Looking Ahead to 2021

I’ve been seeing a lot of optimism for 2021 lately, with vaccines beginning to be distributed and a nightmarish year coming to a close. As we celebrate the holidays, it’s a good time to think of and thank those working on the front lines of the pandemic.

KONE’s story of its technicians working overtime to help turn a Hubei, China, medical center into a 1,000-bed hospital in 48 h for COVID-19 patients was an early example of what so many in our industry did in 2020 to help the healthcare workers who sacrificed so much to care for those who fell ill. In the technicians’ case, they overcame many difficulties to prepare 18 of the elevators in the facility for handover within 24 h. One, Gao Wei, had some good advice for any year: “The secret was to focus on tackling problems rather than letting your emotions take control. That’s all.”