?
Depending on the value of the equipment, the destination and customer preferences, the packing SOW can be expanded to include secure transport options including
- locked and sealed cages or bins
- GPS tags per item, pallet or load (as requested)
- a final exterior layer of black shrink wrap so that the box or bin contents cannot be identified in transit
Do you want white glove packing for your IT assets?
Answering the following questions will help you determine if you need White Glove Packing for your IT assets:
- Does your IT equipment have live data?
- Are you planning to reuse, return or resell your IT equipment?
- Are you assigned a large pickup of miscellaneous IT equipment that does not include condition or value? And you need it packed and shipped for consolidation and grading to sort for recycling, reuse, repair or reselling?
- Is your IT or office equipment located at scattered locations such as retail stores, hospitals, medical offices or banks without an onsite point of contact to verify condition, value and live data?
If the answer to just one these questions is yes, you’ll want white glove packing. Pack it right for zero regrets.
The client calls the IT asset packing shots
White glove packing of IT equipment is always based on the client’s requests; a particular level of packing should always be clearly defined and agreed upon before the job begins.
We’re focused on packing IT assets the right way. Guardian Data destruction has over 30 years of packing IT equipment of all sizes, values and types for Fortune 500 companies across the US. Our written processes are flexible to meet the project’s specifications…and any unusual packing requests. We’ve bubble-wrapped every laptop (of hundreds). And, we have secured a single, blanket-wrapped server to a pallet and then shipped it in a dedicated truck across the country. Whatever the client wants, we deliver.
Guardian’s nationwide packing services are often combined with our other services: shipping and logistics, onsite data destruction services (hard drive shredding, erasing), office moves and cleanouts and data center decommissioning, lift and shifts.
For any questions about white glove packing for IT assets reach out to the Guardian Data Destruction IT Packing and Logistics Group here. Or give us a call at 888-556-9473.
