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Is FLEXRADIO maintenance available in Brazil?

pilotbr
pilotbr Member, Unconfirmed
Is FLEXRADIO maintenance available in Brazil?
FLEX6400
73 PP2FM

Comments

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    Unfortunately no. You will have to work with the support center in Austin Texas.

  • pilotbr
    pilotbr Member, Unconfirmed
    Unfortunately, many radio amateurs in South America give up on Flex due to the lack of maintenance service!
    They could contact ALPHA TELECOM; they are an excellent technician in Brazil and could be an authorized maintenance service. (https://www.youtube.com/@YvoMunizAlphaTelecom)
  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    Establishing a dedicated service center in a new market presents significant financial challenges that don't align with our current business model. The capital investment required — including sourcing and shipping specialized test equipment, building calibration infrastructure, training certified technicians, and managing ongoing operational overhead — would be substantial. By consolidating all repairs and calibration work at our primary factory, where the necessary equipment and expertise already exist, we preserve economies of scale and maintain tighter quality control. Decentralizing these operations would fragment that efficiency and ultimately drive up per-unit costs, making our radios less competitive in the very markets we're trying to serve.

  • W4AFK Bruno
    W4AFK Bruno Member ✭✭
    edited March 21

    Mike - Although I fully understand the reasoning, a company needs to balance the costs with their distribution plans. As Flex is selling radios globally, the challenge when something goes wrong with the product are very large shipping costs, additional delays, and the export/import challenges.

    It's NOT always quick and easy to exchange electronic equipment with foreign countries. We have that challenge as we set up strategically located support centers, which are dealers/reps. Yes, there is a cost involved but for us, it increased sales as people in those countries were more inclined to buy the product knowing that they will have local or close service.

    I know … that's not an easy decision to make as it does require investments and it also has an element of risk (the ROI). But it might be worth trying out in a country/region where you already have a lot of sales.

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