thyssenkrupp invests to advance manufacturing presence in Neuhausen. Made-in-Germany enhanced.

• Elevator plant expanded into state-of-the-art manufacturing and technology park
• Investment totals more than €120 million
• MAX service solution awarded “Landmark in the Land of Ideas”

The inauguration ceremony for the multifunctional facility marks the completion of the development of the thyssenkrupp Elevator presence in Neuhausen, from only manufacturing into a state-of-the-art technology park. In addition to the modernization of the production lines and process optimization, the project also includes the construction of an advanced sales and customer center. More than €80 million in total was invested in the upgrade and modernization of the technology park.

“The modernized technology park is a key element in the implementation of our growth strategy,” says Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of thyssenkrupp Elevator. “In the last three years the elevator plant has been upgraded and expanded into one of the most advanced and best production facilities of its kind. The most innovative elevators for the world’s tallest buildings will be produced here in the future. At the same time the modernization ensures a safe, attractive and motivating environment for our employees.”

“With their investment in the technology park, thyssenkrupp Elevator has impressively committed itself to Baden-Württemberg as a region of innovation”, says the Minister of the State Ministry Silke Krebs. “I am convinced that we will see continued innovation from this powerhouse of ideas here in Neuhausen.”

With investments of more than €120 million, the technology group thyssenkrupp is underlining the special importance of the region: Together with the €40 million investment in the test tower for elevator innovations in Rottweil, the technology park represents a state-of-the-art elevator innovation center with more than 1,500 employees. Its proximity to the universities and colleges in and around Stuttgart and Constance in Germany, and St. Gallen, Zurich and Winterthur in Switzerland with around 10,000 engineering students offers thyssenkrupp an excellent starting point for recruiting highly skilled young talents.

Innovations honored
thyssenkrupp AG has received an award for its “intelligent elevators” project in the 2015 national “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” innovation contest. Under the motto “Urban Space. Rural Space. Cyberspace! Innovations for a digital world”, the project in the business category provides an answer to the question of how to make predictive elevator maintenance possible in the future.

Thanks to MAX, in the future elevators will transfer their functional data to the Cloud and provide service technicians with an overview of their current condition. The installations will send information about necessary repairs and the exchange of components in real time, enabling proactive system maintenance.

Currently, twelve million elevators around the move a total of one billion people every day. That makes elevators the world’s most frequently used and also safest means of transport. However, due to maintenance work these elevators are out of operation for a total of 190 million hours – each year. This is exactly where MAX comes in: The objective is to halve downtimes. On the basis of the Microsoft Azure Internet of Things services, MAX collects data from thyssenkrupp’s connected elevators in real time. Algorithms are used to calculate the remaining service life of important systems and components. Around 20,000 thyssenkrupp technicians and engineers are now gaining a reliable partner in MAX.

“With MAX we want to set new benchmarks in our sector,” says Andreas Schierenbeck. “The elevator industry has been characterized by proven technology for decades. But today’s cities urgently need innovative technologies to master the future challenges of urbanization. The award for our solution confirms our strategy and underlines the importance of this innovation.”

In the contest, the “Germany – Land of Ideas” initiative and Deutsche Bank honor ideas and projects which make a positive contribution to creating a connected world and provide answers to the challenges of the digital transformation.

About us:
thyssenkrupp Elevator
thyssenkrupp Elevator brings together the Group’s global activities in passenger transportation systems. With sales of 7.2 billion euros in fiscal 2014/2015 and customers in 150 countries, thyssenkrupp Elevator built its position as one of the world’s leading elevator companies from scratch in a mere 40 years’ time applying thyssenkrupp unique engineering capabilities. With more than 50,000 highly skilled employees, the company offers smart and innovative products and services designed to meet customers’ individual requirements. The portfolio includes passenger and freight elevators, escalators and moving walks, passenger boarding bridges, stair and platform lifts as well as tailored service solutions for all products. Over 900 locations around the world provide an extensive sales and service network to guarantee closeness to customers.

Together with our customers we develop competitive solutions for the challenges of the future in the areas Mechanical, Plant and Materials. With our engineering expertise we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. For us, technical progress and innovations, allied with the combined strength of the Group, are key factors enabling us to meet current and future customer and market requirements around the world, grow on the markets of the future, and generate strong and stable earnings, cash flows and value growth.