"We IMPORT DEFECTIVES From 50 To 60 Countries, REPAIR THEM And SEND THEM OUT"

What is Flex doing in the field of circular economy’? How does this business operate? How do they help customers reduce their environmental footprint and maximise value recovery? To find answers to these questions, Rahul Chopra spoke to Nikhil Rao, General Manager, Global Services and Solutions at Flex in India. Here are the key excerpts of the discussion

- NIKHIL RAO 

Can you share a bit about your experience at Flex?

I started my career with Flex 17 years ago as a graduate engineer trainee and now I head one of the business verticals for Flex, called Global Services and Solutions, which offers circular economy solutions, focusing on aftermarket services like repair to spare parts management, forward and reverse logistics. To elaborate further, at Global Services and Solutions in India we provide returns and screening, complex repairs, CO2 reporting and analytics, asset recovery, and parts harvesting. Flex is an amazing company that gives you great opportunities to work and have a great career. I completed my Senior Executive MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB) and I was supported by Flex in managing time and work.

How has the electronics sector evolved over the years in india?

Fifteen years ago, all the companies in India were struggling to get a foothold in electronics manufacturing, but since then, it has taken great shape. Our investments in the space in Bangalore, and specifically Chennai, have been very interesting. We’ve remained invested, and we knew that the time would come when India would grow as an electronics repair hub.

We are happy to have been through this journey. There were tough times when we tried to convince customers to come and place their business here. But today every customer wants to look at India as an alternative to a manufacturing hub. They are very interested in working with us, and a good amount of business is also coming into India in electronic repairs and refurbishing.