Reverse Logistics and Circular Economy Aftermarket Services

Case study: Maximizing value and saving costs through a circular, global business model

A Cloud, Enterprise, and Communications (CEC) customer aimed to open new revenue streams by maximizing the value of defective products and ensuring certified warranty on refurbished units.

Needing a solution spanning their global operations, they turned to Flex for a root cause failure analysis and services spanning repair, refurbishment, and parts harvesting. Layered with our trade expertise and global and regional presence, we processed 110,000 units globally and helped the customer save $40 million per year. We also improved yield and implemented Temporary Import for Repair (TIFR) and Temporary Export for Repair (TEFR) to reduce tariff and scrap spends.

We provide integrated reverse logistics and circular economy services that are supported by our intelligent reporting and measurement tools, knowledge of compliance regulations, and a global and regional presence. Our expertise enables customers to confidently meet their sustainability and business goals while responding to ever increasing regulations that require traceability of materials reused or disposed of.

From an initial assessment of carbon emissions to data-driven support of repair, refurbishment, and recovery decisions, our capabilities help customers identify the optimal path forward and craft the right strategy for their service and sustainability needs.

Sustainability analytics

Implementing an effective circular economy solutions strategy requires leveraging the power of data.

Our suite of leading financial and environmental modeling tools, including our award-winning Flex ECO2™ and our digitized circularity platform Circale, helps customers quantify how our circular interventions can reduce emissions and drive resource productivity.

Explore our digital circularity platform

Returns and screening

Recovering value from returned products across enterprise, retail, and consumer channels requires a trusted returns and screening process.

Flex provides a range of capabilities to enhance the customer experience and returns visibility while maximizing value recovery. Our services include customer returns process management, returns logistics to the receipt, and product registration and screening.

Explore our reverse logistics, return, and screening services

Repair and refurbishment

Investing in repair and refurbishment capabilities to prolong the product lifecycle has become an important customer service and sustainability pillar for many brands.

With configurable and scalable operations globally, we provide high quality technical repair and refurbishment services that are tailored to meet specific lead time, service, and cost objectives. Our repair and refurbishment services are continually refined based on product and service process insights.

Discover the benefits of partnering with Flex for repair and refurbishment

Asset recovery and reuse

Many companies recognize the intrinsic value remaining within products at end of life.

Additionally, these practices contribute to a waste and emissions reduction strategy. We provide parts harvesting services and spare parts logistics across our sites and are connected to a global network of recovery partners.

Learn more about asset recovery and reuse

Product and parts resale

E-commerce strategies have evolved to incorporate circular business models that open new revenue streams, improve brand reputation, and meet growing consumer demands.

As a scalable business-to-business marketplace for inventory management, FreeFlow enables streamlined remarketing efforts to optimize surplus inventory.

FreeFlow provides access to channels that maximize recovery and extend the product lifecycle while retaining complete control over pricing and the buying process with rigorous controls and transparency.

Find out more about resell opportunities

Recycling

Recycling, especially e-waste, requires a partner who has the regulatory expertise, global reach, data security, and scalability to derive the benefits of reducing scrap.

Flex manages recycling services and a recycling supplier network to ensure full compliance with the custody chain of materials, product part traceability, and intellectual property protection while advancing sustainability.

Find out more about our recycling services

Collaborating across industries to advance a closed-loop future

Recognition for our leading reverse logistics and circular economy services

Sustainability Environmental Achievement & Leadership

Highlighting our leadership, innovation, and commitment to sustainable business practices, we were honored with a SEAL Award in the Sustainable Service category for our circular economy solutions and intelligent CO₂ analytics.

Learn more about the award

Environment + Energy Project of the Year Award

Honoring Flex ECO2™, our proprietary calculator that assists customers in measuring, reporting, and achieving climate goals through circular economy services, we were recognized with an Environment + Energy Top Project of the Year Award.

Learn more about the award

Factories admitted to the Global Lighthouse Network

Leveraging advanced manufacturing technologies, Sorocaba transforms e-waste and reintroduces repurposed materials into the product lifecycle through repair, parts and materials harvesting, and recycling. This decade-long journey earned Sorocaba its designation as the first by the World Economic Forum.

Learn more about global lighthouse factories

Comprehensive returns management

Our returns process management ensures that every return — whether from excess, end-of-life, channel, or other sources — is handled efficiently, securely, and in-compliance with applicable laws and regulations. From the moment a return is initiated, we manage the entire process and customer experience, ensuring that products move through the system quickly, safely, and with customer satisfaction.

Warranty management

We facilitate the organized processing of warranty claims to ensure that products adhere to defined conditions, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction, reducing costs, and ensuring compliance.

Detailed product screening and diagnostics

We provide fast, reliable, and consistent screening, including in-warranty screening, product registration, testing, and visual mechanical inspection to minimize costs associated with poor problem diagnoses.

Advanced exchange

Our returns exchange solutions enable a timely turnaround while reducing some repair costs, leveraging low-cost regions to repair and refurbish.

