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W

elcome to the Silicon Valley

of high-rise technology.

The KONE Park

manufacturing and R&D

center in Kunshan, China,

is where cutting-edge high-rise innovations

undergo rigorous testing.

In the middle of it all, towering 235

meters above the flat landscape, is the

newly inaugurated 36-floor Kunshan Test

Tower. This is literally a skyscraper like no

other: You’ll find no offices, apartments or

commercial space inside, only a vast machine

room and 12 elevator shafts. And – here’s the

twist – what you’ll find inside those shafts is

liable to change from one month to the next.

“The whole tower is basically a technical

chameleon. The elevators in the test shafts

will be constantly reconfigured. We’ll be

dismantling and installing new elevators, or at

least new components, on a monthly basis,”

says

Antti Hoppania

, Director for Reliability

and Quality KONE Technology.

TECHNICAL CHAMELEON

Among the few permanent installations is

a super-fast 10 m/s double-deck elevator

which carries visitors from the ground level

to the sky lobby and showroom. This is the

world’s very first double-deck elevator to

feature KONE UltraRope™ super-light rope

technology.

Another permanent fixture is an industrial

elevator that travels the full distance up to the

height of 235 meters and is reserved solely

for R&D activities. The tower, tallest among

KONE’s eight global testing facilities, also

provides KONE with a unique location to invite

customers to see its latest innovations in action.

Having the test tower located in the middle

of an existing R&D and production park will

significantly boost KONE’s agility. “Now that

we have even more capacity, muscle and

speed, we’ll be able to deliver new products

to market faster than ever before,” says

Hoppania.

The Kunshan Test Tower is the ‘Asian twin’

of the KONE high-rise laboratory in Tytyri,

Finland, where the underground testing

facility is 305 meters deep, allowing the

company to test elevators at speeds up to

17 m/s – the only testing facility in the world

where such speeds can be reached.

“We needed additional capacity and

capability to support our high-rise testing

efforts. Earlier, we were dependent on

our Finnish unit and smaller test shafts in

Kunshan, but their heights were nothing

compared to this,” explains Hoppania.

NEW HEIGHTS IN R&D

The geographical location is ideal, as it unites

KONE’s two research units in Finland and

China. “Now we are physically closer to our

Asian customers and have two teams working

as a close-knit unit across the eastern and

western hemispheres,” he adds.

“KONE is a major player driving

technological development in the mid-

and high-rise market. This new landmark

dedicated exclusively to R&D is a visually

powerful symbol of our commitment to

taking elevator technology to truly new

heights.” /

case

“The whole tower is

basically a technical

chameleon. The elevators

in the test shafts will be

constantly reconfigured.”

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