Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) has inaugurated a new healthcare imaging systems refurbishment facility in Best, the Netherlands. The new facility marks the next step in bringing the financial and environmental benefits of circular economy to the healthcare industry.
The new facility in Best will refurbish magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), interventional X-ray (iXR), computed tomography (CT) and surgical imaging systems as part of the Philips Diamond Select program. Under this program, pre-owned equipment is converted into 'as-new systems' with full warranty and re-configured to customers' needs by using the renewed components, latest software releases and updates.
Establishing the new facility in Best, makes the refurbishment business an integral part of Philips’ global Healthcare R&D and manufacturing location in the Netherlands and allows Philips to optimize the collaboration between its design, production and refurbishment groups. With reuse in mind, the design and development approach will be enhanced to re-enter a maximum amount of pre-owned product elements into the production process once their first lifecycle ends - a key element of the circular economy.
"At Philips, we are fundamentally redesigning our business and end-to-end value chains," said Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips. "The new refurbishment facility supports Philips’ ambition to serve our customers through innovative business models which offer them 'functionality and usage as a service'. If we can sell the benefits instead of the products themselves, we can introduce longevity and closed-loop concepts like refurbishing and parts harvesting, which will help us put the global economy on the path to sustainable, long-term growth."
The healthcare industry is taking its first steps towards the circular economy and a consistent rise in demand for the refurbished systems is expected in the coming years. Philips already started the refurbishment of medical imaging systems in 1989. As a leader in this industry segment today, the new facility in Best and two similar facilities in the US that also refurbish ultrasound and positron-emission tomography (PET) systems, serve a growing global customer base.
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About Royal Philips
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2013 sales of EUR 23.3 billion and employs approximately 113,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming and oral healthcare.