Strengths as a Lever for ReX | Road to ReX - part 11

24 February 2026

Thomas Vandenhaute

Discover what you can already build on today

ReX initiatives rarely start from scratch. In almost every organisation, knowledge, experience and resources are already present that enable ReX. By making these strengths explicit, you gain insight into what you can already accelerate today and where targeted collaboration can make a real difference. This perspective creates realism and the motivation to take action.

You have previously mapped which activities already contribute to ReX (see section Motivations). In this section, you broaden that view through three crucial perspectives: product, market and access to technical knowledge and information. Together, they form the basis for an initial success analysis.

Why naming strengths accelerates ReX

When strengths remain implicit, ReX seems larger than it is. By clarifying what already works, you discover that many ReX initiatives simply strengthen existing capabilities. At the same time, gaps become visible. You see where partnerships add value. Below, you find a practical four-step approach.

Step 1: assess the ReX potential of your products

With a few focused questions, you quickly assess how suitable your products are for ReX. Use the logic use less, use longer, use again as your guide.

Review circular design principles with attention to:

Standardisation and compatibility
Maintenance and repairability
Upgradability and adaptability
Disassembly and reassembly

Involve at least a product designer, a service colleague and someone from production. Their combined insights provide a reliable first view of product-based ReX potential.

Step 2: determine whether a market exists

For products with high ReX potential, assess their intrinsic value. Examine both the product and its components.
This can be surprisingly simple. Perform a short web search combining your product name with terms such as second-hand, refurbished, repaired, upgrade or retrofit.

Products in mature markets often offer more ReX opportunities than recently launched products. The pace of technological change also matters. Rapid evolution makes ReX more challenging. Slow to moderate change makes ReX more attractive.

Step 3: evaluate access to technical knowledge

Access to information determines how smoothly you can launch ReX activities. If you design your own products, you likely have technical documentation available.

If not, knowledge may still exist through sales and service experience or reverse engineering. When access is limited, collaboration becomes essential.

Step 4: combine everything into a success analysis

Make explicit what you can already do. Identify ongoing activities, existing partners, relevant products and available technologies.
The insights from your earlier drivers analysis now become concrete. Ask yourself repeatedly: what else? This question reveals less visible strengths.

When you analyse strengths and gaps together, two results emerge:

You see what you can accelerate or refine
You identify action domains that require collaboration such as logistics, service organisation, access to information or specialised operations

Conclusion

By explicitly naming your strengths, next steps become achievable. Action domains turn into concrete needs. This strengthens collaboration and internal traction. Your ReX ambition takes shape based on what already exists within your organisation.

Summary

ReX accelerates when you build on your strengths: product suitability, market potential and access to technical knowledge. By combining these insights into a success analysis, you see what you can strengthen internally and where partnerships create added value.