When used smartphones make their way back to retailers, distributors, manufacturers or carriers, they are destined for one of two fates: reselling or recycling. It is critical for inventory and value preservation to have processes in place that evaluate the condition and viability of each unit so it is routed for reconditioning or disassembly. Either way, the device is coming back with something it never had when it left the manufacturer – user data.
The complexity of managing data contributes to making the reverse flow of smartphones more difficult to managethan forward logistics. Smartphones are just part of the story. According to Gartner, the Internet of Things (IoT) is going to see 5.5 million devices come online every day this year; by 2020 there will be 20.8 billion connected items. Everything we use has the potential to have connectivity capabilities. At the end of the useful lives of these devices, all of them will have to move through distribution channels that do not exist today, and they will all be loaded with data that needs to be dealt with swiftly and securely.
Reverse logistics will be an important strategic operational tool in short-life cycle, high-value industries, such as the mobile phone industry and exploding landscape of IoT.
Ice Mobility leads the market in providing elegant solutions with reliable reverse-logistics services that both maximize economics and reduce hassle. In a fragmented field of providers, we have simplified every stage of the product life cycle. We call this service the Ice180TM Reverse Center of Excellence.
Our experienced Ice180 Reverse Center of Excellence team includes specialists who repair, refurbish, source, and redistribute returned products through end-to-end options that help retailers and other partners squeeze the most profit from their products, and create greater opportunity for the entire ecosystem.
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