Elevator Forum 2024

Component manufacturers join forces to present traveling roadshow.

The Elevator Forum has been around for many years with a varied line-up. This year, component manufacturers MEILLER Aufzugtüren GmbH of Munich, Germany; Ziehl-Abegg of Künzelsau, Germany; Danfoss of Offenbach, Germany; ALGI Hydraulics of Eltville, Germany; SCHAEFER GmbH of Sigmaringen, Germany; NEW LIFT Steuerungsbau GmbH of Gräfelfing, Germany; and Switzerland-based CEDES Group joined forces, starting their tour in Hamburg, Germany. The Elevator Forum is designed as a roadshow and is traveling to eight locations in five countries this year. The dates are spread throughout the year. After the first Elevator Forum in Hamburg in February, the dates and locations were and are:

• March 19, Stockholm, Sweden
• April 23, Munich, Germany
• May 14, Landquart, Switzerland
• June 11, Manchester, U.K.
• June 12, London, U.K.
• October 18, Utrecht, Netherlands
• November 26, Offenbach, Germany

The forum is held partly in event hotels and partly at the locations of the participating companies. The event is primarily aimed at operators, lift planners and lift manufacturers. The fact that the most important components of the lift are covered by the organizers provides interesting and varied insight for participants. Great emphasis is placed on personal dialogue. Questions may be asked after each presentation, and the breaks also provide an opportunity for more intensive dialogue. The exhibits on display allow participants to deepen what they learned in the presentations, try products out or give/see a demonstration.

The event series kicked off in Hamburg, where the forum took place in the impressive Störtebeker-Haus business center overlooking the rooftops of Hamburg. The focus of this year’s series of events is digitalization and connectivity, but is not limited to this alone.

NEW LIFT started the event with a presentation on why the future of lifts will be, or rather must be, connected. NEW LIFT presented how lifts are being digitalized and interconnected, looking at both internal and external connections and how different target groups can benefit from this data. NEW LIFT used practical examples to illustrate what is already possible today and how this is visualized in the NEW LIFT ELEVISION 4.0 dashboard. Condition monitoring as a step toward predictive maintenance, as well as available statistics and reports, were also discussed.

MEILLER presented its intelligent door diagnostics with MEILLER MiDrive and how it can be used to proactively monitor the condition of doors. The function of the MiDrive could also be observed live on a functional door model during the break and was explained very clearly. The presentation also covered which statuses can be monitored, what information can be provided and which door components are affected. The presentation concluded with practical tips and modernization solutions.

ALGI presented its new and optimized products for hydraulic lifts. They showed their control block 2.0 and their SmartPacks (a set consisting of the ALGI power pack and NEW LIFT control unit). The online configurator, which significantly simplifies the design of hydraulic components, kit lifts or complete lifts, was also presented.

SCHAEFER presented its intelligent buttons and their use in predictive maintenance. In addition, the remotely maintainable MediaTFT flex display family (7-38″) was presented. A wide range of widgets and CANopen capability enable a variety of lift applications that can be utilized. The two-way communication system, which is based on the Media TFT flex and allows hearing-impaired or foreign language speakers to communicate with the emergency call control center, was presented as an example. 

Intelligent drives and IoT together form the basis for data analysis.

SCHAEFER also presented the LiftBoy system, which allows interaction with the lift via smartphone. LiftBoy has undergone updates in recent months to further improve the accessibility of lifts. SCHAEFER then presented a contactless large-surface button that can be used in various applications (contactless release or triggering a voice announcement).

Danfoss offers a wide range of solutions/frequency converters for traction and hydraulic lifts, escalators and moving walks. One of the topics Danfoss addressed was cybersecurity. The company also presented MyDrive Suite, a set of software tools covering dimensioning, harmonics calculation, start-up and troubleshooting. The presentation covered topics such as electronic brake control and the role of the drive as a sensor for condition monitoring and analyzing the status of the system, and pointed out that current and voltage sensors provide a lot of data in real time. Intelligent drives and Internet of Things (IoT) together form the basis for data analysis. In the context of intelligent drives, Danfoss pointed out that drives are no longer just simple actuators, but part of the information chain as sensors and controllers.

After a joint lunch break with snacks and time for mutual exchange, CEDES Group presented its solutions under the slogan “Predict. Protect. Perform.” CEDES demonstrated its approach to greater safety, better performance and predictive maintenance. The fundamental challenges of the lift industry were discussed, and CEDES solutions for safety monitoring in the lift shaft with “APS & iDiscovery” were presented. It was also shown how this can be used to simplify the lift shaft. The functions of the IoT-enabled cegard/smart light curtains were also presented.

The final presentation was given by Ziehl-Abegg, in which the expectations of modern drive concepts were presented. The presentation covered the properties of Ziehl-Abegg frequency inverters and what contributions/functions they make to digitalization. Many modernization examples of drive trains and load-bearing equipment and the associated challenges were clearly presented using concrete practical examples. In addition to the many possibilities offered by the ZAmon mobile app, e.g., for start-up and access to measurement and storage functions, the ZAliftWeb configurator — a configurator for lift packages that can be used to carry out technical designs, design calculations and component selection — was presented.

After the presentations, many participants took the opportunity to further discuss and explore the exhibits on display. It was a successful event, and we are thankful for the trust placed in the organizers and the interest shown. At press time, the next event had been scheduled to take place in Stockholm. There were only a few remaining places available. Interested parties can register for one of the events via the website elevator-forum.com. Participation is free of charge.