— Sebi Joseph,
Managing Director, Otis India
Otis Elevator Company, founded in 1853 by Elisha Otis, the inventor
of the ‘safety elevator’, is the world’s leading manufacturer, installer
and maintainer of elevators, escalators and moving walkways.
Sebi Joseph in this exclusive exchange takes us through the Indian
operations of Otis. Despite the current economic slowdown, Joseph
is very bullish on the future, thanks to India’s rapid urbanization and
the country’s commitment to infrastructure development. An
interview by
Venugopal Pillai.
Otis caters to a wide range of economic segments. Given the
general slowdown being perceived in the economy, what would
you consider as your main business drivers in the medium
term?
Firstly, the elevator industry follows or targets cities with an
expanding population. It is these cities that have the highest
requirement for people movement vehicles, like elevators and
escalators. With cities expanding, infrastructure becomes a
key component to the success of a city. With this, high rises and
infrastructure projects are something that we are consciously
aiming for.
Service is a major business driver for Otis. Today, we have
the largest service base of over 55,000 units in India. We are
suppliers to giants like Godrej, Tata, Oberoi etc. We aim to be
the best service provider because as India grows, the concept
of service will change.
We understand that Otis is in the process of significantly
expanding and modernizing its Bangalore facility. What is the
current status of the project and what impact do you see this
expansion having on your product offerings?
To support the growth and demands of the Indian market, and
consolidate on the Gen2® platform, Otis will triple the
Bangalore factory (Bangalore Works) area to 27,000 sqm,
doubling the capacity to 10,000 units by Q2 2013. The factory
expansion includes India’s largest test tower at 53m. The plan
is to develop the factory to be a primary export hub in the South
East Asia region.
Tell us more on the Gen2 technology that Otis recently
introduced to India.
Cutting edge technology is the key driver for us at Otis. Our
flagship solution, the Gen2® combined with ReGen™ drives, is
our forward step in this direction. It has seen unprecedented
success, being the fastest selling product in the company’s
history. We have has sold over 260,000 units so far. This
product does not require lubrication owing to its polyurethane
flat belt. The Gen2 family of elevators leverages our flat,
polyurethane coated-steel belts and a compact permanentmagnet
gearless machine to deliver outstanding performance,
reliability and design flexibility. The Gen2 system reduces
energy consumption by up to 50 per cent. In addition, this
system’s flat belts and gearless machine do not require any
additional lubrication, making the system cleaner for the
environment.
ReGen drives when combined with Gen2 expand on the
efficiency of our elevators, reducing energy consumption by up
to 75 per cent by conserving energy that is normally wasted as
heat during braking. ReGen drives capture this energy and feed
it back into the building’s electric grid for use by other building
systems, such as lighting. Even better, ReGen drives produce
“clean power” thanks to low harmonic distortion, which
minimizes impact on the building’s electrical system and helps
protect sensitive building equipment.
In India, we launched a new line of elevators that will bring
the benefits of the Gen2 product to social housing projects. The
product named Gen2 Nova offers the safety, quality, efficiency
and reliability to developers who are building housing to meet
the needs of a rapidly urbanizing India.
We observe that Otis has been supplying to a number of green
building projects. Tell us more on how Otis products support
the “green” movement.
Keeping in mind India’s demographics, rapid urbanization and
real estate development, there is a significant demand for highspeed
yet energy-efficient building products and services. This
is evident from the growing real estate space in the Green
category. There is 1.1 billion sqft of registered real estate
development under IGBC, and over 1700 projects approved by
IGBC as Green structures. Our Gen2 equipment and ReGen
drive technology support these green buildings. This also
forms part of Otis’ efforts to preserve resources for future
generations. Our major global environmental commitment, The
Way to Green™, spans every aspect of Otis’ operations
globally, from design and manufacturing to products and endof-
life recycling.
Apart from residential and commercial real estate, how
significant are urban transport infrastructure projects like
airports, metro rails, etc as your business drivers?
Today, theworld is urbanizing at rates never seen before.
Below are some facts and figures to support this:
- By 2030, it is estimated that cities with 1 million +
inhabitants will increase by 18 per cent
- The commercial and residential space required to support
this, is equivalent to building a “new Chicago” every year
(Source: Mckinsey report)
- India’s urban population is expected to grow by 40 per cent,
to 590 million, by 2030 (Source: Mckinsey report)
- India’s urbanization stands at 30 per cent today, growing to
nearly 40 per cent in 2030 (Source: United Nations World
Urbanization Projects)
- Indian Real GDP Growth stands at 8.0 per cent in 2011, flat
through 2013 (Source: Economist Intelligence Unit)
- 700 million sqm of residential and commercial space is
needed for homes and jobs. (Source: Mckinsey report)
- India is the second largest market for elevators after China.
