The Nordic leader teams up with Aixia to offer first-of-its-kind unbiased, impartial, and objective AI device grading.
The AI tool, developed by Aixia and trained by 3stepIT’s experts, will be rolled out in 3stepIT’s centres starting in May.
Helsinki, Finland – 17 April 2024
3stepIT, a leading European provider of circular technology, today announced the launch of its groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) device evaluation tool, a digital solution designed to streamline, automate, and optimise the assessment of used IT devices.
The AI tool, developed in partnership with Aixia and initially deployed exclusively for laptops, will be rolled out in Sweden in May and the other 3stepIT refurbishing centres in Finland and Norway by the end of 2024.
3stepIT’s circular business model offers businesses the opportunity to procure, manage and return their corporate devices after their first usage cycle. 3stepIT then refurbishes the devices and prepares them for their second life in one of its three centres in the Nordics, making them available to secondary users.
The AI quality evaluation tool is an industry first; it leverages artificial intelligence to analyse pictures of the devices and data analytics and machine learning to further support the process, empowering 3stepIT’s employees to offer customers consistent and unbiased evaluations of device quality.
3stepIT’s production experts trained the AI software on more than 35,000 devices to ensure it can deliver high-value results across a wide range of models.
Beyond identifying specific damages, the AI quality evaluation tool also quantifies the overall level of wear and tear, generating a standardised quality score. This score empowers businesses to receive precise and consistent grading information about the devices they have used. This approach also enables businesses to understand and address behaviours that impact the overall lifespan of devices, increasing the chances of them having a second life, in line with circular economy principles.
“Unbiased evaluation of device quality after their first lifecycle is essential to encourage more businesses to transition to a circular approach for their technology,” said Jakob Lagander, CEO of 3stepIT. “At 3stepIT, we have led the way in circular technology management for the past 26 years, and today, we are taking an important step to ensure even more peace of mind, transparency and reliability for the businesses choosing our services”.
“We thank you for the trust in allowing us to be a part of 3StepIT's innovative development and for the opportunity to deliver the technology of tomorrow, which not only enables but positions 3StepIT as a leader with the help of the new AI technology in their production environment. For Aixia, sustainability and reuse are incredibly important, and with the new AI technology, we enable a new level around this,” said Mattias Bergkvist, CEO of Aixia.
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About 3stepIT
3stepIT is a circular technology provider helping organisations maximise operational and cost efficiencies while ensuring responsible, secure, and sustainable handling of their IT devices.
Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, 3stepIT employs more than 500 people, has over 2.6 million devices under management and operates refurbishing centres in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.
In 2019, 3stepIT signed a strategic partnership with BNP Paribas to extend its IT management solutions across corporate Europe, where it operates as BNP Paribas 3 Step IT.
About Aixia
Aixia is an IT company based in Mölndal, Sweden, which is part of Aixia Group AB (publ). Aixia has since 2007 been operating in the construction and development of IT, including AI/ Deep Learning platforms, data centres, security, management, hosting, networks & communication and backup/DR.
The company supplies products, solutions and expertise in the following business areas; AI solutions and services, Enterprise IT infrastructure, IT operations and hosting, IT products/ solutions and currently has around 120 clients across the country in a wide range of industries.
We help companies get the most out of their existing IT solutions and find maximum business value in planned investments. We achieve this by working closely with a small number of carefully selected partners who together create synergies.
Our vision is that tomorrow’s challenges cannot be met with yesterday’s technology and working with Aixia should always be valuable, profitable and prompt.
