New technologies will make elevator breakdowns a thing of the past

We often forget that elevators are the most used means of transport and, statistically, one of the safest. Hence, the global elevator market is a lucrative niche worth over $90 billion and generates massive cash flow. Yet end customers still experience an average of five breakdowns per year despite frequent service visits. So let's explore how and why a technological shift in the elevator industry could possibly prevent breakdowns.

The elevator maintenance market is a giant with feet of clay.

A group of affluent manufacturers (including Otis, Schindler, Thyssen and Kone, also known as OEMs) dominate the industry. They derive 75% of their profits from maintenance services. Many small and medium-sized maintenance companies (also known as independent service providers or ISPs) share the rest of the market. These companies operate locally or nationally.

A model based on regulations

How do all OEMs and ISPs work? During the first part of the previous century, elevator maintenance contracts became a popular model for maintaining elevators on constant terms. Elevator maintenance regulations are similar in most countries. They are based on the following factors:

maintenance contracts with an authorized company are mandatory, they must plan for a minimum of 1 to 12 maintenance visits per year, Third-party inspections are mandatory on an annual or multi-annual basis. These regulations have shaped the business models of major OEMs.

They rely on a fixed-term maintenance contract providing for these mandatory visits and emergency interventions in the event of a breakdown. They also sell additional services such as repairs, spare parts changes and specific troubleshooting, in addition to the initial contract.

In total, the end customers (owners or managers) buy means (visits and repairs) and not results (guarantee that the elevator works).

While many industries and services have undergone a digital transformation, the elevator industry has yet to take the leap into technology.

Many manufacturers still rely on breakdowns for profit, as they can charge for costly repairs. However, recent years have seen unprecedented change in this OEM-dominated elevator industry. Indeed, independent service providers are slowly eroding the maintenance portfolio of the industry majors. How? By offering local support with a more personal touch.

Several models clash

The elevator IoT industry is booming, expected to generate $56 billion in revenue by 2026, growing at a CAGR of around 15% for 2020-2026. However, this may seem difficult to grasp at first glance: there are many players and technologies in a market that can be difficult to navigate.

All the major manufacturers have long deployed connected solutions on their machines. Yet none of them have taken the concept of predictive maintenance to its maximum. So how are new technologies taking over, and what is IoT in elevators?

The equipment manufacturer's proposals

Many solutions can be found on the market using different IoT technologies. Industry leaders have already deployed their own industrial IoT for predictive maintenance:

Let's start with OTIS, the world's leading manufacturer of elevators and escalators. OTIS has taken advantage of the IoT with the Otis ONE™ solution.

Smart sensors placed on the elevators automatically collect data. Data is interpreted in the cloud through in-depth data analysis, which produces predictive algorithms. Equipment status, service calls, and account updates are organized into a dashboard application that assesses elevator health and makes predictive maintenance recommendations.

This system connects via an API to other intelligent building systems, bringing real added value to fleet managers and users.

Schindler's IoT solution is also sensor-based.

Since 2018, Schindler has equipped all its elevators with a connected box called Ahead Cube, which makes it possible to anticipate malfunctions by relaying all the data relating to the elevator. As a result, the customer has a personal online space dedicated to the complete supervision of his equipment in real time. They are notified of technical events (intervention, maintenance visit). They can also access a summary of fleet performance and request intervention through an app.

Kone, a Finnish elevator leader, has teamed up with IBM. They connected a box to the top of the unit, linked to the sensors. It passes the data to IBM's Watson analysis and sends recommendations or beers...