MAIT, India’s apex industry body empowering the IT, Telecom, & Electronics Hardware sectors, recently organised a workshop on Electronics Repair Services Outsourcing (ERSO). The workshop aimed to collect insights from companies that participated in the ERSO pilot, to leverage those insights to establish a robust ERSO ecosystem in collaboration with various government departments.
The workshop began with the welcome address by Col Suhail Zaidi (Retd), Director General, MAIT, and set the context of the workshop. Ms Anubhuti Kaul Bhrany, Sr Director, Flex, Chair of the ERSO Committee, steered the workshop. During the workshop, companies such as Flex, Lenovo, CTDI, R-Logic, SAforeserve, Kaynes Technology and DeNovo shared their operational experiences during the pilot, highlighting key learning outcomes.
One of the key findings from the input of these companies was that, as a result of the ERSO pilot project, there was a significant reduction in shipment time from the previous 5 to 7 days to 2 to 3 days post-ERSO pilot implementation. The major countries from which India receives most of its ERSO assignments includethe US, Australia, Singapore, Dubai, and several European countries.
Some major improvement areas highlighted during the workshop include the need for India to enhance its component harvesting system, support smaller Indian firms in the field of electronics repair, and consider sourcing locally available used products for refurbishment and sale to other countries.
The participant companies also collectively decided to work towards a focused skill development programme in electronics repair for Indian youth in collaboration with various stakeholders.
MAIT is collating all important data points and findings to further reach out to various government ministries and departments to pave the path for ERSO. The successful implementation of ERSO will further enhance the landscape of the Indian refurbishing and remanufacturing market, which is currently dominated by China.
Notably, the ERSO pilot started on May 31, 2023, initially for three months, which was later extended to six months and concluded in November 2023. The ERSO industry has the potential to create millions of direct and indirect jobs in India.
