Thyssenkrupp Ascenseurs adopts the smart building

With its elevators and escalators, the elevator specialist ThyssenKrupp Ascenseurs intends to modernize the infrastructure of buildings. To show its know-how to its customers, the company, which became an independent entity of the group in August 2020, decided to move its activities to France and to turn its premises into a showroom. “We were located in a building with old-fashioned offices, partitioned and without glass which in no way reflected our speech of smart building and innovation,” says Emmanuel Paris, its president. From a unique location in Puteaux, the new regional management of Ile-de-France joined Clichy last December, while the general management and the support teams moved to Rueil-Malmaison in a place reflecting their ambition.

The relocation project materialized at the end of 2020 with the support of the French ESN Kardham Digital. “Their global vision of the possibilities in a building with digital and their advice on the quality of life at work were an asset that distinguished them,” says Emmanuel Paris, who set himself the goal of increasing efficiency and user-friendliness. Kardham Digital thus took charge of the digitization of the 2,500 m² of the building, from remote communication tools to screens or projectors in meeting rooms. "We started from their needs and the way they wanted to create a technological showcase. This achievement perfectly demonstrates the vision of what a tertiary building must evolve towards: an agile service platform, open to new working methods and geared towards the needs of its various users ", explains Pascal Zératès, Managing Director of Kardham Digital.

Predictive maintenance and contactless, at the heart of ThyssenKrupp Ascenseurs expertise, are now part of the installations. Elevator control units are equipped with their own fault detection system. Likewise, the elevators are called via employees' smartphones and are directed to the correct floor, without them needing to touch the controls. "We invite customers and partners to come and visit our premises for a demonstration," says Emmanuel Paris with enthusiasm.

"We want to focus on sharing data and equipment performance"

Employees are not left out. Kardham Digital has developed a white label service application for them, bringing together a range of services, from booking meeting rooms or parking spaces to ordering meals or taxis in order to streamline their journey. “These IoT solutions will allow us to gain in efficiency. When technicians from other regional offices of Thyssenkrupp Ascenseurs came to the head office, they had difficulty finding an office, ”recalls Emmanuel Paris, who made a point of setting up flex-office for certain teams. "The challenge was to set up a set of digital workplace solutions that meet the security requirements of the IT department and are compatible with the tools used at the global level of the group," said Pascal Zératès, delighted that the acquisition of ViaDirect's Building activity enabled it to master end-to-end technology in the project.

After a good month of use, the employees were satisfied, says the company. "There was no brake, on the contrary, the teams saw the benefit in this change", rejoices Emmanuel Paris, who is betting on an acceleration of the services provided to employees thanks to the IoT. ThyssenKrupp will also analyze the building's energy consumption and provide access to it for other tenants. “We want to focus on sharing data and equipment performance,” he continues.

"We want to make this place a real smart building, which means that the solutions will evolve over time according to needs and technological advances," says Pascal Zératès, who continues to support ThyssenKrupp on a daily basis so that the teams work together. on developments. The project, which will be extended in 2021 to the company restaurant with the installation of occupancy gauges, already has prospects on a larger scale,: ThyssenKrupp Ascenseurs plans to expand its site and deploy the solution in their fifties sites in France within one to two years.

Celia Garcia-Montero