"Max" is now also available for escalators

Max, thyssenkrupp Elevator’s pre-emptive maintenance system for lifts, will in future also be extended to escalators.

Hamburg Airport, with approximately 16 million visitors annually, will be the first location where Max will soon be in use for 32 escalators.

System collects data in real time

thyssenkrupp Elevator has already started in several phases to connect about 28,000 more lifts in Brazil with the pre-emptive maintenance solution Max. Worldwide, 120,000 lifts have been fitted with it; there are 3,500 in Germany. Max has its greatest share on the US market.

In addition, thyssenkrupp Elevator has further developed Max to ensure escalators can also benefit from pre-emptive maintenance. Apart from the 32 escalators in Hamburg Airport, the underground system in Valencia (Spain), which transports more than 62 million passengers annually and operates a total of 137 escalators, will also be equipped with it.

The system collects data in real time from sensors in lifts and escalators and sends these to the Microsoft Azure Cloud. There the probable service life of the most important parts is calculated and the maintenance measures needed are determined – and when.

Standstill time is to be reduced by 50 percent

Max reports the necessity of impending repairs even before the damage has occurred, according to thyssenkrupp Elevator. The components can be replaced in good time - without the lift having to shut down due to defects. Max has already been in use since 2015; experience has shown that as a result maintenance-related standstill times of lifts can be reduced by 50 percent.

With immediate effect, the Max system includes a large new service portal, which will first be available in Spain and in future also in German. The idea is to provide building managers with access to relevant real time information on the condition of lifts so that they can react immediately and notify the service staff of thyssenkrupp as needed.

"Digitalisation is overdue"

Thanks to the partnership with Microsoft, thyssenkrupp Elevator claims to be the first provider in the industry to have developed and implemented an IoT-based, pre-emptive maintenance solution in the lift industry.

"Digitalisation is overdue, there’s no delaying it any longer and its advantages are obvious," explained Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator, in this regard at a press conference. In his view, the opportunities for SMEs in digitalisation are even better than for large corporations. "SMEs aren't as conservative as big industry, they’re closer to the customers and business."

Ulrike Lotze

The first ropeless lift from thyssenkrupp Elevator has now been honoured with the German Innovation Prize. The Multi lift system received an award in the large company category. The German Innovation Award honors outstanding, trend-setting innovations of German companies that can change markets with their idea. The award will be presented in the categories "large companies", "medium-sized companies" and "start-ups".

www.thyssenkrupp-elevator.com