Schindler is creating smart elevators and escalators for the future

With the launch of Schindler Ahead, the company is enabling a whole range of new digital products and services for the consumers says Ashok Ramachandran, President, Schindler India & South Asia.

What makes your products energy efficient?
Schindler aims to manufacture products that are not only energy-efficient but are also environment compatible. Energy efficiency is attained by various means. It could be from the design of the elevator or escalator or by the technology that drives it. The energy efficiency of an elevator is determined by the energy efficiency rating. The elevator’s frequency of use, travel height and speed are important factors that have a strong influence over the efficiency rating. Elevators are rated according to their energy performance. 

They range from “A” to “G” with “A” being the best-in-class system. Schindler elevators can provide an energy efficiency classification in the “green” range from “A” to “B” with products that are at the forefront in the usage of newer technologies thereby reducing the total energy consumption by means of regenerative drives, highly efficient motors and drive systems, automatic switch-off of car lighting if elevators are not in use, LED car lighting technology, use of highly efficient roller guide shoe, low-friction mechanics, Traffic Management System, automatic switch-off display of landing operating panel etc to name a few.

We continuously improve the energy efficiency of our escalators too with the ECOLINE power management where our customers can define whether the escalator should run at full speed during peak times or automatically slow down or even stop when there are no passengers.

What are some of the key element which enhances the safety features of your mobility solutions?Schindler’s elevators come with landing doors which are 2-hour fire rated and are over and above industry standards 1-1.5 hours. In case of power failure, we have an Automatic Rescue Device system in place which takes passengers to the nearest floor.

Every Schindler elevator must pass the stringent SAIS Test (Schindler Acceptance Inspection Standards) where it goes through levels of inspection post installation to ensure quality and assembly as per Schindler norms, failing which the elevator will not be commissioned for handover to the customer till all norms are met. Other safety standard features include full load detection system and full load by-pass which allows the elevators to skip halts at landing floors in case of overloading.

What level of customisation do you provide to your clients?
Schindler’s gearless and machine room less technology can easily adapt to any buildings shaft requirements and provide more space in any given shaft size and have been the first choice for all major real-estate developers. This offers them more flexibility to design the building and ensures an overall saving in cost and time for customers.

Schindler 5500 is designed to provide innovative solutions for the mobility requirements of tomorrow’s urban life. Its adaptability makes it the ideal choice for a wide variety of buildings, including apartments, offices, hotels, hospitals, shopping centres, transportation hubs and stadiums. On account of the system architecture based on Schindler’s highly advanced Suspension Traction Media (STM) technology, the elevator uses less space and provides passengers with an exceptionally quiet ride.

Schindler 5500 and 7000 elevators come in a wide range of premium car decor finishes, a plethora of customisable buttons to choose from including car control panels, landing operating panels, ceiling and floor designs. Apart from offering mechanical push style buttons, Schindler being the pioneer in bringing elegant touch sensitive car and landing control panels in the market offers a wide range of designs in this space.

How do you ensure maximum uptime when it comes to your mobility solutions?
Increasing urbanisation requires reliable, secure and efficient mobility solutions and digitisation is the answer to smart urbanisation. Schindler moves over 1.5 billion people every day and  the introduction of Schindler Ahead (Internet of Elevators & Escalators), equipment reliability, uptime, and safety will significantly be improved and there will be an all-new superior passenger experience.

This new digital solution is based out Internet of Things (IoT) and offers capabilities which lets the devices manage large streams of performance data and predict maintenance requirements, impending failures with a fraction of the time and effort as it would take a human technician to perform the same kind of analysis. The equipment is empowered by an “Ahead Cube” a smart communication gateway installed on each connected unit. The Ahead cube runs analytics and transmits data with over-the-air (OTA) functionalities.

How can the elevators be used as an advertising medium to offset maintenance cost, what are your specific products in this range?
Schindler predominantly has been a B2B organisation and with the launch of Schindler Ahead, Schindler has now entered the B2C segment, enabling a whole range of new digital products and services for creating smart elevators and escalators of the future.

Schindler’s new Digital OOH Advertising solution will enable elevators and escalators to open new advertisement avenues for businesses to promote and endorse brands, hence reaching out and connecting to masses via digital media.

Schindler Ahead DoorShow is the new advertisement and information solution for elevator doors. A projector, connected to our CUBE, animates your messages on the outside of the elevator doors. Through a content management system, you can operate each projector separately and display a wide range of content.

Schindler Ahead Ad-Spot is a new channel for advertising on escalators in shopping malls and public areas. Visitors and pedestrians will be thrilled as building managers can display content in real-time via the Ad-Spot App. Equipment owners can now run advertisements on the elevator doors and escalator balustrade areas and create new revenue stream and earn profits out of it.

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