Which elevator maintenance companies should you hire?
The Big 4 elevator maintenance companies
In the elevator world there are four major companies who are worldwide players and dominate the United States Market. Below I will touch on each one.
Otis Elevator
Otis Elevator is best known for being the only American elevator company left and the largest elevator company in America. The founder of Otis Elevator Company was Elisha Otis. He invented the modern elevator in 1853 by introducing the safety mechanism. Fast forward to today and most Americans have heard of Otis Elevator.
Otis Elevator is owned by United Technology Corporation which is a massive conglomerate. Otis is the bellwether of the company providing consistent profits for their parent company. What does this mean to you? Otis Elevator makes a quality elevator, but over the years to increase profits their elevator maintenance has been cut. This means many units on each mechanics route, and not enough time for them to service all of their elevators.
Otis Elevator uses maintenance procedures based on OMMS or Otis Maintenance Management System, which dictates how their elevator mechanics service the elevators on their route in terms of procedures and frequency.
Schindler Elevator
Schindler Elevator is another elevator company that can trace its roots back to the mid 1800’s. Through the acquisition of Haughton Elevator Company and Westinghouse Elevator they became the second largest elevator company in the United States.
Schindler has many escalators under their portfolio as the companies they acquired had a dominant market share in escalators.
Schindler Elevator is also a part of a larger conglomerate and is a publicly traded company.
ThyssenKrupp Elevator
ThyssenKrupp Elevator is a German company which gained it’s American market share through the acquisition of Dover Elevator in the late 1990’s. ThyssenKrupp has in fact been a steel company since the early 1800’s and is also a conglomerate.
ThyssenKrupp Elevator is known to be a top down organization. Most of the elevator maintenance mechanics are from legacy companies like Dover Elevator.
Kone Elevator
Kone Elevator has the smallest market share in the United States of the big 4 elevator maintenance companies. Kone is the youngest of the big 4, only coming into existence in the early 1900’s. Starting in the 1980’s Kone entered the American market through partnerships and ultimately acquisitions of both Armor Elevator and Montgomery Elevator.
Kone was the first elevator company to design machine-room-less elevators. They also have a strong market share of escalators in the United States. Kone is also a publicly traded company.
The Big 4 elevator maintenance companies summarized
As you can see the big 4 are all long standing major corporations. Is this a good or bad for maintaining your elevator?
Pro’s
- The big 4 have major financial backing. This means if they need to replace an expensive part, they can afford to do so.
- They have elevator mechanics around the country that can specialize in servicing different types of elevators.
- They can offer automated emails/apps to keep track of your elevator maintenance.
Con’s
- The big 4 are driven by profit as they all have shareholders to report to. This can mean repairs covered under contract are delayed or mechanics at the big 4 have to many units on their route
- There is more turnover on the office side, so you may have trouble building a relationship with your account manager and other office staff.
- The big 4 tend to bill more aggressively creating non-budgeted expenses for you
One major point to keep in mind is that if you have a new elevator you should stick with the manufacturer which will very likely be one of the big 4 elevator maintenance companies. To learn more about why, read my post about your elevator warranty, and why to stick with the OEM for the first contract term.
Everybody else
If you don’t want to go with one of the big 4, you have many options. There are small elevator companies ranging from one mechanic to hundreds of mechanic across an entire region of the United States. Many building owners find by working with a mom and pop elevator maintenance company they get better service. Also, in elevator maintenance there is no economies of scale. In fact, the large elevator companies often charge more money, because they have higher overhead and shareholders demanding profit. Let’s break down the pro’s and con’s.
Pro’s
- Faster and more reliable service. Elevator mechanics at local companies typically have less elevators on their route, allowing them to provide elevator service more frequently.
- You can have a relationship with the owner of the company. This allows a more invested partnership on both ends.
- Small elevator companies tend to not nickel and dime, which keeps your costs down
Con’s
- Very small maintenance companies may not be able to afford a major repair that is covered under your contract. Instead they will declare bankruptcy or hope you don’t sue.
- They often do not have electronic records, or apps to use.
- If they can’t figure out how to fix an elevator they don;t have as many resources to rely on.
Can all elevator maintenance companies perform elevator modernizations?
The answer is yes, but the big 4 will do it differently then local elevator companies. If you bid out an elevator modernization the big 4 will propose their equipment to replace your existing equipment. Local elevator maintenance companies don’t use the Big 4’s equipment to modernize but instead use non-proprietary elevator parts from companies like VA Controls or Motion Control Engineering.
If you modernize with one of the big 4 I recommend you sign the maintenance agreement with them as well for the first term.
If you choose to go with non-proprietary equipment you can have any elevator maintenance company service your elevators.
If you are having trouble with hiring a maintenance company, fill out the form below and I can refer you to vetted elevator companies in your area.
