Going up: Al Futtaim Engineering's top man talks

Al-Futtaim Engineering (AFE) Elevator Division GM Syed Shamsul Haq

The Elevator Division “has a huge maintenance structure in terms of engineers and technicians, and providing proper training. This is a highly specialised area, which is why we only maintain products that we are the agents for, where we are confident we can provide a service that will let the customer sleep well at night and not have to worry. Some companies do try and maintain other brands. We know the challenges in maintaining and keeping our own elevators in perfect condition, and the technical skills required.”

This is also due to the safety-critical nature of elevators. “In our business, safety is absolute. If air-con breaks down, it is uncomfortable but not life-threatening. Therefore we have to ensure our elevators are maintained properly, using genuine parts, and serviced by properly trained professionals.”

Haq says the ideal situation is for elevators not to break down at all, but this is unlikely due to the complexity of the equipment and the demands placed on it.

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“We provide preventative maintenance on a monthly basis, which is the normal servicing. At the same time we try to look at things in a more proactive manner by providing predictive maintenance. We do not wait for problems to occur in order to respond. Ideally we like to repair or change things before problems become manifest."

In addition, every problem or breakdown reported is analysed properly in order to ascertain any trends or commonalities. “Sometimes after we analyse two to four calls we will reach a conclusion that this is a type of problem in a particular area. Our focus is on areas related to the technical aspects, which is in our control.

We have a sufficient inventory of spare parts because all of our contracts cover comprehensive maintenance services. That means we assume total responsibility, aiming to keep our elevators operational 24/7/365,” says Haq.

In terms of major projects in remote locations, the Elevator Division will have a standby team in order to cut down on the response time to any problems. “We had such standby teams at Atlantis and Festival City, for example, as part of the overall AFE presence on these projects.

We were able to respond within ten minutes, whereas the industry norm is two to three hours. In fact, we recently received a request from a client asking us to confirm a response time of six hours, and we said we are much better than that …”

What are some of the latest trends in vertical transportation? Haq says that energy efficiency and green buildings are having a significant impact.

“In terms of elevators getting old, and their energy efficiency not being what could be expected, we can propose modernisation for certain brands. We do not replace the entire elevator; instead we replace some parts and the control systems basically, so a more efficient system is in place at the end.

All the world-class brands now have variable voltage, variable frequency (VVVF) type controls, while regeneration is also possible with some elevators, whereby some of the energy consumed is put back into the system.”

Another trend is double-decker elevators. “Buildings are designed generally with the same floor heights, so a double-decker elevator will have a car on one floor and the second on another. The same machine is pulling two cars; one addresses odd-numbered floors and the other the even-numbered floors.

Previously it was technically difficult for double-decker elevators to accommodate flexibility in floor heights, but Hitachi and some other manufacturers now have this capability. In future there is likely to be such innovations as wireless controls as well and a trend for higher speeds; Hitachi has perfected design of the fastest elevator in the world with a speed 1080 m/min elevator (18 m/sec).