For most telecom carriers, circularity is a nice buzzword for an annual report. For one major Canadian telecommunications provider, it’s an operational obsession.
They didn't just want to resell old phones; they wanted to achieve 100% circularity—a closed loop in which nothing ends up in the landfill.
But, they hit a wall.
You can’t build a futuristic supply chain on manual labor alone. Trying to grade, test, and route thousands of used devices by hand is like trying to direct rush-hour traffic with hand signals—eventually, things pile up and mistakes happen.
This is the story of how they cleared the jam.
This top-three national network operator had a bold vision: reduce electronic waste by optimizing its trade-in program and focusing on repairing, reselling, and recycling devices.
While most carriers sell pre-owned devices on the secondary market, the customer wanted to resell refurbished pre-owned devices in its own retail ecosystem rather than selling them through the wholesale market. The company aims to maximize asset utility by facilitating transfer to three unique owners over the device lifespan.
To strengthen its reverse supply chain capabilities, the carrier acquired a dedicated repair and refurbishment chain. It was a move to answer consumers’ growing expectations for more transparency around the device lifecycle. The customer gained more control over its reverse supply chain operations and achieved higher resale margins.
But control is an illusion without data.
Their process was entirely manual. Humans looked at phones, guessed the grade, and scribbled down notes.
The problem? Human eyes get tired. One technician’s Grade B is another’s Grade C. This inconsistency is the enemy of profit. Worse, it turns the customer’s unboxing experience into a gamble. When a buyer pays for 'pristine' but unboxes a scratched device, trust evaporates instantly. In the secondary market, you aren't just selling a device; you’re selling the certainty that the device in the box matches the promise made at the time of purchase.
They needed to speed up the device refurbishment center without sacrificing quality. They needed to stop guessing and start knowing. They needed the art of the possible to become standard operating procedure.
The customer’s leaders recognized that, like them, Apkudo leadership also values making positive change for the planet while prioritizing customers. They brought in Apkudo not just as a vendor, but as an architect for their new operations reality. The goal was to build a foundation of absolute confidence by installing Apkudo’s precision automation solution.
Apkudo’s automated device processing solution includes integrated and modular cells that prepare, clean, data-sanitize, test, and grade connected devices without human interaction. Easy access to processing and diagnostic data supports informed and confident value, routing, and resale decisions.
Before long, operational gridlock finally cleared. The facility transformed from a manual workshop into a high-speed, data-driven powerhouse.
Subjective manual grading
Slow processing throughput
Inconsistent data visibility
1,100+ per day (and growing)
Canada
A world-leading communications technology company operating in 45+ countries.
