by Mark Palumbo
Director of Business Development, PanurgyOEM
How much does your repair service cost?
This is a frequent question from electronics manufacturers. Understanding repair costs for electronics is not a “one size fits all” answer. To correctly answer this, we have to get a clear picture of all the factors that make up our fees.
Coming up with pricing, whether it’s by the item repaired or some other metric, is an exercise in understanding the types or repairs that are required, their levels of complexity, parts availability and so on.
In this blog post, we’ll break down the factors affecting repair costs. This isn’t just about how much repairs cost; rather about describing the various factors that play into the final price of repairing or refurbishing your products.
The Factors:
As we work to develop pricing for our electronics repair or refurbishment service, there are a number of things we have to take into consideration.
Understanding the repair process
- What information will we have access to (such as schematics, etc.)?
- Do we have access to engineering staff for consultation?
- Do we essentially have to create the repair process from scratch or does the manufacturer have one in place that we can leverage?
Complexity of repairs
- What type of repair is primarily required? Is the repair necessitated from customer damage or from a faulty component
- Do we have access to or will we have to create a diagnostic tool?
- Are there multiple PCBs in the device?
- How complicated is the board layout?
- What is the access to these boards?
- Are there multiple connectors to disconnect and reconnect?
- Is the device sealed, requiring for example a heat gun to open it or maybe just a few screws?
- Does it have a display that may need to be replaced?
- Are there Inputs/outputs or channels that need to be addressed? (A sound mixing board for example could have 32 channels)
- What about the finish material, will we have to address cosmetic issues such as scratches or dents?
- Do your devices require software or firmware updates?
- Can these be performed “over the air” or, can they be done locally?
Parts
- Are replacement parts readily available? If not, supply chain issues may require us to replace unique components like a diode or resistor vs. replacing the entire board which can impact repair costs.
- Parts availability can delay repairs, increase turn-around times and can directly impact customer satisfaction.
Testing
- What type of testing is required? Some products only require a “pass/fail”
- Some products require testing of multiple components such as WiFi/internet, LCD/touchscreen, etc.
- Will testing equipment be supplied by the manufacturer or will we have to design something?
- Is the product a network device, meaning is it part of a system such as a component of a home theater requiring us to acquire and set up the rest of the ecosystem system for proper testing?
- Is there a connected app that the device is part of?
- Will that connectivity have to be tested to make sure it connects/pairs?
Packaging
- How must the device be packaged for return to customer or to alternate channel
- Will customers return products for repair in the original box?
- Will we have to supply packing materials as part of the repair process?
Kitting
- When we return the device to the customer or send it to your alternate channel, will we need to provide cables, charging blocks, remotes, instruction documents?
eCommerce integration
- We track receipt, inspection, repair/refurbishment, repackaging and shipping.
- Will this data be made available to the manufacturer or the end user (to be able to track progress of their device)?
Conclusion:
Pricing our repair service is not an easy task, it may take a meeting or two for us to clearly understand the requirements for the high quality of service your customers expect from you.
Not easy but simple, meaning that our due diligence learning about your products, our 40 years in business and our team’s hundreds of years of collective experience contribute to the fast turnaround times and high levels of quality service that you can expect from PanurgyOEM.
If you have any questions about any of the factors listed above or you’d like to discuss your electronics reverse logistics, please complete the form below and we’ll talk.