Printer and laptop manufacturer HP in Boise, Idaho, US, hosted an in-house Repair Cafe for and by employees in June. According to Repair Cafe International, this is the first Repair Cafe at a company whose products you often see in Repair Cafes. HP is seventh in the top ten popular brands at Repair Cafes, but the success rate for repairs of HP products is rather low (41 per cent).
HP laptops and printers successfully repaired
HP products also came up during the Repair Cafe in Boise: a laptop and two printers. All three were successfully repaired.
According to organiser Darin Lindig, the Repair Cafe was not only a fun way to connect with coworkers. “It also created first-hand awareness of repair triumphs and shortcomings of our own products”, he writes on LinkedIn. “This has led to further discussions of how we can better support repair of HP products.” Darin also posted a video about the Repair Cafe at HP.
Repair Cafe on shop floor sends a clear message
Martine Postma of Repair Café International is enthusiastic about the Repair Cafe event at the computer and printer manufacturer. “Managements of large companies are often a bit hesitant about Repair Cafe because they want to sell as many new products as possible. On the shop floor, things are different, this initiative proves. A Repair Cafe emanating from employees sends a clear message to the top management of large companies: repairable products are the future.”
If it is up to Darin and his colleagues, the Repair Cafe will definitely get a follow-up, possibly in collaboration with the ‘public’ Repair Cafe in Boise. That initiative launched around the same time. Martine hopes that more companies will follow HP’s example and allow their employees to organize their own Repair Cafe as well.
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