OTIS India: Shaping the Future by Moving People

The Indian government’s Smart City initiative is on the path of fueling the need for smart and efficient technologies to support urban growth. Urbanization drives an increased need for housing, and the elevator industry plays an important role in supporting its growth. Future cities and developing economies hold a lot of potential for infrastructure growth. Therefore, urbanization is a major driver for the elevator segment in India. Approximately 340 million people, or 30 percent of the country’s population, currently live in cities. According to a recent independent report, by 2030 it is expected that cities will house 590 million people or 40 percent of the population and that India will have 68 cities with populations of more than 1 million.

Taking a cue from the numbers and statistics mentioned above, Otis Elevator Company is one of the world’s leading elevators, escalators and moving walkaways solution provider is all set to retain its current mantle. It moves almost 2 billion people a day. It maintains more than 2 million elevators and escalators around the world. The company has one of the industry’s largest service portfolios. Founded by Elisha Otis in 1852, the firm is headquartered in Connecticut, USA. Otis has its elevators installed successfully in some of the world’s most renowned structures, such as the Eiffel Tower, Empire Estate Building, Petronas Twin Towers, and the Burj Khalifa also.

In 1892, Otis India had installed the nation’s primary functional elevator in Raj Bhawan, Kolkata. The company’s incorporation year in the country was 1953. It operates via various regional offices throughout the nation in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Pune. Otis India has a service network that excels at providing 24/7 service and support in major metropolitan areas. Otis India’s services portfolio includes 80 different channels of service centers covering cities which are more than 300 in number. The company has the largest maintenance base in India.

Building Possibilities

There are a lot of people migrating towards cities and the urban populace is increasing day by day. So, vertical expansion has become one of the go-to solutions for tackling the issue of living spaces especially the lack of horizontal one. “At Otis, we always have an eye on introducing technology that meets the needs of our customers; many of whom are interested in saving space and time,” conveys the team of Otis India. The timing is of utmost importance for the company due to the rapid urbanization taking place. This entitles the opportunity that Otis has for improving the passenger experience in terms of reducing the average waiting time. Otis realizes that there is a need to deliver a faster response time enabling efficient passenger journey which has become very critical nowadays. The team at Otis states,“We address and balance these two components through CompassPlus™ destination dispatching to optimize time to destination and support more predictable waiting times.”

Using patented Otis technology, the system constantly evaluates real-time passenger traffic to improve flow and travel time in busy mid-and high-rise buildings. Its functionality is subtle and instead of using standard hall calls buttons, passengers get to enter their specific floor in the Compass fixture. The system identifies the floor on which a particular passenger wants to travel to and assigns passengers with similar travel patterns or the ones who are traveling to nearby floors, the same car. This process minimizes the number of stops per trip while significantly reducing car-crowding along with passenger wait and travel time.

Exclusive Product Line

There are two products of Otis that are proven to be differential in the elevators market, Skyrise®, and Skybuild™. The SkyRise® system is designed for the world’s tallest buildings, which use the SkyMotion machine. It is considered among the most energy-efficient systems on the planet. The system’s light weight makes it easy to install and its smaller footprint saves building space. The SkyBuild™ elevator helps the crews and materials get transported hassle-free & where they need to be quickly and safely, without a crane or an external lift. Also, it avoids the risks involved with exposure to any type of weather. SkyBuild’s unique hydraulic piston system enables it to climb one floor at a time as the building rises. Each climb can be accomplished between shifts, reducing the impact on operations. Once construction is complete, SkyBuild goes directly into service as a SkyRise elevator. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai uses Otis SkyRise™ elevators, which travel at 10 meters per second.

Also, Otis has introduced environmentally responsible elevators called Otis Gen2™ elevator with ReGen™ drive that captures the energy that would otherwise be wasted and feeds it back into the building’s power grid. As growth is fast-paced in cities, there is a huge focus on sustainable solutions. So, when the Gen2 elevator and ReGen drive is combined, it reduces the energy consumption by up to 75 percent under normal operating conditions when compared to conventional systems with non-regenerative drives.

Elevating Dreams

In October 2015, Sebi Joseph was appointed President of Otis India. He is responsible for the overall leadership and strategy for Otis’ locations in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. He previously served as the Managing Director of Otis India. Sebi has been with Otis since 1987. He started his career as an engineering trainee and spent 16 years in positions of increasing responsibility, including general manager of Karnataka operations. From 2003 to 2007, he was the President and General Manager of Otis Philippines. In 2008, he was appointed Director of Marketing, Sales and Communications for Otis’ locations in the South Asia Pacific and Gulf areas.

“Otis is working to transform our business, and our industry, with innovations that better connect our people, products, and customers,” says Sebi. The company’s approach represents more than just a new technology or a single piece of equipment. It represents a commitment, by the entire Otis team, to combine movement and connectivity in new and exciting ways that align with the goals of the Smart City initiative.“We’re transforming our global service business to incorporate smart, connected technology that delivers proactive, quick and effective repair,” states Sebi in conclusion.