Where is Lift 4.0?

Everyone is talking about the Internet of things and the term "Industry 4.0” is gradually becoming the most-used word of the year.

With even the fridge apparently communicating with the car and heating system. Wonderful world!

But what is happening with our lifts? Wouldn’t it be good to know what exactly is going on in every lift? When does it need attention from a technician? Is the malfunction reported really a classic malfunction or just a one-off functional interruption? We have long since ceased conducting car services according to time intervals, but rather on the basis of consumption or wear.

And ideally, the garage already knows in advance what spare parts are needed. Our car hasn’t broken down for a very long time. The yellow warning light occasionally flashes and thus encourages the driver to go to the garage, but this is far more pleasant and plannable than simply getting stuck at night on a country road. Mobility company groups are increasing the availability of vehicles by the intelligent evaluation of data.

A lot of expense is invested

The things that automotive manufacturers have been successfully implementing for several years can also be transferred to lifts. A pure maintenance visit, based simply on a calendar entry, does not much help either the lift, the user or operator. A lot of expense is invested in the journey by looking for a parking space and transferring the key, only to find out on the spot that the lift is completely in order.

However, this does not say much about the condition on the next day, particularly when problems start to emerge in the background. In addition, it is apparently not unheard of either for such calendar visits to be invoiced without actually taking place. Those in charge and customers cannot really estimate the duration and intensity of such a visit either. After all, the simple presence of a technician does not necessarily change anything in the functionality of the lift.

Things are beginning to change on the market

Who notices when a single lift does not move at all in a group lift system? And who knows why? Streams of people are not guided in the best way possible and the wear would develop very differently. And the monitoring bodies? Would it not make sense to have an independent record of the functionality of the lift? In the event of problems, it would also make sense to be able to prove that everything had been done to guarantee safe operation!

Gradually things are beginning to change on the market. There are solutions that work irrespective of the manufacturer. Consequently, changing the maintenance company does not necessarily also involve the loss of these monitoring functions.

LiftLog is in the starting blocks

Collecting lots of data about the lift is of course very easy. But what is to be done with it? One accumulates lots of data, but remains short of data. Only the intelligent evaluation of many individual pieces of microdata produces a meaningful tool. Where is Lift 4.0? Manufacturer-independent and upgradable, secure against manipulation, cheap and tailor-made to the customer need? Is our industry ripe for the next step?

The LiftLog is in the starting blocks. It collects data on operating behaviour, extraordinary incidents and events that have been impending for a lengthy time. The most important question always remains clearly in focus: is the lift moving or not? Extraordinary conditions such as operating standstills and its duration or the identification of movements in the machine-room are likewise analysed, such as the duration of service deployments, the reaction period of the maintenance company after a standstill or renewed breakdown after maintenance.

The LiftLog collects data on the current condition of the lift. These are sent via a wireless gateway to the evaluation platform, which generates real information on the condition of the lift from the data collected and prepares the data in a clear and transparent manner. Irrespective of the brand, age or technology, the data are always evaluated in the same way. The LiftLog produces reliable and reproducible results about the lift and in this way creates reliable facts. Lift 4.0 is there – test it yourself!

Henry Wuttke

www.safesolutions.de