
Hilti - Overcoming Hidden Complexities of Circular Rental and Reuse
11/13/24 • 34 min
A durable and long-lasting product is a promising starting point for circular activities. Yet organisational challenges remain.
In this episode, Caroline Stern gives insights into Hilti Group's challenges when measuring and improving its circularity. It starts with logistics, spans over accounting, and includes selecting the right input data for ERP systems designed for a linear world.
This episode is the 12th in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-service.
People
Caroline Stern, Head of Sustainability for South Asia Pacific, Hilti Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinestern/
Patrick Hypscher, Co-Founder of Green PO, Expert in Sustainable Business Models https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
Chapters
00:00 Intro 02:09 Changing the direction of an organisation 04:09 A strong circular foundation 05:58 Access to products as door opener for reuse 08:31 Reuse as better than new 09:34 How Reuse changes internal logistics 13:24 Facing linear depreciation of circular assets 16:06 Defining the production location of a reused product 16:50 Reused product as (no) waste 17:29 The organisation of reuse as the real complexity 18:38 The role of data on resource consumption and CO2 22:23 All products will become more sustainable 27:58 Long last products as basis for PaaS 29:11 Keep the offering in the center 31:42 Open Door Climate and Southeast Asia
About Hilti
Hilti develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction, building maintenance, energy and manufacturing industries, mainly to the professional end-user. About 32,000 employees work for Hilti.
Further Links
Hilti’s Fleet Management Service: https://www.hilti.com/content/hilti/W1/US/en/business/business/equipment/fleet.html
Hilti’s Reuse activities https://reports.hilti.group/2022/our-stories/circularity-second-life-of-tools
Hilti’s Circularity Measurement https://www.hilti.group/content/hilti/CP/XX/en/company/media-relations/media-releases/bcgsapcircularitystandardscircelligence.html
Transcript
See the episode page for the transcript: https://circularity.fm/hilti-overcoming-hidden-complexities-of-circular-rental-and-reuse/
A durable and long-lasting product is a promising starting point for circular activities. Yet organisational challenges remain.
In this episode, Caroline Stern gives insights into Hilti Group's challenges when measuring and improving its circularity. It starts with logistics, spans over accounting, and includes selecting the right input data for ERP systems designed for a linear world.
This episode is the 12th in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-service.
People
Caroline Stern, Head of Sustainability for South Asia Pacific, Hilti Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinestern/
Patrick Hypscher, Co-Founder of Green PO, Expert in Sustainable Business Models https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
Chapters
00:00 Intro 02:09 Changing the direction of an organisation 04:09 A strong circular foundation 05:58 Access to products as door opener for reuse 08:31 Reuse as better than new 09:34 How Reuse changes internal logistics 13:24 Facing linear depreciation of circular assets 16:06 Defining the production location of a reused product 16:50 Reused product as (no) waste 17:29 The organisation of reuse as the real complexity 18:38 The role of data on resource consumption and CO2 22:23 All products will become more sustainable 27:58 Long last products as basis for PaaS 29:11 Keep the offering in the center 31:42 Open Door Climate and Southeast Asia
About Hilti
Hilti develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction, building maintenance, energy and manufacturing industries, mainly to the professional end-user. About 32,000 employees work for Hilti.
Further Links
Hilti’s Fleet Management Service: https://www.hilti.com/content/hilti/W1/US/en/business/business/equipment/fleet.html
Hilti’s Reuse activities https://reports.hilti.group/2022/our-stories/circularity-second-life-of-tools
Hilti’s Circularity Measurement https://www.hilti.group/content/hilti/CP/XX/en/company/media-relations/media-releases/bcgsapcircularitystandardscircelligence.html
Transcript
See the episode page for the transcript: https://circularity.fm/hilti-overcoming-hidden-complexities-of-circular-rental-and-reuse/
Previous Episode

UNDRESS Circularity - Assessing the Impact of Circular Business Models
Repair and Rental in the Consumer Electronics Industry
Rental and Repair business models come with the promise of superior circularity. However, it is unclear if a specific company can deliver on this promise.
