By Akhilesh Satre, Director and Elevator Personality, Avinyatech Elevators
Elevators today are no longer just an amenity; they are an indispensable system. As today’s infrastructure becomes taller and smarter, its demand for uninterrupted mobility becomes practical. Elevators are no longer just a piece of equipment that is mechanically operated. They are an infrastructure asset of the building that directly impacts productivity, customer service, accessibility, safety, compliance and operational continuity, especially in commercial offices, hospitals, malls, schools, residential towers, and hotels.
Businesses today are investing a significant amount of money to protect their computers, maintain their servers, secure data and documents, and have a plan in place to recover from a disaster. However, one thing that is commonly overlooked until it’s too late is elevator systems.
Elevator downtime used to be considered an issue predominantly related to facility management. When an elevator goes down, the visible inconvenience is just the tip of the iceberg.
According to IoT monitoring data from elevator technology firm Uptime, elevators globally break down an average of four times per year, with each incident taking roughly four hours to resolve. In high-density buildings, even a single elevator outage can significantly disrupt movement, operations, and tenant satisfaction.
Elevators Have Become Operational Infrastructure
In commercial office buildings, elevator outages disrupt the ability for employees to move throughout the building, delay meetings and contribute to lower productivity, all while affecting the overall experience of the workplace. In hospitals, elevator outages can mean delayed patient mobility, delayed responses in emergency situations and delays in the delivery of critical care logistics. In hotels and retailers, elevator outages instantly create negative perceptions of brands and their business reputations amongst their customers.
What was once considered only a maintenance issue is becoming increasingly recognised as an operational risk event. Elevators are part of critical infrastructure, not just a part of the construction ecosystem.
As buildings continue to grow in height, number of floors and density, elevator outages also increase and become more disruptive.
Elevators have transitioned from just being boxes that go up and down to become much more involved in movement, such as:
• IoT-enabled monitoring
• Platforms for predictive maintenance
• AI-powered diagnostics
• Remote control capability via the cloud
• Remote service capabilities
• Sensor-based performance analytics
These advances will improve lift efficiency and allow maintenance to respond faster. They are becoming predictable rather than just reliable.
Ageing Elevator Systems Are Increasing Downtime Risk
A major fallback is that ageing infrastructure means the older buildings.
Once construction is complete, housing societies, commercial establishments, and even elevator manufacturers often fail to properly track elevator maintenance, repairs, or overall lifespan. Many old buildings still function on the elevators installed 15-20 years ago. This can turn a minor issue into a disaster.
In high-rise buildings, a single elevator downtime can disrupt the entire building, increasing waiting time by 25-40% during peak hours.
Business Continuity Planning Must Encompass Vertical Mobility
Many of the current business continuity planning frameworks focus on IT infrastructure; for most businesses, their planning will include:
• Power backup
• Cybersecurity
• Disaster recovery
When it comes to physical mobility infrastructure, few businesses have integrated it into their business continuity planning with the same level of importance as other systems.
This approach is becoming obsolete.
The most progressive organisations today are assessing:
• Uptime SLAs for their elevators
• Remote diagnostic capabilities
• Readiness for predictive maintenance
• Availability of spare parts
• Emergency response timeframes
• AMC performance metrics
• Real-time monitoring systems
• Redundant planning in high-volume environments
Discussions have transitioned from “Post-failure” to Pre-empting disruption to operations before occurrence.
Understanding Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is one of the most significant changes in how elevators are operated today. Instead of waiting for breakdowns to occur, monitoring systems now allow businesses to monitor for:
• Motor abnormalities
• Vibration irregularities
• Ineffective door cycles
• Inconsistent loading
• Inconsistent temperatures
• Indicators of parts that are worn out or on the verge of failure
By recognising potential problems early on, organisations can reduce unplanned downtime and maintain the life of an asset.
Increasing Reputation Risk
For a business, any operational failure will become public knowledge almost immediately.
An elevator not functioning properly in a high-end office building or a high-end residential property could lead to:
• Negative reviews of the property on the Internet
• Complaints about the property on social media
• Tenant dissatisfaction
• Concerns about the brand’s credibility
• Increased scrutiny from regulatory agencies
Reliability will soon be viewed by many as a part of the customer service experience.
The Future: Transforming Maintenance into Infrastructure Intelligence
The elevator industry is beginning to evolve into an era where competitive advantages will come from the ability to have an intelligent infrastructure. It is the responsibility of the elevator manufacturer to assist and guide its clients in choosing an adequate elevator system for their buildings.
What will the future likely include?
• AI elevator monitor for health
• Real-time analytic dashboards
• Smart building integrations
• Energy saving, optimisation, and efficiency
• Autonomous fault detection
• Centralised command monitoring
• Data-based lifecycle management
By taking proactive measures to modernise their vertical mobility infrastructure, organisations and high-rise towers can expect a more resilient operation, better occupant experience, and increased cost savings over the long-term.