Repa & Service Mobil

Status

ongoing

Summary

Present situation

Many current and future consumer goods (IT equipment, electrical appliances, clothes etc.) need maintenance and repairs: for ecological, economic and social reasons.

Repair services extend product lifetimes, improve efficiency of use of resources, lead to regional value creation, open up new fields of business and create and secure jobs. The market in Austria for such services offers enormous development and expansion opportunities. At present, there are many obstacles in the way of potential customers who might access these services (they have to inform themselves actively, have to travel to the service point, have to organise transport, etc.) and therefore they often simply buy easily available new products. The challenge is to beat these market access limitations with intelligent logistic solutions and networking. Services must be brought closer to the customers and adapted as well as possible to suit their daily needs. Within the antecedent project "RepaMobil" chances and risks of creating central service points at four large company sites were carried out in 2006. The results of RepaMobil showed clearly that there is strong interest and a high potential for a mobile repair collection, return and advice service.

Aims/Content

Following up "RepaMobil", the present proposal is to develop and test in a pilot version a mobile repair collection, return and advice service in Vienna, with participation of relevant groups of stakeholders (repair businesses, consumers, large companies/business locations as locations for the pilot project, etc.).

The main goals of the proposal

• To make services more attractive for customers (innovative logistic and organisational solutions)
• To increase competitiveness of the services
• Encouraging the use of repair services as a way of helping to use resources efficiently and avoid waste (repair instead of buying a new product, use of used spare parts, optimisation of transport chains, etc.)

Specific goals and content of the proposal

• Elaboration and conception of the basics (selection of potential company sites / business locations, working out an organisational and procedural concept, preparation pilot implementation)
• Pilot implementation of a mobile repair collection, return and advice point
• Accompanying expert evaluation
• Public relations (Dissemination of the results and sensitisation to spread the idea of a sustainable consumer society)

Methodical approach

• Workshops with repair service organisations, representatives of potential business locations for implemantation etc. to work out an organisational and procedural concept for the pilot implementation.
• Pilot implementation
• Accompanying expert evaluation (Project implementation, effects in terms of sustainability by interviews, participant observation, feedbackworkshops etc.)
• Publicity work and dissemination (newsletter, website, information events, media work etc.)

Expected results

Transferable organisational and procedural concept for the implementation of a mobile repair collection, return and advice point
Evaluated pilot implementation (planned: 19 month field trial with an accompanying expert evaluation to optimize the organisational and logistical process)
Evaluation-results in relation to terms of sustainability (ecological, economical, social)
Sensitisation for sustainable consumption and increase of the competitiveness of repair services.

Project management

Mag. Alexandra Potzinger
Arge Abfallvermeidung, Ressourcenschonung und nachhaltige Entwicklung GmbH

Project or cooperation partner

• Arge Reparatur- u. Servicezentren GmbH
  Lützowgasse 12 - 14, 1140 Wien
• Hausgeräte-Profi Ges.m.b.H.
  Hütteldorfer Straße 323, 1140 Wien
• Mag.a Ingrid Kaltenegger, Mag.a Daniele Haiböck-Sinner,
  Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH
  Institut für Nachhaltige Techniken und Systeme - JOINTS
  Elisabethstraße 16 - 18, A-8010 Graz
  ingrid.kaltenegger@joanneum.at
  daniele.haiboeck-sinner@joanneum.at

Mag. Alexandra Potzinger
Arge Abfallvermeidung, Ressourcenschonung und nachhaltige Entwicklung GmbH
Dreihackengasse 1, 8020 Graz
Tel.: +43 (316) 712309-0
Fax: +43 (316) 712309-99
E-Mail: potzinger@arge.at
Web: http://www.arge.at/