¿Hacia qué dirección va el mantenimiento?

Queridos lectores,

El tema de este número de Elevator World Türkiye es mantenimiento y modernización. Mirando hacia atrás, me vienen a la memoria los días en los que hace 20 años era responsable de la instalación y el mantenimiento en una sucursal de una empresa de ascensores en Anatolia. Por supuesto, mirar hacia atrás desde hoy, hace 20 años, parece la Edad de Piedra. Era una época en la que los teléfonos móviles apenas se estaban generalizando, pero solo ofrecían funciones básicas como hacer llamadas y enviar mensajes de texto. Aquellos eran los días en que imprimíamos documentos de proyecto y guías, llevándonos páginas de documentos al sitio con nosotros.

Yo mismo elaboraba el plan de mantenimiento de mi zona en MS Excel. En aquel entonces, el software auxiliar como SAP aún no había entrado en la industria. Solíamos prever al menos 3 h de trabajo de mantenimiento al mes para cada unidad. Tenía varios proyectos con 20 pisos y para ellos pedíamos a nuestros empleados que trabajaran en cada unidad durante medio día. Dos técnicos irían juntos al mantenimiento. Este era un requisito indispensable tanto para la seguridad de los técnicos durante el mantenimiento como para garantizar procedimientos de mantenimiento exhaustivos.

Mensualmente se revisaban los frenos, poleas, cables y tensiones de los cables de la máquina, realizándose ajustes si era necesario. Se comprobaron los ajustes de todos los mecanismos de las puertas de rellano y, en caso necesario, se reajustaron. Se prestó especial atención a los mecanismos de las puertas del coche y se comprobaron todos los ajustes pertinentes. Se suponía que las puertas no debían hacer ruido al cerrarse, y no debían soltarse en el momento de su cierre definitivo. Al llegar a la parte superior del coche, nunca se debía pisar el marco o los soportes del mecanismo de la puerta.

Se revisaron todos los interruptores de seguridad. Siempre se comprobaron los finales de carrera, los interruptores de tope, los contactos de las puertas y los contactos de los frenos.

The panel, machine room, shaft bottom and door mechanism surfaces were cleaned. So, to put it in a nutshell, we used to spend quite a bit of time on maintenance. Maintenance was a profitable business. We used to make good money. In some of my projects, including hotels with lifts operating under heavy traffic conditions, there wouldn't be any malfunctions for an entire year.

Times have changed, technology has advanced and fancy terms like IoT and AI have entered the lift industry. Nowadays, we're using the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and augmented reality glasses in the lift industry. Everyone is using various ERP programs and auxiliary software now. In some countries around the world, certain brands have started implementing remote maintenance services. There's preventive maintenance and modular maintenance. Maintenance is now carried out by just a single person, thus, we save on the number of personnel and expenses. Thanks to preventive and modular maintenance methods, maintenance tasks are completed more quickly. We're keeping up with the times, carrying out maintenance tasks faster and more efficiently (!).

And, what else is happening nowadays? There are still prominent industry stakeholders who perform maintenance for as little as TRY 200 per month. This is because they believe they need to expand their maintenance portfolios, and because there is competition. We expect service technicians to perform maintenance on 10-15 units per day, depending on the type of lift and the number of stops. How are technicians supposed to perform maintenance on 10 lifts within 8 h? What is the time frame for technicians to visit the lift, communicate with the building owners, perform maintenance, complete the records and move on to the next lift, regardless of whether it's for modular or preventive maintenance? Maintenance prices have dropped so low that we've reached a point where we need to go to the authorized Ministry and request the establishment of a base price for maintenance. We need them to set maintenance prices. So, what's happening on the field? Of course, we have some industry stakeholders who provide excellent maintenance services. However, our field audits often reveal such unbelievable situations that I find myself at a loss for words to describe them. One time, I saw that the safety gear wedges of the car were at the bottom of the shaft. When I asked the technician about it, he explained that "the brake block was making noises, and he didn't have time to adjust it, so he had to disassemble it and leave it at the bottom of the well." Later, during the evaluation meeting, the service manager explained the maintenance strategies developed by their company and the effective maintenance methods they implemented.

Well, with all these technological advancements and innovations, shouldn't maintenance be more accurate, efficient and profitable? Shouldn't the components have longer lifespans, and shouldn't there be fewer breakdowns? Is there something we're missing or dropping the ball on? Aren't there some things slipping through the cracks?

I'm sure anyone who has worked in the industry for a while will provide the right answers to these questions. Yet, one thing I'm more certain of is that nothing will change; this technological, efficient and effective trend will continue.

Les deseo días saludables y seguros.