COA 8903 I.T. Strategies to the Building Industry

To: Prof. Eastman and Dr. Sacks From: Amol Kane Sub: Assignment 3 Draft 3: Dissection of the Elevator Industry

Outline

3.1 Feedback from assignment 1 and 2 3.2 Introduction to assignment 3 3.3 Information flow within this sector 3.4 Process model (see attached Visio drawing) 3.5 Conclusions 3.6 Muddy Points 3.1 Feedback from assignments 1 and 2 My earlier assignments provide a background of the elevator industry, some of the new advancements and the software’s being used in recent years. They also give a briefing on the tools used by major elevator manufacturers to plan, design and simulate elevator functioning. There is a lot of research work in this sector, in both design of more efficient elevators, and also better information flow between entities. In assignment 3, I will be tackling the latter and provide an outline of how the industry functions.

3.2 Introduction to assignment 3 In most of the developed countries like USA, elevators have become an essential part of almost every building. The requirements for different facilities like commercial high-rise buildings, schools, residential buildings, public spaces etc differ greatly. Also, two similar facilities may have vastly different budgets that will result in completely different elevator designs. However, in all the above cases, there still remain a few common aspects: . Decision by owner for an elevator . Company designing and manufacturing the elevator . Contractor supplying and installing the elevator . Flow of information between owner, architect, general contractor and manufacturer . Feedback data that may/may not result in changes and thus time loss

Hence, it becomes necessary to identify the key areas of concentrated information exchange and try to increase efficiency by the use of Information Technology, so that the final outcome is a viable combination of time saved and monetary benefit. The following chapter explains in detail how the industry goes about from the time an owner decides to install an elevator till the elevator is ready for its intended use.

3.3 Information flow within this sector The various units involved in the different stages of elevators are as follows: . Owner . Architect . Structural Engineer . General Contractor . Sub-contractors . Manufacturer . Installer . License Inspector

Out of all these, the General Contractor (GC) may be considered as the liaison between the various factions.

The elevator industry may be sub-divided into the following sectors: . Elevators for new buildings . Elevators for reworked buildings and facilities . Elevators for special purposes

Of these, the first bracket occupies the largest chunk of the market. Let us go step-by-step on the life cycle of an elevator system in a new facility.

The Owner makes the decision to install an elevator of an array of elevators in the to-be-built facility. This decision is taken prior to commencement of work on the site. For the same, he will hire a GC to co-ordinate all the work and interact with the Structural Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Elevator Manufacturing Company and other Sub-Contractors. Depending on the budget allocated for elevators, the architect and structural designer will suggest the optimum elevator layout to the owner. The owner will pass this information to the GC who will then prepare a Tender Document to invite bids from various sub-contractors. After the sub-contractors submit their bids, the GC will select the most appropriate ones and award the contract applicable to them. One of the sub-contractors will get in touch with an elevator manufacturing company, like say Otis or Schindler, and place a word order as per requirements supplied.

Manufacturing of elevators again may be broadly classified in 2 types: . Global giants such as Otis, Schindler, Kone and Thyssen-Krupp . Small local manufacturers

Of these, the earlier occupy a very large part of the market share and offer the latest in design and safety. They are already using a lot of computer-assisted tools for design, manufacture, assembly, maintenance and rework of elevators. But no company covers the entire gamut of the industry and hence information flow between various segments becomes important. After the elevator has been manufactured, it may be installed into the building at the appropriate time during its construction schedule. This co-ordination is also the responsibility of the GC who is in contact with the Building Contractor. After installation of the system, the GC will obtain a working permit from a Licensing Inspector so that the elevator is now ready for use.

In this process, there are 2 key areas where flow of information is enormous and multi- directional: . General Contractor . Manufacturing sub-contractor Thus, it may be a good idea to adopt IT in these sectors. This may result in saving of time, more discreet information flow, and better communication. The long term benefits include a more economical overall process and less rework.

3.4 Process model The attached Visio drawing shows a high level process model. The block arrows show the path of work during the life-cycle of the elevator. The line connections show other flows of information and feedback between the various people involved in the project.

This process model is of an elevator life-cycle in a new facility. Also, certain building like operation theatres of hospitals, heavy duty industries and extreme high-rise buildings have their specific characteristics and will need some modifications in the model provided. But they form only a small fraction of the industry; hence the above model may be considered as a rough layout diagram of the elevator industry.

3.5 Conclusions The Process Model attached shows a broad layout of the working of this Industry. The general protocol may be plotted as: . Owner employs General Contractor . General Contractor selects sub-contractors and does the follow-up of work . General Contractor gets elevator from a company and gets it installed Hence, it can be seen that there is a lot of information flow between the General Contractor and manufacturer, sub-contractor and owner. It would therefore be advisable to have better and more efficient flow of information around the GC.

In my next assignment, I will try to suggest changes in the process model and offer options that will integrate use of Information Technology within the working of the elevator industry.

3.6 Muddy Points The following are places where I have been faced with obstacles. . Mr. Dick Gregory, an elevator consultant in Chicago and past president of the National Association of Vertical Transportation Professionals, provided me with some valuable information related to my seminar. He also suggested that I look up the entire 2002 issues of ‘Elevator World’ magazine. However, our library does not subscribe to this magazine. I also visited their website www.elevator-world.com but it does not furnish any useful information at all. If you know where I would be able to pick up a few issues of the same, I think it will help.

. After contacting Mr. Kent Dickinson (Otis Elevators, Atlanta office), I was given another reference of Mr. Ted Decker, who is their Technical Expert and would be able to help me with the interaction between architect, contractor and manufacturer. However, when I tried to get in touch with Mr. Decker, I was told that he has been transferred elsewhere from his Atlanta office only recently, and no one had occupied his office as yet. As a result, I have not been able to utilize this resource to my benefit.

. If either of you (Prof. Eastman or Dr. Sacks) has any resource related to my industry sector in or around Atlanta, please let me know. I’m sure it makes a difference if a Faculty at Georgia Tech approaches a firm rather than just a graduate student requesting information.