ThyssenKrupp, a German diversified industrial firm have teamed up with Microsoft to engineer a ground breaking MAX elevator system which harnesses the latest Internet of Things (IoT) technology to shave-off tens of thousands of years in elevator waiting time per year.

Is Elevator Wait Time Really Such A Big Deal?

At a glance it might not sound very important, but reducing the wait time of this mode of transportation would actually affect quite a lot of people:

• Elevators are used by around 1 billion people per day and are out of service for about 216 centuries combined over a 1 year period.

• The leaps and bounds IoT technology can offer elevator systems could save hundreds of millions of hours in total elevator service disruption time.

How Does The IoT Reduce Elevator Wait Time?

Microsoft’s Azure IoT platform is integrated into the advanced MAX elevator system providing data-based, real-time predictive maintenance and upkeep services. This constant monitoring and maintenance minimises elevator repair time, keeping the system in good operating condition for much longer.

How Does the IoT Azure Platform Integration Work?

Microsoft’s Azure cloud system is constantly updated in real-time with data imported from the MAX elevator system.

Once in the cloud complex algorithms analyse all the various elevator internals to figure out just how long each component has left before its operating life comes to an end. The algorithms also deduce maintenance issues and likely break-downs before they happen.

 As the Azure cloud system has a limitless amount of storage capacity, global elevator operating systems could all dispatch their operating condition data in real-time to this single control & maintenance central hub for analysis.

Cutting-Edge MAX Elevator System May Enhance Employee Performance

MAX’s developers believe this new elevator system will allow service technicians employed by ThyssenKrupp to improve their performance when it comes to:

• Pin-pointing repairs

• Pre-empting elevator system maintenance 

• Replacing damaged/faulty/dying machine components

If The New System Proves Effective, What Could Come Next?

If the MAX elevator system proves its worth then it could have a massive impact upon the efficiency and liveability of cities across the globe into the future.

By the close of the century around 70% of Earth’s population is predicted to inhabit urban areas. This massive urban population rise will radically transform the nature of cities. Cities will become denser, growing up, not out. The upwards expansion of cities will demand development of more efficient transit and infrastructure systems and this is where the MAX elevator systems could come into play, provided they keep up with IoT advances.