In today’s tumultuous and fast-paced times, the cliché “doing more with less” has never rung so true. We all wear multiple hats with less staff, more responsibilities, procedural changes, and the pressure to work within a budget. One significant cost-saving measure is to optimize the performance and reliability of the elevators and escalators in your buildings. By doing this, you will not only be able to keep costs low, but you will also avoid unanticipated costs. Protecting these assets will enable you to better weather the lean times. Consider the following tips:
- Make preventive maintenance a priority. The trend in the elevator industry is to receive a callback or break-fix maintenance. The key to keeping an elevator running to its optimal life cycle is taking care of the equipment. Too often we see equipment needing modernization prematurely due to lack of maintenance. There are also costly repairs occurring as a result of routine maintenance not being completed. If you are getting preventative maintenance, you will not have unnecessary costs. If you are being charged for services and not receiving services, an elevator consultant can help with this. Maintenance consulting is a core service of most elevator consultants. Implementing elevator maintenance software will eliminate missed maintenance and notify you of all services received.
- Know your elevator service contract. This contract tells you everything that is covered; however, it is usually written in a way that is too technical for a layperson to understand. It is very common to be charged for items that should have been covered in your elevator service contract. Inputting the contract service levels, and terms and conditions to an elevator maintenance software is extremely helpful in automating this difficult task. It is the building’s responsibility to keep the elevator maintenance records readily available. Elevator monitoring in all aspects is needed. The records of your equipment are critical especially to know the history of the work.
- Keep detailed records of elevator maintenance and service. There is no better way to know if your equipment is receiving preventative maintenance and if the elevator companies are following the service contract than to keep records. There is elevator maintenance software that can automate the recordkeeping for buildings and report out the updated records in an instant. These records give critical benefits to the building. The building can determine if their contract is being fulfilled, if they are overpaying for service, or if they are receiving service at all. Is the building owed money? The building records are owned by the building, which is not the case if you use an outside party. The building’s data is based on the building’s process and procedures.
These few steps allow the building to have control of its elevators and escalators. The unknown becomes known, thereby reducing unnecessary repairs, costs, and downtime—all of which allow the building personnel to do what they do best. So, it might be time to take a fresh look at your building’s elevators and escalator maintenance and service contracts and verify if you are getting what you paid for. Working with an elevator consultant and implementing elevator maintenance software can make this process even easier. You may be surprised at the thousands and sometimes millions that are recovered for our clients.