While the economy had stalled, our households were running at full speed. More than ever, we started baking and cooking, coffee was made, dishes were washed. Sewing machines went to work for mouth masks. Washing machines and tumble dryers also continued to run.
So how are our household appliances doing? Hopefully still healthy and well. But the inevitable wear continues. Not to mention built-in aging that occurs all too quickly. On top of that, there is also sometimes bad use or lack of maintenance. And then they break or no longer work properly.
However, you cannot just miss some devices. To keep repair accessible, Maakbaar Leuven looked at digital solutions. Together with Statik and the city of Leuven, they developed RepairConnects, a repair platform, a digital extension and expansion of other repair activities that have temporarily become impossible. RepairConnects uses digital tools to bring repair of electrical and electronic devices (household appliances, laptops, etc.) closer to citizens.
One week after launch, we are quite proud of the first results. Many devices were registered, we were able to welcome new repairers and, above all, several devices were repaired with online support.
Although this platform was set up temporarily because of the special circumstances, the potential of digital tools to make repair more mainstream again, is becoming increasingly clear.