The market is growing at 15 per cent year-on-year.
- In 2010, the market size for new elevators in India was
approximately 40,000 units. It is expected to grow to 70,000
in the next 3 years.
Kamal Nath, the Union Minister for Urban Development and
Parliamentary Affairs has projected that India will spend $ 1
trillion on infrastructure development in the country over the
next five years and 40 per cent of it will come from the private
sector. Future cities and developing economies hold a lot of
potential for Infrastructure growth and therefore is a major
driver for Otis. One of our big wins in the area of infrastructure
is the Mumbai Metro.
What have been recent important projects in India to which
Otis has supplied or has been contracted to supply products?
Otis has been instrumental in supplying products to a wide
range of customers that include:
- Kohinoor Square, Mumbai: Otis will provide 47 escalators and 16elevators, including six Gen2 elevators, to this stateof-
the-art office. We will be installing our high speed
gearless elevators with a speed of 6 mps in this tallest
commercial tower.
- Kohinoor Hospital, Mumbai: For this project, the first LEED
Platinum hospital in Asia and the second in the world, Otis
will provide elevators, including Gen2 elevators, and
escalators to this environmentally friendly 150-bed specialty
hospital.
- The Capital, Mumbai: For this upscale 70m tall commercial
complex, Otis will supply 20 Gen2® elevators with Regen™
drive technology, Compass™ Destination Management
system and Otis’ web-based EMS Panorama™ system.
- Planet Godrej, Mumbai: 15 Otis high-speed gearless
elevators in this 48-story, five-tower residential complex.
- Great India Place, Noida: For this shopping complex and
world-class amusement park across 173 acres, Otis will
provide one Trav-O-Lator® moving walkway, 32 escalators,
four Gen2 elevators and 22 Infinity elevators.
Apart from this, we will be providing DLF with over 250 units
in various residential and commercial buildings. The recent one
is the prestigious order for 22 units for their iconic structure
Horizon Centre. It is for the first time DLF will have high speed
elevators traveling at 3.5 meters per second.
Would you like to discuss any other technology apart from Gen2
and ReGen drives?
Yes, another exciting product that is part of our portfolio is the
Compass™ destination management system. Using Otis’
patented advanced technology, the system constantly
evaluates real-time passenger traffic to improve flow and
travel time, in busy mid and high-rise buildings. Instead of
using standard hall call buttons, passengers register their
specific floor before they enter the elevator. The system
assigns passengers traveling to nearby floors, to the same car.
This minimizes the number of stops per trip and significantly
reduces car crowding, as well as passenger wait and travel
times. This technology has also been developed to respond to
growing security concerns across markets. The optional
Compass seamless entry is specifically designed to integrate
building security and elevator-dispatching systems. This
allows the building security to monitor and control movement
of tenants and guests at all points in time.
What is your view on the safety standards for lifts followed in
India?
In India there is no national regulatory body that defines safety
standards to be followed by elevator manufacturers. Instead
only 12 states have their own standards which serve as purely
as guidelines. These guidelines are not mandatory. Only the
states of Haryana and Tamil Nadu have mandated those rules.
There is a lack of an inspecting body or statutory authority. This
makes states, especially those that do not have any sort of
standards even more prone to accidents. The best possible way
to try and check accidents and mishaps is by preventing them.
This can be done by fortifying elevators with Automatic Rescue
Devices. This is especially useful in places where power supply
is irregular. A lot of people tend to panic and try to attempt
means of rescuing themselves, or resort to unauthorized
rescue which actually puts them in danger. In the event of a
power failure, the ARD will bring the elevator car to the nearest
floor and will stay on that floor with door open till the power
supply is resumed. Awareness of the masses is also another
crucial factor. Otis actively works with Elevator Escalator
Safety Foundation (EESF) a not-for-profit organization, to
conduct workshops on elevator safety in schools, housing
societies and corporates. So far we have reached out to 12,000
students across India.
Otis has been a household name in India, as it has been to the
world. How do you see the evolving role of India in the global
pursuits of Otis?
Otis is a global leader in the manufacture, installation and
service of elevators, escalators and moving walkways. Otis has
remained the industry leader since its inception, not many
companies or brands can boast of such continued success in
their market leadership.
With over 55,000 units in the Otis India service portfolio and
more than 2,600 employees in Otis India today, we are at the
forefront of providing cutting edge new equipment technology
coupled with revolutionary service programs to customers in
India.
India as an emerging market has tremendous potential for
elevator industry. The residential development is key driving
sector for this growth followed by commercial space. With
current urbanization trends that we see in India, there will be a
lot infrastructure development coming up in terms of new
metros and airports.
The recent government initiative on multi-brand retail will
spur the movement of retail development even in Tier II/III
cities. All this will lead to a tremendous growth potential for
elevator service providers.