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2024 Sales and results - Press Release
Ensure the effective repair of products
For Groupe SEB, reparability is an approach that ensures:
All of this should allow a streamlined customer experience and ensure the effective repair of products for many years.
Product reparability starts from product design and is one of the priority areas in the Group’s Eco-design Guide. Right from the start, products are designed to be easily disassembled and reassembled so that only the worn parts have to be replaced.
The Group is a pioneer in this field. Its aim is to offer high-quality products that the user can repair at affordable prices. Its reparability policy, initiated in 2008, reached maturity in 2015 with its “repairable for 10 years ” commitment. It began taking its commitment to repair a step further in 2021, extending it to 15 years with more work on the cost of repairs to offer very affordable rates.
Today, more than 90% of the Group’s electrical appliances met the most stringent criteria of the “repairable for 15 years at a fair price ” commitment and display the logo on their packaging ( Tefal, Rowenta, Moulinex, Krups and WMF brand products in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Seb and Calor products in France and Belgium).
Since the end of 2022, the majority of the products manufactured at the Group’s factory in Colombia and marketed under the Imusa brand have also been covered by a “repairable for 15 years ” commitment. Brazilian brand Arno also launched the same initiative in mid-2021 on an initial range of products.
The “repairable for 15 years at a fair price ” commitment also applies to all pressure cooker ranges, which are over 99 % repairable. For this type of product, the Group keeps stocks of spare parts for up to 35 years after they have stopped being sold.
To ensure that repairs are of optimum quality, Groupe SEB uses a network of approved repair centers, which has gained in strength over the last 10 years. There are now over 6,200 worldwide, including 2,800 in China. The Group’s local after-sales service teams in the different countries are responsible for training and supporting the repair centers.
The Group guarantees the repair centers that some 50,000 listed spare parts will be available for at least 15 years after products cease to be manufactured, including sourced products, at the cheapest possible price. For products under warranty, spare parts are delivered to repair centers within 24 to 48 hours in Western Europe, rising to a maximum of four days in other parts of the world.
More than 7 million spare parts are stored in the Group's central warehouses in Faucogney-et-la-Mer, in eastern France (30,000 square meters of storage space). Since 2016, the Group has also been using a warehouse in Hong Kong, the storage capacity for spare parts and accessories of which was increased in 2020: the new warehouse, twice as large, triples the number of immediately available references for repairers and consumers in Asia.
Furthermore, in an increasing number of countries, consumers can directly order accessories, consumables, or various parts through the brand websites. These direct orders are now possible on 67 brand sites worldwide.
The Group also uses 3D printing, which allows for the manufacturing of certain spare parts on demand. This simplifies inventory management and nearly infinitely increases their availability. Now, more than 150 references of functional and technical parts printed in 3D are offered to all repairers worldwide, with the label "3D printed part certified by the manufacturer."
Since 2020, Groupe SEB launched an initiative to encourage consumers to increasingly repair their products after the warranty period, when they bear the cost of repair. To remove the main obstacles, the fear of a high cost or the risk of paying for a quote “for nothing”, the Group has introduced a fixed repair offer with a single, fixed rate for each product category.
The consumer can have their product repaired, generally for less than a third of the price of an equivalent new branded product, regardless of the issue, required parts, and the age of the appliance (within the limit of the 15-year repair commitment). Furthermore, they benefit from a six-month warranty on the entire product after the repair. Once again, the Group has demonstrated its pioneering position by becoming the first player in Small Household Appliances to offer a repair package, and to this day, the only one to offer an all-inclusive and economically attractive package.
Since mid-2020, this repair package has been offered for all brands covered by the "Product Repairable for 15 Years at a Fair Price" commitment in France. The consumer can purchase their repair package directly on the brand's websites and then follow the instructions for sending the product or depositing it with a repair partner. In 2021, the service expanded to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and since 2022, it has been available in the main countries of Eastern Europe (for Tefal, Moulinex, Rowenta, and Krups).
At Groupe SEB, we share the daily life of our consumers and are committed to carrying out new projects that meet their evolving needs, while being part of the long term. The launch of repair packages will allow us to strengthen our direct link with our consumers. This new offer is in line with our sustainable development policy and was expected by our consumers who have become active consumers. It has a dual objective: to facilitate the use of our products for many years, and to support the profession of independent repairers by providing them with additional activity and fair remuneration.