The UNDRESS project provides a framework and practical guide to determine the impact of rental and repair business models. It is a collaborative industry project led by Circularity in collaboration with Fraunhofer IZM, Systemiq, and 12 industry partners (Assurant, circulee, Everphone, fixfirst, Foxway, Grover, Ingram Micro, rebuy, Recommerce Group, Reverse Logistics Group, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone), further supported by Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt and Deloitte.
This episode is the eleventh in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-service.
People Dr. Marianne Kuhlmann, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Circularity.
Patrick Hypscher, Co-Founder of Green PO, Expert in Sustainable Business Models
Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:23 The Motivation To Rent & Repair 03:39 Does renting increase lifetime and utilisation rate? 05:46 Shareholders and Stakeholders demand clarity about environmental impact 08:49 A consortium of Telcos, Renting & Repair Providers, Producers & Recyclers 10:39 Market and Company data as a basis for a framework 12:45 Rental uptake among German private users is at 1% 13:52 Desire to own and commercial attractiveness as barriers 15:22 Renting is more common in the B2B market 19:43 A company with a sustainability strategy is more likely to rent and repair 23:00 Unveiling the actual lifetime of a device 27:41 A basis for rental providers to compete on impact 28:27 The full report available as of Q1 2025 29:10 Suitable product and relevant customer needs are decisive 30:09 Further uptake of rental, impact measurement and data collection expected
About Circularity: Circularity is a do-tank that supports executives and senior professionals in business and society with circular transformation - through collaboration, consulting, training, networking and much more.
Further Links: Undress Project https://www.circularity.me/undress/
Undress Market Report https://www.circularity.me/undress-circularity-from-consumer-insight-to-circular-impact-market-report/
Transcript See the episode page for the transcript: https://circularity.fm/undress-circularity-assessing-the-impact-of-circular-business-models/
Next Episode

Royal Ahrend - From a Separated Startup to an Integrated Business
Strategic Approach to Furniture-as-a-Service
How integrated should a Product-as-a-Service proposition be in the core business? If an existing company starts a new as-a-service business, this question needs to be answered.
In this episode, Rob Keulemans, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Ahrend, describes the organisational journey of their Furniture-as-a-Service proposition. After a separate start, significant elements of FaaS are now part of core processes and systems.
This episode is the 13th in the series PaaS Decoded, 16 conversations about the fine details of product-as-a-service.
People: Rob Keulemans, Chief Commercial Officer, Royal Ahrend https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-keulemans-1438831/
Patrick Hypscher, Co-Founder of Green PO, Expert in Sustainable Business Models https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypscher/
Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:57 The level of integration of Furniture as a Service 03:17 FaaS Sales done by normal Sales Team 08:53 Avoiding Cannibalizing Incentives 09:56 Financing via a Special Purpose Vehicle 10:51 Offering the full product range - designed for Circularity 15:22 Refurbishment Operations as new field for and beyond FaaS 16:24 FaaS using existing Logistics Processes 17:03 Introducing a Circular ERP System for the whole company 20:42 RFID Tags and QR Codes as identifier 22:53 Gradual integration of processes 23:57 Strategic Decision to seize the opportunity of lasting furniture 27:23 More flexible service adjustments as the next challenge to solve 29:32 The need for a lasting product designed for disassembly 30:21 Professionalisation of the Refurbishment Industry
About Royal Ahrend, from website: Ahrend is an international leading expert in the field of professional work environments. For almost 125 years, Ahrend designs and creates inspiring, innovative and healthy working environments. Ahrend specializes in Activity Based Working concepts, where well-being and productivity of the user are the central points of focus.
Further Links: https://www.ahrend.com/en/solutions/furniture-as-a-service/
Transcript: See the episode page for the transcript https://circularity.fm/royal-ahrend-from-a-separated-startup-to-an-integrated-business/
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