Hendrick discusses the current state of maintenance in the industry, the economic situation and how the industry can take advantage of the poor economy to enhance its reputation.
In a recent industry meeting, all were bemoaning the economy and its affect on our industry. Someone said “Yes, it’s bad, but it will eventually get better. Most of us have lived through a number of economic turndowns. The question now is, ‘How can we take advantage of the poor economy and improve the reputation of the elevator industry?’”
When no one is constructing new buildings, large and small contractors alike live on maintenance and repairs. Another comment from the meeting:
“This is what we should be talking about . . . the state of maintenance and the opportunity the economy offers. Right now the state of the economy and the state of elevator maintenance are the same – both are bad. There will certainly be a morning after for the economy, but what about the maintenance reputation?”
New technology and remote monitoring have allowed for less maintenance per unit, however, not all elevators have this technology, and most still need basic time consuming maintenance.
A recent ELEVATOR WORLD (EW) editorial by Martha Hulgan chastised the industry, saying that the “decline in elevator maintenance was like a family secret everyone tries to hide in the closet,” (EW, September 2010).
EW Editor, Robert S. Caporale, has written several editorials about the growing number of units on a route (150-200) and the condition in which it leaves our industry equipment.
The elevator industry, with no new buildings in which to install new equipment, is like an army with no war to fight. In the military, a lack of war leaves men and women standing around potentially twiddling their thumbs. However, soldiers don’t get “laid off” or “put on the bench”; they clean, paint, rewire, reprogram, test, tear down, polish and rebuild their equipment until it is needed again. When their weapons and vehicles are called back into service, they are in the best condition possible.
We could do this in the elevator industry. It’s inevitable that in a slow economy some will be laid off, but it doesn’t need to be in the numbers we are hearing, considering the continued profits reported. We should be using this “down time” to spit-shine our products to make them the cleanest, safest, most efficient elevators and escalators possible. I know there are working and laid off mechanics out there who wish they could spend time on the existing maintenance base – units they could again take pride in if they just had a little more time to practice their profession. When the economy turns around, those companies who invested in their maintenance base will be better positioned to get the new work.
Who do you think will get the big modernization jobs and the new installations? Will it be the companies who put profits back into their reputations? I think so.
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