
Chapter 5 — The Business of Tomorrow: Leading by Example
The possibility of transforming our production landscape to a far more sustainable and restorative one is in ever greater demand. A rising number of people aspire to consume differently and wish to drive positive change through their purchases.
Still more are embracing a new role as custodians — buying into products that last, and thinking in terms of conserving, husbanding, upcycling, reusing and passing resources on. Mindsets around ownership are shifting, too.
Brands driven by purpose and values stand out today, and people increasingly tend to reward the purveyors of ethically, socially and environmentally sound brands with loyalty.
In response, this is fostering a new generation of companies with concepts that favour longer product life, less ownership, more sharing and increased opportunities for “second life” through repair and resale.

Repairability: Good for business
The assumption has been floating around for a while that many items are deliberately conceived with built-in obsolescence, encouraging us to replace them. Whether this is the case or whether it is more a natural consequence of a fast-paced consumption pattern is difficult to answer. In any case, more brands and retailers are introducing a more circular approach by providing increased opportunities for repair.
While designing for repair has historically come naturally to some industries (such as automotives), other industries such as electronics have a hazier approach. iFixit’s repairability score indicates how well a given electronics product lends itself to being repaired — and it varies greatly across the industry, even within individual brands’ product ranges.
“There is an increased knowledge that we need to make our things last longer in order to reduce material consumption”
– Per Bolund, Sweden’s Minister for Financial Markets and Consumer Affairs
There is a business opportunity here. Companies that focus on product-life extension can create new revenue streams through repair, modularity, upgrade and maintenance services.
In certain countries, repairability is becoming a matter of public policy. In France, manufacturers not only have to indicate how long appliances should last, they also have to tell customers how long spare parts will be available for. Similarly, Sweden has implemented a law that ensures tax breaks on repairs to various goods.
iFixit
iFixit rates phones based on how easily they can be taken apart. Points are added for modular designs, removable batteries, standard screw types and easy-to-replace screens. Points are docked for excessive adhesive, soldered components and complex opening procedures.

Goods that last: Repair is a radical act
It may seem like an unlikely policy for manufacturers whose main aim is to sell products. But studies verify that it makes commercial sense in terms of attracting interest, customer loyalty, consumer confidence and word-of-mouth recommendations.

“Repair is a radical act. We work hard to make high-quality, responsibly sourced clothing that lasts for years and can be repaired — and we guarantee it for life.
We operate the largest garment repair facility in North America and we’ve trained our retail staff to handle the simple repair jobs…
We ask our customers to use the tools we provide to decrease the environmental impact of their stuff over time by repairing it, finding ways to reuse it, recycling it when it’s truly ready”
– Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia
Buymeonce.com taps into the desire both for manufacturers that can be trusted and for products that last.
It recommends items such as clothing, homewares and toys that “don’t break the bank, don’t break the planet… that don’t break at all! We also challenge manufacturers to break their habits and build stuff that really lasts — we know they can.”

Second life: Taking and giving back
H&M was the first fashion company to launch a garment collection initiative and has, since 2013, gathered over 25,000 tonnes of garments. Some are repurposed or recycled, while others are sold as second-hand clothes.
For World Recycle Week in April 2016 alone, the company aimed to gather 1,000 tonnes of second-hand items.
Take-back strategies, recycling and giving a second life to products that otherwise would be wasted enables companies to sell the same product again and again.
It’s a way of gaining new resources and offering new repairs, upgrades and maintenance services to create additional value out of products that have already been sold. This is good both for businesses and for the planet.
LET’S BREAK IT DOWN:
Businesses that favour a longer product life and offer products labelled as long-lasting enjoy a significant boost in sales:
- Smartphones: 41%
- Printers: 70%
- Luggage: 128%
IMAGINE: Exploring the brave new world of design and manufacturing,
is a SPACE10 publication investigating manufacturing in the digital age, materials of tomorrow and circular economies.
Read the next part:
Expert view: Design for many lives with Rebecca Earley
IMAGINE is also available as a free download. Grab your own copy here.




