The forum dedicated three days to discussing various topics pertaining to the Indian elevator industry.
Delhi (locally pronounced “Dilli”) is the largest city by area in India, and its population of over 12 million is the second largest in India. Some confusion can arise when reference to Delhi covers the National Capital Region, which also includes Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad, along with other smaller nearby towns. This inclusion brings the total population to over 22 million people.
Recent studies, unsurprisingly, have established this area as the largest concentrated elevator and escalator market in India, second only to Mumbai. Therefore, it didn’t take organizers too much debating to select Delhi as the city for the International Elevator and Escalator (IEE) Expo Tech Forum 2011. The biannual event is an initiative by Virgo Communications to address the compulsions of the elevator industry in India. As the only technical forum to be held in India, it is a learning platform that gives an opportunity to manufacturers, builders, architects, regulatory authorities and others to meet and exchange ideas on the latest products and technology and discuss the challenges faced by the vertical-transportation industry.
The second Tech Forum was organized at New Delhi’s National Small Industries Corp. Exhibition Complex on February 11-12 and had active support from the Builders’ Association of India, Delhi Center. The event was inaugurated by Chairman Arun Sahai on the morning of February 11 in the presence of representatives of the exhibitors and conference delegates. After, dignitaries present at the function were taken around in the exhibition to be introduced to the exhibitors individually.
The forum, apart from fostering thought-leading insights from the industry, also delved extensively into leading-edge technological advancements to contemporary design trends, safety standards, environmental compliance codes and regulations. The expo provided an ambient climate for the exchange of ideas, forging relationships, exploring new alliances and charting the way forward amidst market uncertainties and emerging challenges.
The event was kick started with a platform to examine the industry from a customer’s perspective. Vijay Dahiya from Morphogenesis addressed an architect’s perspective. He was clear that in addition to technicalities, it was essential that the industry recognized that for users, the only visible aspect of an elevator is the aesthetics.
The next speaker was Saacketh Chawla from Colliers India. He gave valuable insights into the key aspects that would need to be focused on to run a successful elevator company. O.P. Munjal of the DLF Group rounded off the discussion, detailing the various issues that his company has faced related to vertical-transportation systems and the various remedies and processes it has in place. The elevator and escalator industry was represented by M. Balasubramanian, a 30-year industry veteran who talked about what excellence means to a customer.
The afternoon session was devoted to a workshop on “Fire and Elevators.” This was chaired by Dr. G.C. Misra. Sandeep Goel of Spectral presented a paper titled “Elevator and Hoist Way – Fire Rating and Smoke Management Requirements.” Andrea Bondavalli of Wittur presented a paper titled “Certification of Lift Doors According to Safety and Fire Rating Standards, a Worldwide Per-spective” (ELEVATOR WORLD India, Second Quarter 2011). Hemant Tawde of Sematic RE presented the company’s experience with fire testing of elevator doors in India. Tawde’s presentation concluded with a video of the successful testing of Sematic’s doors at the CBRI facilities.
Abhijit Dandekar from Otis and a member of the ET25 committee of the Bureau of Indian Standards updated the audience on the latest amendments to IS 14665 related to fire lifts. The workshop was well summarized by Dr. Misra. In his concluding remarks, he stated that in his years in the fire department, he had never been exposed to the dos and don’ts related to fire lifts. He highlighted the obvious lack of collaboration between the various constituents that could ensure an effective fire lift and the importance to ensure standardization between suppliers.
The papers presented on day two of the Tech Forum were:
- “Car Operating Panels – Handle Switches to Touch Screen” by Dinesh Musalekar, TL Jones
- “Accessibility Products: Stair Lifts and Stair Climbers” by I.P. Singh
- “Inclined Lifts – Intended Use and Specialities” by Achim Hütter, Hütter-Aufzüge
- “Introduction to Indian Standards Lifts & Escalators” and “A Taller India – Issues with Prevailing Elevatoring Approach” by TAK Mathews, TAK Consulting
- “Construction Lifts – Working Principles, Applicable International Codes, Safety Requirements” by Vivek Srivastava, Universal Construction Machinery & Equipment
- “Analyzing the Vibration Record to Identify Problems/Sources Affecting Lift Ride Quality” by Greg Lorsbach, Physical Measurement Technologies
- “Elements of Traffic Analysis and Review of NBC 2005 Requirements” by Nalini Raghavan and Snehal Toralkar, TAK Consulting
On the evening of February 11, the delegates, exhibitors and other officials met over cocktails and un-wound after the hectic activity of putting up the stalls and attending to customers for the day. They inter-acted in a relaxed atmosphere. With over 2,000 visitors, the exhibitors were satisfied with the attendance. At the successful conclusion of the event, the organizers announced that the IEE Expo 2012 is scheduled to be held on February 16-18, 2012, in Mumbai, and Tech Forum 2013 will be held in Bengaluru (Bangalore) the following year.
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