Partner with Flex to access a comprehensive reverse logistics and returns management system — all supported by a suite of sustainability analytics tools and services to navigate the complexities of product returns and screening and customer service operations.

Case study: Establishing a reverse logistics solution with end-to-end traceability

With more than one million second-life devices to process, a lifestyle customer faced product return and reverse logistics challenges in new markets and needed more visibility into product data to support recycled material goals.

Leveraging the findings from our failure analysis labs, Flex provided a new product design, global reverse logistics, and an end-to-end supply chain solution with full product IP protection. Over three million units were recycled in 2023 with traceability from parts harvesting to pick-up to recycling to reintegration into products for resell.

How product repair and refurbishment can help you:

Reduced costs

Helps customers minimize inventory of new items while creating new revenue streams and cost savings, particularly for high-value or complex products.

Sustainability

Helps customers embrace the sustainable benefits of services like parts-harvesting, meet evolving regulatory requirements, and quantify environmental savings to drive resource productivity.

Case study: Advancing circular economy with an aftermarket solution, reducing 7,650 Tons of CO2e

For a leading floorcare company looking to progress their circular economy journey, Flex implemented a standardized aftermarket solution that included repair, refurbishment, returns, spare parts planning, and more. This approach generated new channels to market while supporting a more circular business model for distributing products in the U.S. and Europe. As a result, the company avoided 7,650 tons of CO2e, which is equivalent to taking over 4,000 cars off the road for a year.

Advanced IT systems for efficient repair tracking

To ensure the timely repair and delivery of products, we invest in advanced IT systems that track components used in the repair process. Our integrated IT system provides real-time updates on the status of repairs, ensuring transparency and accountability at every stage. This system also helps in managing inventory, tracking the availability of harvested parts, and ensuring that the right components are used for each repair job.

Integrated logistics for coordinated movement of products

Our integrated logistics capabilities ensure that repaired products are delivered in a timely manner. We understand the importance of minimizing downtime and strive to provide quick turnaround times without compromising on quality. Our logistics team works closely with our repair technicians to coordinate the efficient movement of products, from the moment they arrive at our facility to their final delivery. 

Secure asset recovery

Flex’s asset recovery solutions operate at the commodity level, ensuring that valuable components and products are efficiently reclaimed.

We maintain strict compliance with the custody chain of materials, providing full product part traceability to guarantee transparency and accountability throughout the recovery process.

Additionally, we prioritize intellectual property (IP) protection, safeguarding sensitive information and proprietary technologies as we recover and recycle components.

Case study: Refurbishing off-lease products, achieving cost and environmental savings

A consumer devices customer needed to more efficiently manage inventory of off-lease commercial IT equipment, such as laptops, desktops, and servers. Along with our refurbishment services, Flex facilitated a secondary market, refurbishing more than 12,000 units, including 3,900 parts replacements.

The customer benefitted from a new revenue stream by reselling to new group of customers. In addition, our partnership progressed the customer’s sustainability goals, with an estimated avoidance of 75–80% of CO₂ emissions compared to producing new products.

Parts harvesting

Parts harvesting enables companies to source, repurpose, and reintroduce components into the supply chain. Flex offers harvesting services and spare parts logistics where customers have access to our global network of recovery partners. By harvesting parts from aftermarket products or excess inventory, we help our customers future-proof their businesses and supply chains while achieving sustainability benefits.

Expertise in recycling e-waste

Our cross-industrial expertise and best-in-class recycling partners enable us to safely dispose of hazardous materials in recycled electronics while recovering value. We’re equipped to help customers tackle data collection and management challenges, ensuring compliance with regulations.

Flex prioritizes key attributes in recycling partners, including: 

• Transparency via permits, certifications, and material visibility
• High recovery rates (ideally over 90%) and minimal landfill use
• Sustainable practices like closed-loop recovery, recycled content, low-to-zero carbon processes, and low toxicity methods

Connecting customers to new end markets through product and parts resale

A key component of our asset recovery and recycling services is enabling our customers to resell products, either through their own channels or by partnering with Flex. This approach not only maximizes the value of aftermarket products but also supports a more sustainable and circular economy.

Product as a Service (PaaS) model

The majority of sold products do not return to the seller, a key challenge in achieving circularity. One effective strategy is enabling retained product ownership through a PaaS model. Flex helps facilitate PaaS through asset re-use and refurbishment, allowing assets to continue generating service revenue and achieving sustainability benefits. Flex is uniquely positioned to test, upgrade, and recondition devices close to the market, enabling quick and cost-effective turnaround while providing valuable feedback for future design improvements.

FreeFlow

As a scalable business-to-business marketplace for inventory management, FreeFlow enables streamlined remarketing efforts to optimize surplus inventory. FreeFlow provides access to channels that maximize recovery and extend the product lifecycle while retaining complete control over pricing and the buying process with rigorous controls and transparency.