by Brianna Crandall — March 10, 2017 — KONE, a global provider of elevators and escalators, recently launched what it calls a unique, tailor-made approach for its maintenance services and new 24/7 Connected Services, which uses the IBM Watson IoT (Internet of Things) platform.
The company says it is bringing new levels of flexibility to elevator maintenance, with the introduction of a fully customizable portfolio of services and advanced tools, designed to meet the individual needs of different customers, such as building owners and facilities managers.
KONE’s customers will be able to request and customize services to match the specific requirements of their business, their tenants, or their building type, instead of predesigned service packages.
KONE’s customers will be able to request and customize services to match the specific requirements of their business, their tenants, or their building type, instead of predesigned service packages.
Henrik Ehrnrooth, president and CEO, KONE, stated:
With new technologies and connectivity, we are able to even better meet our customers’ changing needs and expectations on speed, transparency and predictability. Our customized approach for maintenance services is designed together with customers, for our customers, to help them to better succeed in their business and add value in totally new ways.
As part of KONE Care, KONE has also launched 24/7 Connected Services, which uses the IBM Watson IoT platform and other advanced technologies to bring intelligent services to lifts and escalators.
KONE says this means a completely new experience for its customers, with less equipment downtime, fewer faults and detailed information on maintenance work. For people using elevators and escalators, it means less waiting time and more personalized experiences.
The system enables vast amounts of data from lift sensors to be monitored, analyzed and displayed in real time, improving equipment performance, reliability and safety.
KONE is bringing new levels of flexibility to elevator maintenance with a fully customizable portfolio of connected services and customized, advanced tools.
Ehrnrooth continued:
This is just the beginning. With this platform we will be able to bring new services and innovations faster to the market for our customers and consumers. Not only are we able to customize services based on our customers’ individual needs — with better predictability, planning and peace of mind — but we will also bring artificial intelligence for our services, which will help predict and suggest resolutions to potential problems.
We are well on our way towards creating a truly intelligent lift and escalator service platform, which will use Watson’s cognitive capabilities and take elevator and escalator services to a new level.
The launch of 24/7 Connected Services comes a year after KONE and IBM announced a multi-year agreement in which IBM will provide cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and services to drive innovation in the lift and escalator industry.
Both the new KONE service offering and 24/7 Connected Services have been piloted and introduced in selected markets and will be commercially available broadly during 2017, with roll-out continuing throughout 2018. KONE aims to connect over 1 million additional lifts and escalators to the cloud over the next few years.
To bring a human touch to the technology behind KONE’s 24/7 Connected Services, KONE and IBM have teamed up to demonstrate intelligent services. Discover how different elevators in different countries “talk” to the IBM Watson IoT Platform, live and in real-time, on the “Listen to Machines Talk” Web page.
Find out more about KONE Care services on KONE’s Maintenance page.
