Lift 2010

EW visited the international trade exhibition hosted in Milan, Italy.

During the week of November 17, 2010 neither the frequent rain showers, nor the global economic climate did much to dampen the spirits of those who attended Lift 2010 in Milan. The event was again held in the Fiera Milano Exhibition Center. Easily accessible from the onsite Milan Metro station, the exhibition center provided an excellent, well-lit venue for the towering exhibit stands displaying multi-level lift-equipment systems. During this biannual event, elevator industry members from across the world visited the 172 exhibit stands which displayed and demonstrated the latest elevator-industry equipment, products and services.

Although there were fewer participants and exhibitors than at Lift 2008, Lift 2010 exhibitors indicated that the quality of attendees was high. The majority of exhibitors reported that many visitors were also decision makers in the industry and that participation in the event was beneficial. The attendees also stated that participation in the event was rewarding, while the exhibits and conferences were informative and educational.

Stands that displayed the latest elevator door equipment; operation and control systems; and geared, gearless and machine-room-less (MRL) lift machines were included in the event. A number of the exhibits included two-stop elevators for commercial and residential use with standard and customized interior car-enclosure finishes. Elevator monitoring systems equipped with standard or project-specific monitoring and video features were also displayed.

As is often the case at European trade fairs, many of the stands included accommodations for private business meetings, which appeared to take place a lot throughout the event. In addition to Italian elevator industry association meetings, several educational conferences were offered. Adjacent to the exhibit area meeting rooms provided excellent seating and speaker accommodations at the Rho Center, where these additional events also took place.

Speakers from Europe, Asia and North America provided information and offered their views on a wide range of topics. Most of the presentations were well attended.

The following conferences and meetings were held during the event:

The Lift. . . How? At the Centre of the Project

• Giancarlo Marzorati, Alberto Salvati, Francesco Paolo Chieca, Sergio Roccheggiani, Marco Battistelli,
Jessica Astolfi, Leonardo Servadio, Giuseppe Maria Jonghi Lavarini and Matteo Volpe

The Role of the Notified Bodies in the Lift Safety Inspection

• Gianfrancesco Vecchio, Antonella D’Alessandro and Vincenzo Correggia 

The Italian Lift Component Industry and the “Made in Italy” Lifts in the World

• Fabrizio Nicoli, TAK Mathews, Tadeusz Popielas, Undine Stricker-Berghoff, Jean Claude Georges, Luigi Martino, Paolo Vicini, Dario Laffranchi and Fabio Liberali

International Markets: Up and Down

• Fabio Liberali, Italy; Tadeusz Popielas, Poland; TAK Mathews, India; Zhang Lexiang, China; David Cooper, U.K.; and Robert S. Caporale, U.S.

Accreditation and Constitution of the Federation of Notified Bodies (ON/OA)

• Michele Candreva, Roberto Cianotti, G. Nicola Babini, Lorenzo Thione and Mario Alvino

Educational Workshops for Foreign Professionals

• The Italian Vertical Transportation Industry: Structure & Trends

Fabio Liberali

• Law Evolution of the Elevators in Italy

Paolo Tattoli

• Amendment A3 to the Laws EN 81-1 & 2: 1998 Against Uncontrolled Movements of the Elevator Cars

Giovanni Varisco 

Lift 2010 was an exceptional elevator-industry event, and was very much appreciated by attendees and reported to be a good investment of resources for the exhibitors.

The next Lift expo is scheduled to be held in 2012. For more information, visit website: www.fieramilano.it.