The Nordic Lift Expo

A great meeting place for the whole lift industry

There was a real buzz in the air ahead of the Nordic Lift Expo in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 12, 2024. The event was held for the first time in 2014 and has grown considerably since then. Now, the expo fills a reasonably sized hall at Scandic Infra City, conveniently located only a 10-min drive from the main airport in Stockholm and about 20 min from the city center.

The one-day format of the expo seemed to be well liked by visitors and exhibitors alike. The consensus was it’s a great chance to get to meet everyone in the industry, gathering them at the same place on the same day. The expo was referred to as a meeting place by many participants, and the social aspects of the expo were highly rated.

There were 45 exhibitors, with 25% of them coming from outside Sweden. Many were there for the first time, looking to get an impression of the Swedish market and understand what opportunities there might be. These exhibitors were primarily from other European countries such as Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and Greece, but one was from even farther afield — Canada. 

Traditionally, visitors are primarily from Sweden or other Nordic countries, and this year only 7% of the 635 visitors were from outside of the Nordic countries. All Swedish booth staff tend to speak English, however, so being a non-Swedish-speaking visitor was not a problem.

A full day of seminars is an important part of the expo. Except for one brief presentation by an Englishman, all seminars were presented in Swedish. This is something the organizers are considering how to handle at the next event to better accommodate non-Swedish speaking guests.

Sara Berggren, secretary general, Swedish Association of Lifts and Escalators and Bo Magnusson, project manager, Nordic Lift Expo, ceremoniously cut the ribbon to officially inaugurate the 2024 version of the Nordic Lift Expo.

Your author got the chance to speak to Berggren, and she elaborated on the current challenges for the Swedish lift industry. One challenge is around competence and making sure there are enough staff in the industry. Getting more youngsters interested in technical subjects is a societal issue in general. 

Another challenge specific to Sweden is its aging lift stock, with more than half of all lifts in the country more than 30 years old. Many of these old lifts carry severe risks and, sadly, there have been several serious lift accidents in recent years. Accidents could have been avoided if standard security measures were in place. 

Upgrading lift safety is partly voluntary in Sweden, as safety requirements only apply during modernization. Property owners who do not modernize their lifts are not required to improve lift safety, meaning the goal of gradual modernization and improved safety standards is not achieved. Although, in 2023, a much-needed law was passed about including protection between the shaft door and the car door in all old lifts to prevent accidents where people end up caught in the area between the doors. The government, however, is only requiring this to be put in place by October 1, 2031. 

Rather fittingly, the first seminar of the day was about safety. Fredrik Gustafsson, safety expert from TK Elevator, talked about safe work practices, the responsibilities of management and how to establish good routines. Upper management sets the level, but safety has to permeate the whole company. A manager needs to ensure that health and safety work is implemented, and all employees must make sure to follow all rules and regulations for a safe working environment.

Gustafsson also highlighted the importance of reporting and learning from passenger/user incidents to find risk-mitigating solutions for the large number of elevators, more than 20,000 in Sweden, where an inner door is completely missing. 

Part of the seminar program was also a panel conversation about competence development in the industry, moderated by Berggren. Moa Lardner, talent acquisition specialist, KONE, said there is a big demand for lift technicians in Sweden. Both towns and infrastructure continue to grow. The industry is not very sensitive to business cycles, as a lift needs servicing and modernizing throughout its entire life. There are also many buildings without a lift in Sweden. 

Lardner said, further, that many companies want to replace like with like, i.e., once a fully qualified lift technician leaves, the company wants to employ an equally qualified technician, which often means recruiting from another company and “cannibalizing” the industry. Part of the solution must be to employ technicians who may be less qualified and train them instead.

Styrbjörn Andrén, president of the Education Committee, Swedish Association of Lifts and Escalators, echoed this sentiment. Andrén reinforces to supervisors that, even if their team of technicians is complete today, they must think ahead and continuously work to add new talent to the team. Andrén also recommended asking the question: Who is it on the team that they would like to have a carbon copy of? Is there someone on the team who always sets a good example and who could be asked to be a mentor? Being a mentor is a role that should be seen as a vote of confidence and planned for, not something that is done at the last minute.

Your author also spoke to Oskar Andersson, teacher at Xenter, Sweden’s only vocational school for training lift technicians. Andersson confirmed there is a lack of lift personnel in Sweden and the school’s students go on to find jobs upon graduation. The training lasts one year, with one third of the training taking place in the field. The school usually receives about 100 applicants for the 32 available places. Last year, there were a record six females on the training course, but this year it was down to only one. Any student can get a student grant and a student loan to train to become a lift technician at the school.

