E2 Forum Mumbai premiere

Representatives of the lift and escalator industry and players from the real estate sector in India got together for the debut event of the E2 Forum in Mumbai.

The conference addressed 123 participants with its panel of 20 speakers and its focus on innovative trends, sustainable options and safety solutions. The opening of this first overarching conference, the E2 Forum Mumbai, took place on 2 August 2019. It was staged by Messe Frankfurt India and the supreme committee of the developers in the Mumbai metropolitan region (Mumbai (Mumbai MCHI-CREDAI).

A total of 143 experts took part in the premiere, including Jagadish Kumar (Director, L’Avenir Consultancy Pvt Ltd), Vaibhav Pitale (Senior Vice President New Business Installation, Schindler India Pvt Ltd), Ar Raja Aederi (architectural firm Raja Aederi Consultants Pvt Ltd), Nimish Ajmera (Director, Ajmera Group), Rajnish Ramu (Head of Marketing, Thyssen Krupp Elevator), Rajesh Nair (Head of Brigade Enterprises Ltd), and T.D Joseph (Head of Events & Exhibitions, CREDAI MCHI).

Necessity of innovations

The agenda included topics such as digital progress, maintenance and safety questions as well as sustainable options for smart cities. Vaibhav Pitale, Senior Vice President New Installation Business of Schindler India Ltd Pvt, affirmed the necessity of innovations. "The need for innovations exists chiefly in the three components, machine, rope and drive. They are the brain and heart of the lift."

With regard to the future challenges for the industry, he added, "I regard price pressure as the greatest obstacle. Every year, the prices drop by 10 to 15 percent. And the political changes of the last two to three years have increased the pressure on the industry. But I also think that everything is moving in a positive direction, since in the end this will result in standardisation and make the industry more mature as an economic sector."

Innovation, design and safety

Ian Smith, Vice President Special Projects for the Asia-Pacific Region at Thyssenkrupp Elevators AG, spoke about high-speed lifts, among other things, and the associated challenges. "‘High speed’ does not mean ‘bad speed’: urban concentration and the growing population numbers are making buildings ever higher. This almost inescapably leads to the need for high-speed lifts. Of course, these advanced lifts have their own challenges, but we’re tackling them by rethinking the technology."

Good infrastructure produces more intelligent cities – the interdependencies of the real estate sector with the lift and escalator industry attracted the big names of the real estate sector: innovation, design and safety emerged as the thematic highlights of the Forum.

Renowned companies such as Godrej Properties, the K Raheja Group, Lokhandwala Construction, Marathon Real Estate and the Wadhwa Group were on hand to find out about the current trends and developments in the lift and escalator industry.

Demands on lift and escalator manufacturers

For Hari Easwaran, Head of Contracts and Procurement at L&T Realty, "the tone and central message of the entire Forum was definitely safety. Unlike in the case of normal manual interventions, when it comes to innovations, KI, IoT and task-driven equipment must be used for most diagnoses. The lift industry is playing an active part in these changes and has already made tremendous progress here."

Punam Ingle, Senior Manager Procurement at Godrej Properties Ltd, formulated the company’s demands on lift and escalator manufacturers like this, "At the moment, we're working on 28 to 30 projects in various regions of the country. Innovation always takes pride of place, but we’re also looking for added value, such as aesthetically pleasing finishing, which produces a feeling of well-being in users as soon as they enter the lift."

The conference programme was rounded off by the RED Talks (Real Estate Dialogue) of the MCHI-CREDAI Committee and a networking dinner. "The E2 Forum Mumbai, an event of the International Elevators and Escalators Show in Mumbai, succeeded in gathering interested visitor and exhibitor groups of the leading trade fair under one roof" - this was the conclusion of the organisers.

e2forum.in.messefrankfurt.com/mumbai/en.html