KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, celebrates its centennial anniversary today. To commemorate this significant milestone in the company’s history, KONE is conducting People Flow Day, a global event taking place in over 20 countries worldwide with over 600 KONE employees set to participate. KONE employees will be visiting over a hundred target sites around the world to meet with building users, observe the buildings during typical usage and to meet customers from six different building types. In North America, People Flow Day will take place in New York City, Glassboro (New Jersey), Atlanta, Toronto, Mexico City and Monterrey.
By talking to customers as well as end-users and then observing how people move inside different types of buildings, KONE will gather valuable data that can be used to increase its knowledge of the elevator and escalator end-user experience which in turn will improve the solutions it can deliver to customers. KONE will focus on six different building types for the day: hotel, office, medical, public transportation, residential and retail.
“As a customer driven company, this event further shows our dedication as we strive to understand the hopes and needs of our customers as well as end-users,” says Vance Tang, EVP and Area Director for the Americas. “KONE’s vision is to offer the best People Flow experience. People Flow Day is an opportunity for our employees to see in action what our vision means for KONE. They will act as researchers, gathering information on users, customers and markets. The valuable insights obtained will then be passed on to the relevant teams within our company with the objective of developing improved solutions that meet the needs of building owners and users alike.”
To further improve the solutions it delivers to its customers, KONE regularly conducts end-user studies to test the usability of solutions in different building environments. The information collected on People Flow Day will be yet another way to engage more employees and build a deeper understanding of our customers.
A centennial milestone
KONE has come a long way in the last 100 years. From its start as a tiny machine shop in Helsinki, Finland, it has become a global company with annual net sales of over four billion euros, 34,000 employees and operations in over 55 countries worldwide. Today it is an acknowledged technology leader and has established itself as a major player in the world’s fastest growing markets as well as solidified its position in its traditional markets.
”Throughout its history, KONE has demonstrated an ability to adapt to a changing world and to create new opportunities for growth,” adds Tang. “Urbanization, aging population, and the increasing importance of safety are key challenges societies face today and increasingly in the future. Our company intends to contribute to sustainable urban development with innovative solutions that offer energy savings in buildings and that enable the best user experience.”
What is People Flow?
This year, over half of the world's population will be living in cities and other urban areas. As the size of cities increases, overcrowding and environmental problems are expected to follow. This is one of the main reasons KONE’s focus is on innovative solutions to make it easier for people to move around in buildings – what KONE describes as People Flow™. People Flow means transporting people in buildings in a smooth, quick, efficient and safe manner.
By positioning elevators, escalators and other transport devices such as autowalks and automatic doors, in a manner that minimizes queuing and blocking of passenger traffic, building owners can ensure that their buildings remain as efficient as possible once occupied. KONE also ensures that a building’s People Flow runs smoothly after the installation of new equipment. Proactive maintenance and modernization solutions are just some of the ways that keep the transportation solutions running smoothly during their operational lifecycle, as to avoid any unnecessary outages.
The best possible moment for optimizing People Flow in a building is when systems for a specific building project are being developed and planned. For example, the work to figure out the best transportation arrangements starts during the early building planning phase in close collaboration with architects, consultants and construction companies. In this way, KONE and its “People Flow experts” can correctly estimate which solutions are required for the building to be as user-friendly as possible.
For further information, please contact:
Kellie Lindquist
Marketing Manager
(630) 955-4202
About KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company's objective is to offer the best People Flow experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2009, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 4.7 billion and approximately 34,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland. Founded in 1910, KONE celebrates its centennial anniversary in 2010.
www.kone.com