Otis moves the world Otis

OTIS MOVES THE WORLD

Otis is the world’s biggest manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products, including lifts, escalators and moving walkways. Founded more than 160 years ago by the inventor of the safety elevator, Otis operates a production plant in the Czech Republic in Břeclav.

The Břeclav production plant manufactures new escalators, moving walkways and solutions for the modernisation of elevators, escalators and moving walkways.

“Currently, the most dynamic development can be seen in the escalator division, especially in the area of sales of escalators designed for heavy-duty operation – such as metros, airports, train stations, etc., with much of the demand coming from Europe,” says Ladislav Zeman, the general manager of the plant. “The year 2014 was successful for our facility. The growth of sales volume of escalators and moving walkways designed for infrastructure projects implemented in western Europe has played an important role. Our business activities in the area of Middle East also have been developing in a very promising manner.”

Innovations are a must

Development and innovation of products parts of everyday life at Otis. Several years ago, for example, the company successfully launched a new generation of lifts – a flatbelt, compact and environmentally sustainable lift known as the Gen2TM. “We have been continuously enhancing and extending the usage of this successful system. Gen2TM Mod Hydro is the latest series, which enables the modernisation or replacement of older, less efficient hydraulic lifts with our flat-belt technology. Such a solution offers the possibility to keep the original functional parts of the lift, which is a very interesting feature for our clients from the budgetary point of view,” explains the general manager. Otis has been developing new solutions is in the field of escalators as well. The brand strives for safe, energy-efficient and environmentally responsible solutions. In order to achieve such goals, the company relies on engineering capacities, including those from UTC Building & Industrial Systems, the world’s largest provider of building technologies, of which Otis is a part.

“Otis draws on the expertise across UTC Building & Industrial Systems for the creation of better solutions for its customers. It does not matter if the customer needs a complex system for the highest buildings in the world or a simple lift or escalator for a two-floor house; we provide the safest and most reliable solution,” Zeman says. A delivery of escalators for new Prague metro stations is the latest example of a highly sophisticated solution. Within this important contract, the Otis a.s. production plant delivered its longest escalator to date (for the Petřiny station) with a vertical rise of 38 metres, which corresponds to a total length exceeding 84 metres, and its height may be compared to approximately 15 floors.

Strong brand with a long tradition

Due to its experience gained during more than 160 years of development, Otis became the leader in its industrial segment. The Otis brand itself is a great asset – it refers to lots of experience, know-how and references, technical expertise, engineering services, research capacities, quality of products and complete services. “Another strong point of the brand is its ability to fulfil non-standard requirements,” says the

general manager. “Lifts, escalators and moving walkways by Otis have been implemented in thousands of buildings used by people all over the world every day. We are proud of the fact that Otis products have been assembled in eight out of the last 10 buildings to hold the record of the world’s tallest, and that our company was selected as a partner by the most demanding customers – such as the Transport for London project – delivery of special heavy escalators for the London underground; a project for the Prague metro (extension of the A line), as well as metros in Stockholm, Paris, Munich, Düsseldorf and so on.” Prerequisite of Growth

Zeman emphasises that in order to ensure significant growth, Otis has to recruit the right talent. “A sufficient number of qualified labourers with technical backgrounds must be employed. We have importantly strengthened the number of our engineers, development technicians, process engineers and technologists, specialists and quality inspectors,” he said. “We recruit workers, foremen and also production managers. At the beginning of 2014, we tripled the number of assembly operators and pre-production operators in the area of the final assembly of escalators. We also cooperate with the Edvard Beneš Secondary Technical School, the Secondary Vocational School in Břeclav, and the Brno University of Technology.”

Finally, he adds: “The mission of Otis is the design and provision of complete solutions to our customers; quality and sophisticated solutions with a high added value including individual tailor-made modifications for the customer. We wish to be a renowned leader in the provision of first-class services among all the companies all over the world, and the company wishes to be a reliable partner for its employees. We want to keep moving the world.” n