Vertical Directions
Modern metropolises are growing not only horizontally, but also vertically. Buildings are becoming taller and taller, and there is a need to regulate the passenger flow within them.
This is one of the main reasons why KONE, which has over 40 thousand employees, focuses its attention on innovative developments for managing passenger flows – People Flow®, which allow people to move easily, comfortably and safely inside highrise buildings – whether it is office centres, hotels or residential complexes.
Work on optimization of passenger flows must begin at the very early stages of planning and design. That is why KONE closely cooperates with architects, consultants and construction companies to find the correct solutions ensuring the most efficient functioning of any building. This primarily concerns the location of lifts, escalators and automatic doors, which allows for people flows distribution and prevents queues. Besides, the company’s capabilities in the field of maintenance and modernization of equipment maximize its productivity.
In order to better understand the problems encountered by people who use KONE equipment on a daily basis, the company regularly allocates days for passenger flow research – People Flow Day. Hundreds of employees around the world go on study tours visiting buildings in which the equipment is installed, conduct observations, talk with the partners and interview ultimate users. Over 800 KONE specialists took part in the latest event. They visited more than 100 buildings of seven different segments in 23 countries. This helped the company to determine the effect of elevators and escalators design on the distribution of human flows in buildings and its influence on users from the aesthetic, functional and emotional points of view. And certainly it gave impetus to further improve the performance and equipment.
The company’s main objective is to ensure smooth passenger flow from the front door to their final destination on any floor. KONE is developing ambitious and creative solutions that can be adjusted to both new and old buildings and is trying with the help of high-quality accessories and components to make these solutions more attractive to owners and tenants. Complex solutions mean that total costs are reduced and there is no need to coordinate various types of work with several partners.
Amongst the company’s latest developments is KONE Access™. This access control system is easy to install, integrates well with lifts, doors and turnstiles, ensures maximum safety and smooth passenger flow and can be adjusted to the changing needs of owners. With KONE Access™ you can create and monitor access profiles of an employee or a visitor to the corresponding floor on a certain day and at a stated time; control doors, turnstiles and access to the lift in keeping with the individual rights of people; set up personal lift calls for user groups and individuals.
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Text: ALEXANDER SHEVCHUK