Elevator Industry ready to embrace innovation, technology to stay competitive

By Manish Mehan, CEO & MD, TK Elevator India Private Limited

The digital transformation undoubtedly changed the nature of the business and how the industry offers solutions to their customer before. Many industries have adopted digitalization to drive business effectively and for better stakeholder experiences. The vertical mobility industry is enhancing technology such as algorithms, data, and sensors to achieve efficiency and safety for the consumer to move seamlessly throughout the day.

Major innovations and advancements such as the launch of smart elevators, rope-less elevator- MULTI, AI, and Internet of Things, extended reality technology have changed the overall face of the elevator industry. It has made vertical transport easy and smart in the past few years. It is an exciting time for the elevator industry. As the technology evolves, the elevators, their maintenance, their upgradation, etc., will also evolve simultaneously.

Digitalization has opened new values for the industry, and this era brings innovations that changed the industry significantly. With the usage of IoT, elevators can virtually talk to us, tell us when they need help, and even advise technicians on the cause and solution in combination with AI and machine learning. So, it can be fixed before customers even realize there’s an issue. This proactive customer service is all about the ability to understand customers ’ needs and address them before they grow because downtime of an elevator is likely to block many people’s mobility, especially in mid or high-rise buildings, which can cause a significant delay in work.

The pandemic has forced industry players to introduce contactless mobility solutions as consumers were getting more conscious about elevators hygiene and safety protocols. Industry players have launched various sanitization solutions as well as advanced elevator touchless calling solutions for the safety of the consumers. By scanning QR code from their cell phones, a consumer can call the elevator, which will automatically generate the origin and the destination floors. The offline usage feature makes this solution especially suitable for buildings with a high visitor or guest traffic, such as offices and hotels.

Digital services are software-defined services delivered through an IoT platform. One of the great things about software-defined services is that they are flexible and can be developed quickly. This makes them ideal for responding to demands as they evolve, and indeed, customers’ needs overwhelmingly drive transformation, particularly in elevator services.

It won’t be long before elevators recognize passengers and predict where they are going based on machine learning. In the future, when people ride elevators, streaming services and content in the cabin will not only be adapted to the time of the day but specially catered to individual passengers.

As urbanization continues to grow, the need for housing and commercial space will grow, which will increase the demand for vertical transportation. According to the Oxford Economics’ Global cities report estimates that India will have 17 out of 20 fastest-growing cities in the world between 2019 and 2035, and Indian cities are likely to contribute to 70% of India’s GDP by 2030.