Sustainability and circularity are also very high on the agenda in Sweden. Victor Ljung, chief technology officer, Hissmekano, talked about trends and choices for a green aftermarket. Ljung shared the climate goals of the main real estate developers in Sweden. The presenter also shared what impact The European Green Deal will have on the requirements of future lift models and components. Among these are being easier to repair, being easier to recycle, lasting longer, being modular and possible to upgrade, as well as having lower CO2 impact throughout its life cycle. Lifts will most certainly become part of EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and be included in the calculations of climate goals and energy efficiency of real estate developers. Ljung also highlighted the requirements on data related to sustainability that all companies will be required to be able to provide. To be competitive, you simply must become sustainable, and you must make it easy for the customer to select sustainable products.

Hissmekano’s partner, NDC Elevator Drives, then talked about how they refurbish elevator drives, even those that may be considered “obsolete.” David Marden, NDC Global Sales & Marketing manager, also shared details of the company’s study with The University of Manchester. This study indicates that refurbishing a drive instead of manufacturing a new one can have up to 91% less impact on the environment. 

Sustainable solutions and circularity were mentioned by many exhibitors, who spoke about how modernization is often part of their business concept. Katarina Andersson, CEO at Hissdesign, mentioned that, although circularity is an important goal, there is still some way to go. She would love to be able to identify what happens with used PVC and say what it has been turned into. To achieve this, the company is currently actively exploring all possibilities for recycling used PVC. Hissdesign supplies foil solutions to the inside of lifts, as well as other public areas. This can often be a way to revitalize a lift and discourage vandalism.

Knowing more about what is happening with a lift and sending a technician to check on it only when it is necessary contributes to sustainability, saving both time and resources. 

There were several companies present that provide remote-monitoring solutions. One company utilizing its long experience in the car industry and applying it to the lift industry is Host Mobility, with a goal to provide building owners and lift technicians with relevant data. It is also looking at proptech solutions for the whole building in areas such as the communal washing machine rooms, usually in the basement of multi-residential dwellings in Sweden, and solar panels. Henrik Jönsson, business area manager, proptech, also talked about the importance of having an open system.

Fredrik Karlsson, key account manager, SafeLine, talked to your author about the trend of buildings currently being digitalized, driven by the building owners. SafeLine takes care to explain its remote-monitoring systems to customers, driven by a desire that all functionality is put to use. The company also highlighted its digital service book, where the service engineer can enter details of their work directly, enabling the building owner to quickly see what work has been carried out. 

Another exhibitor personifying sustainability and circularity was Hydroware. The stand had the most equipment and featured demos on real-time monitoring that proved popular. Styrbjörn Andrén, head of Products and Learning, gave a presentation on Internet of Things as an actual value. 

Despite the expo lasting only one day, there was plenty of equipment on display. It was possible to try out a space-efficient lift at the Motala Hissar stand. On the Kinds Elteknik stand, there was a competition as to who could install a lift shaft stem the fastest. The company stated their customers always convey that this task is easy and fast to do. So this put it to the test. The winner was Greve Daniel Schwarz from Greve Jakob Hiss with a time of 2 min and 37 s. 

Your author did not attempt the installation exercise, but she did try the VR experience in the Motum booth. It took her, in a Mitsubishi lift, up to the top of Shanghai Tower to the 119th floor at 20.5 m/s. The journey took 55 s and, once on the top floor, she was standing on top of the lift cage and had Shanghai (virtually) below her feet. The feeling was very realistic, and she did not dare take a step outside of the cage. 

Overall, the expo appeared to be a resounding success. All exhibitors your author spoke to indicated they find it a very well-organized event. Lunch was on offer for all exhibitors and visitors in the exhibition hall, and entry to the Nordic Lift Expo was free for visitors. 

One visiting lift inspector, Elise Svensson from Kiwa, found the seminars very interesting and thought the expo was great, as it was a chance for her to meet colleagues from the industry. One exhibitor, Elin Bohlin from MP Lifts, said she thought this is a really great event for Sweden and that it is exciting to see all the visitors. 

The number of visitors increased by about 20% compared to the previous Nordic Lift Expo in January 2023. The exhibitors were lift manufacturers and suppliers of components, drives, electronics and software solutions. According to Magnusson:

“Our ambition is to grow the number of international visitors and exhibitors. We also want to see one or two international presenters as part of our seminar program. We are sticking to our current format, however. The Nordic Lift Expo will remain a great meeting place for the whole lift industry. This is what we all desire.”

The event felt like it went by really quickly! The next Nordic Lift Expo will be held at the same venue in November 2026. For further details check out Nordiska Hissmässa.

Click here for the full seminar list with topics and presenters (in English) for the 2024 event.