A Return to Merchants on the Mediterranean

In early February, T. Bruce MacKinnon, president and CEO of Elevator World Inc. (my son), and Bulent Yılmaz, managing director of ELEVATOR WORLD Europe went on a whirlwind Tour of Italy in preparation for Lift Expo Italia, which has since been rescheduled. This was only weeks before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which devastated Europe before taking aim at the U.S. Italy became the center of the pandemic on the continent, with more than 244,000 cases and 35,000 deaths. In early May, Europe began reopening from quarantine with strict social distancing. It appears they have kicked the virus, with some hospitals in Italy not reporting a case in three weeks.

I remember my father taking many trips to Italy, one of the last being 41 years ago in 1979 when he wrote “The Merchants on the Mediterranean.” There, he met with old friends, Silvio Gorzanelli and Umberto Sermedese, engineers in the industry, who always took him to play a wild card game called Matazza. He loved Italy and was convinced that some of the “most ingenious and advanced building systems and component manufacturers” were there. Europe has just over six million elevators and one million of those are in Italy. There are more component manufacturers in Italy than in the U.S. It is an amazing country for those of us with a “love of the lift.”

So, it is entirely appropriate that MacKinnon follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, visiting some of the same companies and associations, while exploring new organizations and talking to a new generation of leadership. You will find photos and articles in here on: DMG, SMS, Alberto Sassi, Montanari Group, Monteferro, Marazzi, Sicor, GEM, Omarlift, Gefran, GMV, Digicom, ICM Lift Components, Gruppo Millepiani, IGV Group, Maspero Elevatori and Wittur. Many of the companies here are between 40 and 75 years old, and it is not unusual to find third and fourth generations working for the same companies. Also contained in the Focus on Italy section is an article about how two of the major associations in Italy, EFESME and ANACAM, are cooperating with one another on a national level. And finally, an article on the efforts of ANCAM during the pandemic and Italy’s emergence from it.  

Also, in this issue:

• Going Forward by Kaija Wilkinson. More than 1,000 attendees from 71 countries joined a webinar with panelists from India, the U.S., Europe, Africa and South America. They discussed situations in each country and government assistance with COVID-19.
• From R&D to Application by Undine Stricker-Berghoff. A roadmap used by KONE for its DX (Digital Experience) line of elevators offers guidelines for the process.
• MRL Lift Design and Development by Hongliang Liang. This is an interesting first-hand account of the origins of the modern machine-room-less elevator.
• Challenging Traditions by Wilkinson. The author interviewed Lerch Bates executives, noting that their role is to find innovations and apply them to architecture to help their clients with solutions.
• Elevator Air Sanitizing System by Nick Gretsuk. The New York City company debuts a product that uses air filtration and UV-C light to kill pathogens.
• The Importance of Directives by Seyed Mohammad Amin Mousavi, Mousavi Nazarbeigi and Amir Bahrami. While standards lag behind technology, it is important for each country to have a directive for safety standards.

It is a full book, packed with information you need in Europe and viewpoints from around the world. Please enjoy, and if you do or you don’t, I can be reached at ricia@elevatorworld.com.