Whether you’re looking to replace a damaged part or needing to maintain optimal inventory levels of your telecommunications equipment, you have a decision to make: buy new or refurbished?
Many times, companies feel that buying new parts is the best path. However, buying refurbished telecom equipment might be a more intelligent and assertive option. Before buying telecommunication equipment for your company, whether it’s new or refurbished, you should study all the available options, your needs, and your budget.
In this article, we cover the main reasons why one should opt to buy refurbished equipment instead of new telecommunication equipment.
So what is refurbished telecom equipment?
Well, as the name explains itself, refurbished telecom equipment is simply a piece of used equipment, which has been restored, tested, overhauled, and can be used again in operation.
Because they are “used” products, many people don’t think it’s safe to buy them or that they will have quality problems with them. Despite this belief, there are several benefits in this type of purchase and usage. In this article, we have gathered 10 reasons why it’s advantageous to buy refurbished telecom equipment. Check them out below:
1. Cost savings
One of the main reasons for purchasing refurbished telecommunications equipment is the cost savings it provides. Refurbished telecom equipment can be an option for those who want or (due to budget restraints) need to save money on this type of purchase. After all, costs can be reduced up to 50% when compared to the price of new equipment. But don’t think that lower cost necessarily means lower quality. With the right quality checks in place, refurbished equipment can perform just as well as new telecom equipment.
2. Reduced lead times
Many times, spare parts from leading manufacturers are not in stock and they have to “make it to order”, which leaves you waiting to get that part back into your operation. Because refurbished equipment is many times sitting idle, it just needs to be repaired and recertified. You do not need to wait for any long production delivery time. In other words, the lead time is drastically reduced as compared to purchasing new spare parts, which can take several months to be received.
3. Extended “End of Life” Utilization
In addition to manufacturers not always having spare parts on hand, eventually all products reach their “End of Life”, where the manufacturer stops the selling or provision of parts, services or software updates for the product. By using refurbished parts, there is the possibility of continuing to use them longer, but with continued support from a certified third-party service provider.
4. Increasing return on investment
Damaged or faulty telecom equipment can be repaired multiple times and allows you to extend the lifetime for telecommunication equipment. Doing this saves money and keeps equipment that would be otherwise thrown away working. Thus, you can extend the life of equipment and in turn, increase the return on the original investment.
5. No need for new training
The fact that we are talking about refurbished telecom equipment, that is, equipment that the company already has experience with, excludes the need for new training. This is possible because the old equipment was already used, day in and day out by employees, avoiding the cost (and time) of training them again, which is almost always charged by the vendor of new products.
6. Inventory reduction
Working with certified refurbished equipment service providers can bring numerous benefits. One of them is that they can manage your inventory of telecom spare parts for you, providing your company with immediate just-in-time delivery of refurbished (or new) products. Thus, you do not need to wait for the original vendor’s production time of any new equipment and the damaged equipment was already refurbished and ready to install.
7. Increased customer satisfaction
Any downtime due to damaged parts is definitely something that will cause dissatisfaction with your company’s clients. For example, think about the following situation: one of the parts of a cellphone tower breaks, and your company (or the manufacturer) doesn’t have the spare part in inventory. Your company is at risk of receiving complaints across all communication channels. Obviously, this is a situation you want to avoid and can be done with having ideal inventory levels of new or refurbished parts on hand. Avoiding downtime means all clients are happy, and that goes for both internal or external clients.
8. Reduced OPEX costs
When dealing with refurbished equipment, these expenses many times fall into the OPEX (Operational Expenditure) category. In other words, the company’s monthly costs are included in the operational costs (as opposed to capital expenditures). It is possible to have more predictability and stability of the amounts they need to disburse. Therefore, you reduce operating expenses and it is also possible to reallocate and invest the institution’s expenses into other areas (or save for future CAPEX investments).
9. Postponing CAPEX investments
In addition to reduced operational expenses, there are long-term gains as well. By using refurbished equipment for a longer period of time, your company is also postponing the need to invest in larger CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) telecom projects.
Technology development never stops and you’ll eventually need to make these larger investments, but by having access to quality refurbished equipment, you can schedule the purchase of new equipment for the future when the timing is decided by your company, and not by the manufacturer.
10. Sustainability
The more refurbished equipment is used, less waste is generated. In addition to avoiding waste, the reduced demand for new equipment decreases the production of new parts and the consumption of raw materials.
In summary, there are several advantages to buying refurbished telecommunications equipment. All this without losing quality and contributing to the positive image of your business.
