First Lift Symposium in Johannesburg

At the beginning of March, Schaefer staged the first Lift Symposium in Johannesburg. Its partner and co-organiser was Algi.

South Africa is an important gateway to Africa. The country offers interesting construction projects and is home to lift companies that service wide sections of the African continent. In 2020, new standards were introduced for the lift industry. The property market is lucrative and continuing to grow.

The year before, the operating element and control panel manufacturer Schaefer had already intensified its presence on the African continent as part of the BuildExpo in Lagos and GLE Expo in Johannesburg. Following this, Schaefer issued an invitation to the first Lift Symposium on 6 March 2020. The German hydraulic component manufacturer Algi was recruited as partner and co-organiser.

42 participants from five countries

This format was the first of its kind in South Africa and the excitement among the organisers and guests was correspondingly great. Finally, 42 participants from five countries accepted the invitation to the symposium premiere. These participants were lift builders, planners, architects and operators.

The symposium subjects covered:
- product safety development in South Africa
- the new lift standards for South Africa – EN 81-20 and -50 / SANS 50081-20 & -50
- project management in the lift industry
- an overview of the service, product and solution range of Schaefer
- the presentation of Algi and its hydraulic lift components and solutions
- "focus on quality": quality management, quality expectations, cost/benefit

There was great interest in the now available Schaefer LiftBoy, which permits lift operation via smartphone. Felix Sango, responsible for the African market at Schaefer, summed up, "The event was very successful for us. The participants greatly appreciated our initiative in setting up such an event and enriched the event for everyone through their active participation."

More information:ws-schaefer.com