(Source: Otis)

Connectivity for the lifts of tomorrow

News

Serving the needs of people in this rapidly changing world, finding fast practicable solutions, expanding the development centre in Berlin - these are the goals pursued by the US lift company Otis. At the Hanover Trade Fair it announced two important forward-looking cooperation projects.

Otis manages over two million lifts worldwide. "This produces enormous quantities of data, which we would like to structure and use with the assistance of IdD technologies in order to provide our customers with even better service,” explained Udo Hoffmann, the chairman of the board of management of Otis Germany. "This is why we are intensifying our cooperation with AT&T and Microsoft.”

Avoid down times of lifts

What does this mean specifically? "One of our most important concerns is to avoid down times of lifts,” explained Hoffmann. The intention was to exploit the data collected to make reliable predictions regarding maintenance and repair. For example doors: they are prone to wear, since they are constantly in movement and often subject to violent collisions.

The movement data of doors could be recorded, structured analysed to determine their wear with the assistance of software and Microsoft’s cloud. Maintenance and repair would then no longer occur at particular intervals, but instead depend on the condition of the doors. This would save costs and prevent lift standstills.

New forward-looking solutions for lifts

HandwerkThe Otis fitters – worldwide 31,000, in Germany over 1,200 – could access the well-structured data and take action with the assistance of tablets and A&T technology. "Our cooperation with AT&T goes back over 15 years,” reported Hoffmann, "and we are now putting together components from AT&T and Microsoft and on this basis developing new forward-looking solutions for lifts.”

The work efficiency of the fitters would increase – to the benefit of customers – with the options of modern connectivity and ID solutions with which the performance data of lifts could be retrieved in real time. This would definitely also produce directly noticeable effects for lift users, "For example, seeing the person you're speaking to when you press the emergency button,” explained the lift expert. This would create trust and relieve the fears of the trapped lift passengers.

A large part of the research of the US company required for all these plans is located in Germany. One of Otis’ global development centres for electronic components is located in Berlin. "We’re going to expand this centre and invest in our market presentation in Germany,” Udo Hoffmann stressed. "After all, Germany is the biggest new lift market in Europe.”

Bettina Heimsoeth

www.otis.com

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