Repairability index: what for?
You may have already seen this logo in the shape of a spanner and this rating out of 10 declined in several colors. They have been found for more than a year on door washing machines, smartphones, laptops, televisions and electric lawn mowers. From November 2022, this repairability index will be extended to other types of washing machines, dishwashers, high-pressure cleaners and all vacuum cleaners (corded, cordless and robot)
The good and the bad students
This is a simple way for the consumer to measure a product’s ability to be repaired: the higher the rating, the more easily the product can be repaired by you or by specialists such as Solution-CD. At a time when consumers are increasingly worried about their negative impact on the environment, this repairability index has become a real selling point, as can be seen with the smartphone brand Fairphone, which has been offering devices made up of interchangeable modules. The latest addition to the brand, the Fairphone 4 displays an impressive repairability index of 9.3/10. Far from the score of 4.5 held by the iPhone XR.
The 5 criteria…
But how is this score calculated? According to 5 criteria. The device must offer complete technical documentation, it must be easily removable without specific tools, the spare parts must be available without costing a fortune at retail (you know the famous “At the price of the part, you are better off ‘buy a new one, my good lady’) and a final criterion related to each product (type of battery, assistance, etc.) At the time ofbuy a new smartphone or any other device, this repairability index must necessarily be taken into account if you want to make your purchase profitable.
