Meet Gabriele Janke! She’s our in-house specialist who is responsible for all returns of Zaptec products, starting with addressing client concerns and confirming product functions with the support team. Once a fault is identified, the faulty product is returned to our warehouse and sent to service for a breath of new life. This, friends, is extending the Zaptec lifecycle.
Who: Gabriele Janke (Linkedin)
Role: Return merchandise authorization (RMA) Specialist
Engaged in: Extending Zaptec lifecycles
Can you tell us about your role as an RMA specialist?
Gabriele: Certainly! In my role as an RMA specialist, I develop policies, optimize processes, oversee refurbishment, and control return costs for Zaptec products.
Your role seems to involve more than just processing returns. Could you elaborate on the additional responsibilities?
Gabriele: I create and communicate procedures to our employees and colleagues besides managing returns. This ensures a seamless and efficient process, especially considering the diverse ways our subsidiaries operate. I’m also responsible for the financial aspect, tracking monthly returns, collaborating with the tech department to address product issues, and providing them with faulty products for analysis.
Neat! Can you tell us about your involvement in sustainability and the end of the product life cycle?
Gabriele: Certainly. I focus on ensuring our products look good and have a prolonged lifespan beyond the guarantee period. We’ve refurbished faulty products for about six years, successfully renewing around 60% of faulty chargers. Refurbishment involves reviving a defective product and making it look brand new. We are now exploring partnerships with recycling companies to dispose of chargers we cannot refurbish responsibly. This involves determining the recyclability of each component.
So, you decide whether a product gets recycled or not?
Gabriele: I focus on assessing the cost-effectiveness of repairing products, working closely with the technical department. The final decision on recycling is made by our production partners’ service team, guided by our agreements and considering factors like refurbishment costs and technical feasibility.
Gabriele, that’s amazing. Thank you for being a valuable member of Zaptec and giving us further insights into how our refurbishment program works.
