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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