Hardware Design for Repairability

The trend in hardware, especially when it comes to smartphones, is towards less repairable devices.

Remember the days when you could snap off the back of a Samsung device and pop out the battery? Well, nowadays you're more likely to have to heat up your device, pry up the display, remove some obstacles and finally un-clip the battery--that is, if it's not encased in glue.

Why do device manufacturers disregard repairability?

Device manufacturers struggle to keep up with shorter product cycles, intense innovation competition and the need to be thinner, smarter, sharper and better. At least in smartphones, consumers often desire storage, processing, durability, camera quality, technical specs or the brand's ecosystem, but rarely care about the devices's repairability. As a result, design decisions favor features, capabilities, aesthetics or ease of assembly and repairability becomes an afterthought.

The more nefarious explanation is that some manufacturers intentionally make their hardware more difficult to repair. If consumers can't repair their devices, they're more likely to upgrade their device to the latest model. New purchases increase revenue for the manufacturer compared to selling a simple repair--if they even have that capability--which might extend the product's lifespan by years. You see evidence in this everywhere: from Apple's proprietary pentalobe screws to Canon's force-fail inkjet printers, a particularly egregious example of planned obsolescence.

Why should device manufacturers care about repairability?

+“Repairability and recyclability are fundamentally the same thing.” E-Waste is a huge, dirty problem, and its only getting worse (below). As device manufacturers increasingly focus on sustainability commitments, incorporating design-for-repairability will enable them to recycle their devices in a more environmentally friendly manner. For example, most phone batteries can't be put into a e-waste chipper; to mass recycle smartphones, alternative end-of-life solutions will need to be developed or the batteries will need to be removed. Designing a smartphone to repair quickly and easily, also allows you to disassemble it for end-of-life.

+Sustainability rankings are heavily skewed towards repairable devices. Organizations, such as Greenpeace, publish rankings for hardware sustainability. These rankings correlate highly with repairability rankings offered by organizations such as iFixIt.

+Good design increases margins for repairs and lowers costs for expensive warranty rework or errors. Most device manufacturers offer warranties, and although these warranties rarely cover cover common damage--such as a cracked display--repairs still amount to tens of millions of dollars. Designing repairable phones makes quick work of common warranty work and lowers rework costs. Likewise, when you can charge for repair, having the ability to repair quickly and easily repair devices lowers costs and increases repair work margins. Lastly, in the unlikely event of a product recall, repairable design can substantially lower the costs of recall. For example, Samsung's total losses for the Note 7 recall amounted to over $5.3 billion. This cost could have been largely avoided through repairable design. Likewise, a recall for Microsoft's XBox became costly because gaining access to the internals required specialized tooling.

+Repair and Recycling can be a revenue stream. If a device manufacturer creates a repair partner network or offers repair options themselves, this work can often be high margin. Moreover, end-of-life material recovery can prove lucrative. For example, a pilot program from a large device manufacturer showed that component and material recovery from their devices netted $16 per device after disassembly labor costs. If a device manufacturer is willing to resell components from a disassembled device, recovery can be even more attractive than mining only for raw materials. That said, pound-for-pound, smartphones have far more gold in them than mined gold ore. Likewise, silver, palladium, platinum, rhodium, cobalt, copper and aluminum are other metals that could be viably extracted from e-waste. New innovations in mechanical disassembly and chemistry could make raw material extraction safer and more cost effective.

+Consumers are more likely to spend on premium products when repair costs are lower. Consumers are keeping their devices longer and gravitating towards longer-lasting devices. This trend is partly explained by the lack of exceptionally compelling new market devices; however, this hesitancy is mostly explained by the increasing costs of devices. On top of that, one reason consumers move towards value tier phones is that repair costs for premium phones is prohibitively expensive.

+Future market demands will necessitate design for repairability. For example, every battery eventually degrades and will need to be replaced. With the advent 5G technology, for example, batteries will run hotter, degrade faster and will need to be replaced sooner. If you're unable to swap batteries for your customers, they're more likely to choose your competition.

Source

+Customers are frustrated with repair options. They might not initially select a device based on repairability, but this becomes a pain-point later and evidence suggests consumers increasingly want better repair options. 65% of consumers feel “frustrated about how long products last," whereas a similar percentage believes "products are too difficult to be repair" (see left). Moreover, everyone knows Repair Costs Are Inflated. Manufacturers have constrained the free market by effectively forcing consumers to one repair option with absurd pricing. When there's only one repair shop around, prices go up and quality goes down. Worse, manufacturers are trying to shut down independent repair shops.

Design for Repairability Guidance

So, what does design for repairability actually look like? How can manufacturers adjust their designs to be more repairable? Are there policies that companies can implement to lead on repair?

At the core: manufacturers need to design with the end-user in mind!

Here's my non-comprehensive list of design-for-repair recommendations:

+Cases should be openable

+Less adhesive; more screws

+Tools & screws should be standard and non-proprietary

+Avoid same width screws with different lengths

+Prioritize!!! Components most likely to break should be the easiest to access (battery and display for smartphones)

+Internal components should be standard and independently replaceable (modularity)

+Updated models can be built with the same logic, framework and components from previous models--much like how car manufacturers build new vehicle models on the same chassis from previous models. This reduces the learning curve for a repair network, but also has the added bonus of enabling manufacturers to depreciate assembly automation CAPEX over several products, lowering unit cost

+Employ clear internal labeling and color-coding. If there's a memory component with personally identifiable information (PII) potentially stored within, label it. If there are dangerous or hazardous parts, paint them red. Color screw holes by their sizing. The goal is to make it easier for someone to navigate the internals of the device

+Use labeled ZIF connectors and cables rather than soldered connections (whenever possible)

+Slightly increase the length of connectors and cables to allow the device to be opened for repair. This is especially important for display connectors on phones or clamshell-designed hardware that separates into two or more sides when opened

+Phones should always have a display-first opening logic (like the iphone 6s). The battery should be easily accessible right under the display

+Parts should not easily break during standard repairs

+Adhesive and grounding tape should be easy to replace

+Separate components when possible to reduce replacements (i.e. each speaker should have its own cable connector)

+Share documentation with the public. Resist the temptation to declare that everything is proprietary, when it is clearly not. Also, once manufactured, your hardware design is often already obvious to anyone who could conceivably manufacture a competing device. Documentation helps your customers repair devices themselves or find qualified technicians.

+Publish information about your company's approach to repair and sustainability as well as your efforts in this space. Consumers are increasingly rewarding companies that lead on sustainability.

+Support Right-to-Repair legislation