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KONE 2013 | CORPOR ATE RESPONSIBILIT Y REPORT
INNOVATIONS
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Market environment and megatrends
Quality
Eco-efficiency
Safety
KONE’s R&D process supports innovations
Concept
creation
Research
Creation of
new products
and services
Cities currently cover 2 percent of the surface
of the planet, yet they already host more than
half of the world’s population and account
for 75 percent of energy consumption and 80
percent of manmade carbon dioxide emissions.
An increasingly urban world calls for sustainable
innovations. KONE focuses on developing
smoother People Flow® solutions that make
buildings more intelligent and accessible.
KONE has a long history of innovation and
the company’s success is founded on its
position as industry forerunner. For the past
century, we have made systematic, long-term
investments into our research and development
(R&D) capabilities. We have seven global R&D
competence centers which are located in
Finland, China, Italy, India, the United States,
Mexico and Germany, and over 800 dedicated
technology professionals working for R&D.
Creating solutions from inspiration
KONE’s R&D process is a continuous search
for new ideas and opportunities. Our starting
point is a wide variety of sources, the most
important ones being our customers and
the equipment users. We also make use of
opportunities presented by the market, for
example the demand of ever-higher buildings
and their huge, growing populations, and
ideas generated through our own innovation
processes. We collaborate closely with our
customers, partners, universities, and research
centers. We for example organize design and
innovation labs with academic world, and
encourage our own people to share their
Innovations for future cities
inspirations and ideas via KONE’s Innovation
Tool. The tool has approximately 1,500 users
globally, with a goal of creating an innovation
community.
Throughout the entire R&D process, eco-
efficiency, safety and quality are of utmost
importance.
Award-winning innovations
Optimizing the urban environment requires new
approaches to modernization and maintenance
as much as solutions for new buildings.
Innovations such as the KONE EcoDisc® hoisting
machine and the KONE MonoSpace® elevator
have been helping building owners to cut their
energy consumption and carbon footprint for
more than a decade.
KONE revolutionized the industry in 1996 with
the world’s first machine-room-less elevator
– the KONE MonoSpace – and the ground
breaking, energy efficient KONE EcoDisc hoisting
machine. In 2012, KONE launched a new range
of elevators based on years of intensive research
into customers’ needs and the possibilities of
new technology. The result was an eco-efficient
elevator range that serves the demands of the
buildings and cities of the future.
KONE UltraRope™, launched in 2013, is a
completely new high-rise elevator hoisting
technology that eliminates the disadvantages
of conventional steel rope and enables future
elevator travel heights of one kilometer – twice
the distance currently feasible. The carbon fiber
Read more
about KONE’s R&D and eco-efficiency
on p. 22.
For the third consecutive year, KONE
has been ranked among the top 100
most innovative companies in the
world by the U.S.-based business
magazine Forbes. In 2013, KONE’s
ranking rose to 37 from 42. KONE has
also received GOOD DESIGN awards
in 2008, 2009 and 2013, two red dot
design awards and two honorable
mentions in 2012, and the Council
of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
(CTBUH) Innovation Award in 2013 for
KONE UltraRope.