A cloud of their own for SMEs

In an interview with LIFTjournal, Rudolf Ramseier from the VFA board of directors announces a dedicated cloud for the SMEs. Read the full-length interview about digitalisation in SMEs here.

LIFTjournal discussed this with Rudolf Ramseier, managing director of Cobianchi Liftteile AG. He has been a member of the VFA Board of Directors since 2013 and since 2019 has been responsible for “Digitalisation and new technologies”.

How far along the road are lift sector SMEs in implementing digitalisation?
Ramseier: That varies a lot. Some have come very far and have got involved while others are only a little interested or not at all in the topic. We have to continue to raise SMEs’ awareness of this topic. After all, business is good even in these times.

Why should I invest time and money as a lift builder / component manufacturer?
Ramseier: In short, to keep the company competitive in future. Of course, I leave the corporate strategy to the respective decision-makers; however, the multinational companies are well advanced and today can already offer comprehensive building management. This extends well beyond the lift shaft alone; there are cost advantages for the operators while noticeable amenities for the users of integrated / networked lifts are becoming increasingly popular. In future, traditional SMEs that may not be innovative enough will only still be able to offer similar services to a limited extent.

Isn’t there a risk of smaller companies­ ­falling behind?
Ramseier: There is a distinct risk of this. Given currently good order books, some may ask why it is necessary to go beyond what is tried-and-tested and what advantages digitalisation is supposed to provide. Here the duty of the VFA is to provide its members with information in as many ways as possible to enable the companies to prepare themselves for the future.

Rudolf Ramseier: Currently, we are planning our own VFA cloud Photo: © PrivatHow does the VFA support SMEs to help them keep up with the big company groups?
Ramseier: To start with, SMEs are not going to be left behind so easily. Their strengths were and are flexibility and speed; they can adjust rapidly to new circumstances. The VFA has had a digitalisation workshop since 2019. There we attempt to reconcile the widely varying expectations of the VFA members. To be specific, we want to simplify the networking of components, lift builders, maintenance companies and planners and offer a tool for this, which will also provide all market participants, especially also operators, with lasting benefits.

Company groups can lower their costs, for example with predictive maintenance. This will be difficult for SMEs. What benefits can they get from this?
Ramseier: The VFA sees this very differently. Currently, we are planning our own VFA cloud. At the moment, this VFA cloud is being actively expedited by the digitalisation workshop and the corresponding workforce is cooperating in an open-ended manner. If the VFA cloud is adopted by the VFA members and used actively, I see no reason why a similar benefit should not arise in the medium term.

The market share of the VFA members in Germany is under 20 percent. Does the cloud have a chance of succeeding?
Ramseier: When Kone introduced the lift without a machine room in Germany, their market share was well below ten percent. A good product that is supported by many always has a chance.

What progress are you making?
Ramseier: Corona has not delayed our project; the progress without COVID19 could have scarcely been faster. Due to the very great differences in the VFA membership, a great many different opinions and wishes have to be taken into account. Here I see my task being to recognise different needs and conducting a dialogue with co-providers of identical or similar segments. This is a challenge. The goal is to present the status of our work and the results reached by then to the 2021 VFA general meeting and then to the public at the interlift.

What do you think of a kind of meta machine for SMEs, which merges the systems of the component manufacturers?
Ramseier: This can only be a beginning, because on its own it doesn’t go far enough. We are concentrating on a more comprehensive solution.

Can a German solution without the foreign component manufacturers and companies even work? Wouldn’t an offer at the European level make more sense?
Ramseier: The VFA is a German association and the members are for the most part based in Germany. Consequently, if the VFA incurs costs, the results should primarily benefit the members; European manufacturers will naturally not be excluded. The VFA is also represented in the corresponding European committees, which is why there is an information exchange in both directions. Where there are common interests, cooperation is not ruled out.

How is the system to be financed?
Ramseier: On the one hand, the creation costs have to be budgeted and recognised while on the other, operating or amortisation costs incurred need to be calculated as well as possible. The VFA will probably bear part of the start-up financing while the users will have to cover at least part of the operating costs.

Who will get access to the data in the system? The specialist planners, licensed inspection bodies, foreign member countries, Chinese companies?
Ramseier: Naturally, all interested VFA members. Which other market participants from outside the association or outside Germany get access can be regulated via a phased tariff structure. Various models are conceivable and practicable here.

Is the VFA planning to cooperate with the German assiociations VmA and GAT in this regard?
Ramseier: This already exists.

Why is the managing director of a company, which among other things produces mechanical safety gear, responsible for digitalisation in the VFA?
Ramseier: I’m often asked this question. The answer is very simple: Cobianchi Liftteile AG produces brake safety gear. Consequently, no products that could in any way benefit from the creation or operation of the VFA cloud that is currently being prepared in the digitalisation workshop. Apart from this, I always really enjoy working in a constructive and targeted way in a professional environment in a team with great people. And on top of that, safety gear also has to become more digital.

Ulrike Lotze asked the questions.