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Overview
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) face a persistent challenge: managing excess and obsolete (E&O) inventory. The costs are financial, operational, and environmental. E&O parts tie up working capital, occupy valuable warehouse space, and create waste if scrapped.
A global telecommunications leader partnered with Component Sense to take a new approach to managing excess inventory. By consigning excess and obsolete inventory with a single partner, rather than juggling multiple brokers, selling at scrap value, or disposing of it, the company generated measurable financial returns, reduced waste, and increased operational efficiency.
The Challenge: Complexity, Cost, and Lack of Clarity
The Customer’s previous model depended on multiple brokers, each with different processes and pricing. This fragmentation led to inconsistent value recovery, slow turnaround times, and limited transparency.
The Customer’s Director of Strategic Partnerships explained:
“We thought that you have to work with different brokers to consign at the best deal. Then, if it doesn’t work out, you sell outright to various brokers.”
Excess stock also carries hidden costs. These excess parts tie up capital, occupy warehouse space, and risk becoming a total loss if scrapped. The Director described the impact:
“We have holding costs because you buy the inventory already. Eventually, when it expires, it is sitting there waiting for the forecast to come. If there is no forecast, it is dead stock. If you scrap it away, that is not environmentally friendly… Component Sense adds value and gives back to the world in an environmentally conscious way.”
Market opacity made matters worse. With no visibility of what stock was actually selling for, or whether brokers were genuinely competing for it, the Customer had little way of knowing if the prices offered reflected true market value:
“Some brokers are actually tied to one another, so basically they press down the price.
We decided to partner with Component Sense so they can help us manage our E&O. Their E&O solution is transparent, much easier, much cleaner, and environmentally friendly.”
The Solution: Consignment
Component Sense introduced the Customer to a Consignment model that transformed how the Customer managed excess inventory. Under this model, the Customer retains ownership of the inventory while Component Sense takes responsibility for consigning, managing, and marketing the excess components to a global buyer network.
When a sale is made, the Customer recovers value without the administrative burden of managing the process. If forecasts change, the stock can be pulled back quickly.
This flexibility was central to the Customer’s decision. In an industry where forecasts can shift overnight, the ability to recall consigned stock at short notice removed the biggest risk of handing inventory to a third party. The Director explained:
“When there is a forecast upside of a dated, slow-moving stock, we can always contact Component Sense and arrange for a pullback seamlessly. With Component Sense, one unique thing is that it’s easier to work with the Consignment team. The entire organisation has been very uniquely structured and Customer-oriented.”
Previously, the company relied on multiple brokers to gauge pricing and demand. Consignment removed the need to juggle brokers and brought full visibility. With Component Sense, inventory performance and value recovery could be monitored through a single dashboard, providing greater visibility and confidence in decision-making.
“I do not need to look for ten brokers to get the best deal. Component Sense has a dashboard which I trust… it is transparent.”
For the Director, the partnership was built on values as much as process. Beyond the commercial results, it was the way Component Sense worked that set the relationship apart:
“Flexibility of doing business, openness, honesty. These are the three things which I found while working with Component Sense.”
Results: Measurable Impact at Scale
Key figures of the strategic partnership, 2023–2026:
- Almost four years of collaboration (2023 to May 2026)
- 3,478,086 components redistributed since 2023
- $1,912,515 recouped for the Customer since 2023
The growth curve was steep. In 2023, 1,200 units were redistributed with $21,600 recovered. In 2024, that figure jumped to 650,798 units and $313,892. By 2025, redistribution reached 2,282,868 units and $651,159. And 2026 is already the partnership’s strongest year yet for value recovery, with $925,864 recouped from 543,220 units redistributed in just the first five months (January to May).
Year on year, components redistributed grew by more than 54,000% between 2023 and 2024, followed by a further 251% increase the next year. Recouped revenue grew by 1,353% in the first year and 107% in 2025, with revenue for the first five months of 2026 (January to May) already 42% ahead of the whole of 2025.
This was an excellent return for the Customer and meant that almost 3.5 million electronic components were saved from going to landfill.
Consignment value doubled in under two years
The Customer began the partnership by consigning $10 million worth of stock in 2023. Within two years, this doubled to $20 million. The Director explained:
“Total partnership grew to $20 million worth of stock from $10 to $20 million and more to come.”
Operational agility
Flexibility to pull back stock with ease when needed gave the Customer a clear advantage when required:
“Last night, I did a pull-in for around 17,000 units of chipsets. If I were to buy them back, it would take seven months. Instead, we pulled it back and paid only for shipment. That is one of the most significant benefits of working with Component Sense.”
As the Director summed it up:
“Component Sense is my superhero, honestly.”
Service that goes beyond transactions
The team behind the service stood out just as much as the model itself. What began as a commercial arrangement has grown into a relationship with the individuals delivering it:
“Very supportive. In fact, I know names of the people in Component Sense by heart… Brenda, Lucy, Morag, Steve, Kenny, Rose—superbly fantastic people. That is the level of partnership and friendship we have in Component Sense, and that is why we continuously work on Consignment and give our first priority of redistribution to Component Sense.”
Conclusion: Partner of Choice
For the Customer, Component Sense has become more than a service provider.
“Component Sense is my partner of choice. I first go to Component Sense before even looking anywhere else… If we want to sell something, Component Sense always provide the most competitive pricing, and we can always negotiate.”
The partnership demonstrates the real benefits of a transparent, flexible Consignment model. Financial results are proven, operational processes are simpler, and environmental goals are supported. For OEMs seeking a better way to manage excess and obsolete inventory, this story shows what is possible.