The next level of elevatoring will be digitalization

Sebi Joseph, President, Otis India

India is the second largest market for elevators and escalators in the world according to analysts. As is the trend worldwide, people automatically gravitate towards cities because of the opportunities and potential they hold. This naturally puts immense pressure on cities to provide for housing and other needs of the people. As it continues to expand, India’s elevator industry will grow just as rapidly, and also evolve to accommodate the ever-changing infra and lifestyle needs of the cities.

Expected growth in the residential segment will remain the biggest contributor to the construction industry. As India continues to urbanize, sustainable solutions will play a key role through energy saving and space conservation features. Affordable homes do not just mean the cost accessibility of the home, but also lower operational and maintenance costs. Sustainable features are key to any affordable housing project. To aid in sustaining this development, the industry is geared towards efficiency whilst providing environmentally responsible features and benefits.

There is an increasing demand for ‘green’ elevators, such as the Otis Gen2™ elevator with ReGen™ drive, which captures energy that would otherwise be wasted by the elevator, and feeds it back into the building’s power grid. The Gen2 elevator and ReGen drive combine to reduce energy consumption by up to 75 percent under normal operating conditions, compared to conventional systems with non-regenerative drives. The Gen2 range is focused on efficiency while providing environmentally responsible features and benefits.

Apart from green elevators, we are inventing a new generation of elevators that are connected, smarter, data rich, and more efficient and comfortable. A smart elevator is a connected elevator capable of communicating with passengers, building managers service staff and other building systems to improve the passenger experience and elevator performance, especially through improved elevator maintenance.

We think the next developments in elevator technology will leverage this digitalization. Existing technologies such as the CompassPlus™ destination management system, which constantly evaluates real-time passenger traffic to improve flow and travel time in busy mid- and high-rise buildings, are the start of this trend.

Using sensors and new digital technology, our next generation of elevators will be an integral part of the connected building and enable even more proactive service solutions and remote capabilities to reduce downtime. Sensors installed on elevators monitor various performance parameters like when doors open and close and how long it takes them to do so. This data gives early insights on what is happening with the elevator before mechanics show up on site.

The next level of elevatoring will be digitalization. When mechanics are on site, they have digital tools and proprietary apps to do their job more efficiently, and fix issues before they cause shutdowns, and get elevators back into service faster, resulting in reduced downtime. Service apps are tools that help technicians be more proactive and effective, expediting and enhancing parts ordering, customer communication, predictive maintenance, ride quality as well as apps that are focused exclusively on employee safety to empower employees to work smarter for our customers and safer for their own and family’s wellbeing.

Real-time elevator performance analysis allows us to spot issues right away and call the customer before they even recognize they have an issue. Additional equipment performance insights for mechanics helps them arrive on site ready with the tools and parts needed to get equipment up and running. More advanced modelling allows us to assign elevator predictive modelling, and health scores ensure our customers can learn more about their equipment health to help plan for future maintenance costs. Customers benefit from enhanced reliability, efficiency, stronger communication and real-time equipment updates.

Security has become a major concern that customers are seeking solutions to. Secure Access technologies have codes designated to particular floors. Or when a passenger inserts a valid card into the card reader, he will be allowed to register a call to a defined number of floors. This provides security for that floor thereby preventing unauthorized access.

In today’s smart cities, everything is being tracked using the Internet of Things -- from automobile traffic to package deliveries to air pollution. And the elevator industry is not far behind. This, for the industry, means integrating new digital capabilities with elevator equipment and new customer tools to improve transparency and response time between us and our customers.