In April 2021, VHD (4 years old, living in Trung Van Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi) leaned on the elevator landing door while playing. Suddenly, the landing door opened inward, causing VHD to fall down the shaft and only luck saved the baby’s life.

After this incident, the question that made experts wonder is how can a small impact of a 4-year-old child cause the landing door to be opened? Or did the structural details deteriorate over time without periodic inspection leading to this?

Elevator Magazine did a fact-finding and learned that the elevator that had a problem in the above mini-apartment was not maintained periodically. Only when there is damage, people will contribute money to call workers. This has led to unpredictable consequences and death is always lurking just waiting for the opportunity.

Besides the neglect and lack of understanding about the importance of maintenance, the cost of maintenance is also what makes many people and home management units “concerned”. But they didn’t figure it out as a whole because that cost is just a direct cost, much smaller than the indirect costs like “the tip of the iceberg” that might appear.

What does that mean?

Direct or indirect maintenance: where is the problem?

Direct maintenance costs are expenses paid directly for maintenance-related activities, including maintenance training and training costs; salaries and bonuses for maintainers; costs for materials and spare parts; costs for contract workers; maintenance management costs; costs for modifications and improvements.

Indirect maintenance costs are the loss, damage to property or people caused by equipment and machinery.

Proven fact about the correlation between 2 types of direct and indirect maintenance: inverse!

The higher the direct maintenance costs, the higher the level of interest in jobs ranging from training human resources to highly qualified and skilled workers; standardization of professional and occupational safety procedures; to replace equipment and provide backup solutions during the operation of the elevator, then the risk costs (indirect costs) can completely reduce asymptotically to zero.

On the contrary, the investment in direct costs is not enough, which will lead to incalculable losses, not only economic problems, but can also entail criminal liability of organizations and individuals involved when accident occurred.

It is possible to bring indirect maintenance costs asymptotic to 0

For machines in general, maintenance has evolved over 3 generations.

In the first generation, the industry has not been developed, the machine is simple, the downtime has little impact on production, so the maintenance work is only repair when there is a breakdown.

In the second generation, industry has become more dependent on machinery and equipment. Therefore, downtime is more and more concerned. The concept of preventive maintenance began to emerge, whose main goal was to keep equipment running in a stable state, not to repair it when it failed. Higher machine availability leads to longer equipment life and lower costs.

In the third generation (now), generating maintenance expectations such as higher availability and reliability, higher safety, better product quality, less negative impact on the environment, longer equipment life and more economic efficiency.

The inevitable trend of maintenance over time

Back to the elevator product. Currently, elevator maintenance in Vietnam is at the second level and gradually transitioning to the third generation of maintenance. This trend follows the development law with the strong application of information technology to an increasingly high level.

What does direct maintenance solve?

First: Early detection of elevator equipment problems. During the operation of the elevator, there will be failures, malfunctions, deviations of standard parameters. Regular elevator maintenance will help detect potential faults early. This method of predictive maintenance will be mainstream as Internet of Things (IoT) adoption accelerates.

Second: Maintain stable and safe operation of the elevator. The elevator is unstable, the safety of the elevator will not be guaranteed and directly affects the safety of people. The maintenance process will help the parts in the elevator maintain the best working condition. The elevator will operate stably, optimize performance and do not pose a risk of unsafety.

Third: Have a backup plan to support equipment replacement. Each component that makes up an elevator has a different safety limit. Over time, these components will wear out (mechanical part), “broke down” (electrical – electronic part) making the elevator specifications not as accurate as the original.

For the elevator to operate stably, the technical parameters must be absolutely accurate, the equipment components in the elevator must be in good working condition. During elevator maintenance, technicians will check each part, equipment, each technical parameter and have a plan to replace equipment when necessary (many equipment is not available in the country). This is something that users also pay attention to.

Fourth: Helps limit the replacement of equipment. Each component and equipment that makes up the elevator is very expensive, if not cared for regularly, they will be easily damaged, the replacement cost will be very expensive. Elevators with regular care and maintenance will soon detect equipment failures, increase the life of components, and help optimize replacement costs.

Fifth: Ensure user safety. Regular maintenance eliminates the worst-case scenario that occurs during elevator operation. Ensure the safety of users when having problems, ready someone to solve.

Sixth: Meet the manufacturer’s warranty policy requirements. According to the manufacturer’s regulations on the warranty policy for the elevator, it is the responsibility of the elevator owner to perform maintenance and periodic maintenance at the request of the manufacturer.

Maintenance to help the elevator operate safely and sustainably

Basic requirements for technicians when maintaining elevators

– Enter the cabin to test up and down, stop at floors, stick the maintenance warning sign, evaluate the status of the elevator, when there are abnormal signs, prioritize the actual inspection immediately.

– During the maintenance process, there are details or equipment that need to be replaced, specify the quantity, type, technical condition and make a record to request the user to confirm.

– The predictive equipment is no longer reliable enough, it is recommended to replace it in the next maintenance period, the preparation plan must be clearly stated.

– The maintenance process, if there is intervention in parameter alignment on the control board, inverter, mechanical problems related to safety, must be recorded in the log of the elevator.

– Critical safety issues are stability, when they cannot be handled, they should immediately report to the relevant department so that they can have a basis for handling.

Elevator is a vehicle associated with the essential travel needs of people. It is estimated that every 3 days, the world’s elevators transport nearly 7 billion people on earth. This makes elevators the most frequently used form of transportation on our planet. Therefore, the safety of the elevator is always of special concern and must be put first (See also the Risks of taking the elevator). It is closely related to elevator maintenance.

At that time, if the elevator is inspected, maintained regularly, it will promptly detect, prevent and handle possible hazards during the elevator operation, preventing accidents problems related to safety of use./.