Reasons To Be Hopeful

As we come to the end of our year, war rages in several places on Earth, and even Earth itself seems to be upset that humans are not paying enough attention to its needs. It is sometimes hard to be hopeful, but all around there are signals of change for the better, at least in the building industry.

Recently, I wrote about Baby Boomers and their part in the labor shortages in our industry. Within days several “boomers” in the vertical-transportation (VT) industry wrote ELEVATOR WORLD and volunteered to help teach new technicians coming up. We’ve also written about building conversions and the problems plaguing that issue, but I read yesterday where many state and local governments are trying to help with new regulations and lower-interest lending. The “work from home” rate is finally turning around: In most states it’s 25% or less working even one day at home. In the past, much has been written about the carbon released from the manufacture of building materials such as cement and steel. Now, there is a move to create “green cement” that captures carbon, and buildings built of timber are coming back into fashion. The GDP for the third quarter of 2023 was 4.5 — the highest it’s been since 2021 as we were coming out of the pandemic. All these items give me hope as we move into a new year.

Our industry is continuing with the cycle of private equity and venture capital coming into it. With the new dollars come new people; some who don’t know our industry well and others who know that Lean efficiency could make it better. This month, we focus on Mergers and Acquisitions. We have five articles on the subject.

• M&A in North America by Jeff Eaton. The author reviews how some OEMs have used mergers and acquisitions to strategically grow their businesses. He then explains valuation of your company.

• A Look at M&A Trends by Dominik Sachsenheimer. Mergers and acquisitions reached an all-time high of 58,000 in 2021 during the pandemic. The author highlights how private equity has changed the equation.

• Making Winners Kaija Wilkinson interviews VDA CEO Gavin Campbell, who came to VDA from Intertek. He expects there will be others who come into the fold, as more than half of the 350 professionals at the VT consultancy have.

• A Comprehensive Guide by Andrew Glassman and Karen Wackerman. The authors describe steps to take before selling your elevator company. Also, they highlight agreements to secure before handing over information.

• Strategic Elevations by Marjon Oosting. The author spoke with Marco Waagmeester, managing director of Liftinstituut Holdings, about a recent acquisition and Liftinstituut’s expanding horizons in the area of VT safety.

This month, we have many reports on events. This, too, is a hopeful sign for the industry. All were well attended, and many new products were on display at expos. Events include: The 14th Symposium of Lift and Escalator Technology in Northampton, U.K.; the Wisconsin Symposium held by NAESA International in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; Rising Higher Together, an event by KLEEMANN to celebrate its 40th anniversary; and Lift City Expo in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, held after a six-year pause. Finally, in Full House by Kaija Wilkinson, the 2023 NAEC Annual Convention & Expo in Reno, Nevada, enjoyed a large attendance and a balance of education and networking.

Several excellent engineering articles are in this month’s issue. One by Dr. Albert So examines the Fundamentals of Traffic Analysis and why we should investigate it. Also, we have a great piece by Hongliang Liang called First Principles and Ropeless Lifts. He describes First Principles thinking as boiling a process down to its fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there.

Finally, we have Where Are All the Start-Ups? by Yuval Valiano-Rips. Our newest correspondent wrote this article about Israel before the October 6 attacks. It focuses on a breakdown of the VT industry in Israel and the companies that dominate it.

We hope you enjoy this issue. If so — or not — let me know at ricia@elevatorworld.com.