How did the Schindler Group become so successful?

 

Today the Schindler Group is one of the top four elevator manufacturers in the world, has over 50,000 employees in over 100 countries. Schindler manufactures, installs and services elevators and escalators. Schindler elevators and escalators move 1 billion people every day but it wasn’t always this way. How did the company get started?

In 1874, twenty years after Elisha Otis was demonstrating his elevator brake at the New York World’s Fair two Swiss gentleman, Robert Schindler and Eduard Villiger founded a general partnership company in Lucerne, Switzerland. The company was called Schindler and Villiger and the company opened a mechanical workshop on an island in the Reuss River in Lucerne, Switzerland. The workshop produced lifting equipment and other machinery.

Few details of the early lives of Schindler and Villiger are known. The Swiss reputation for privacy is well earned. Once the company was established Schindler and Villiger wasted no time in building the business and increasing its scope of activities.

Key Schindler Dates:

 

1878: The first Factory regulations include a 63 ½ hour week, a 14 day notice period, and accident insurance.

1883 Moved to the newly built 300 m^2 plant at Sentimattstrasse in Lucerne. The products are laundry equipment and water driven elevators

1890: Delivery of first Hydraulic freight elevator.

1892: Eduard Villiger leaves the partnership. The company continues under the name of Robert Schindler Machinery Manufacturer. / The first electric elevator with belt drive is built. Schindler's most important customers during its first years were large hotels and production plants, first in Lucerne and later throughout Switzerland.

1894: Introduction of the 59-hour week.

1895: The factory is extended and an iron foundry is added.

1899: Schindler elevators were equipped with worm gears and controlled by a pull rope.

1901: Robert Schindler sold the business to his brother Alfred Schindler, who became the new sole proprietor and changed the firm's name accordingly.

1902: The first electric passenger elevator with automatic push button control is delivered. 

1906:  A new business partner, Fritz Geilfuss, joined the company and it became a partnership, Schindler & Cie.

1906: Schindler opens its first subsidiary in Berlin.

1907: Agency in Lausanne established.

1908: Schindler builds houses for 50 Schindler workers in Littau. Agencies in Zurich and Basel established.

1909: Delivery of first multi speed electric elevator, driven by an Oerlikon two speed motor.  Schindler and Houplin is founded in France.

1910: The first elevator with a single-phase commutator motor is delivered. Agencies in Bern and Argentina established.

1911: – Agencies in Turkey, Algeria, Russia and Italy established.

Why were Schindler successful when many others failed? As this timeline demonstrates international expansion and product innovation laid the foundations for the future success of Schindler. After 1911 Schindler expanded into more European countries and by 1931 had even reached China. In the late 1960s expansion through corporate acquisitions became the preferred strategy and many smaller companies were acquired around the world. This proved to be a very successful strategy that explains their presence in over 100 countries today. 

Dunbar and Boardman is the lift, escalator and access equipment consultancy. Do you have a current or planned project that includes elevators? We would be happy to discuss any such requirements and how we may be able to assist. Give us a call on T +44 (0) 20 7739 5093 or send us an email via peterboardman@dunbarboardman.com to start the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.

Conference Overview - Facades Design & Engineering – UAE Summit

                                           Peter Boardman addressing the conference attendees

Last week Dunbar and Boardman attended the Facades Design and Engineering Summit in Dubai. It was a great opportunity to meet with many of the Vertical Transportation industry’s key individuals from across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.  There were over 200 attendees representing 80 companies at the event. For over 30 years Dunbar and Boardman has attended similar events around the world.

The conference started with a Façade Lighting Focus Day. Themes covered included, ‘Lighting up your projects to drive aesthetics and building functionality’ and ‘Next generation lighting technologies and opportunities for façade design’. Detailed approaches and methodologies were shared during the project case studies.  

The focus of the second day was the UAE Facade landscape.  Particular emphasis was placed on innovations, building codes and beyond. Understanding the new building regulations and how to ensure your project conforms to compliance requirements.  There were great discussions around the advancements in efficiency, sustainability, and cost effectiveness.  It is often easier to absorb key details via project case studies these were a key feature of all three days at the conference.

On the final day our attention was turned to the Western architectural influence on Arabic Design and the need for attention to detail in Facades. Once again some great insights were shared during the project case studies that included a spotlight on UAE universities.

On behalf of all staff at Dunbar and Boardman I would like to say a big thank you to the organisers, IQPC & all the event sponsors, we look forward to seeing you all again next September.

Dunbar and Boardman is the lift, escalator and access equipment consultancy. Do you have a current or planned project incorporating Façade access? We would be happy to discuss any such requirements and how we may be able to assist. Give us a call on T +44 (0) 20 7739 5093 or send us an email via peterboardman@dunbarboardman.com to start the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.

What can we learn from the career of Elisha Otis?

The vertical transportation industry would not be what it is today without Elisha Graves Otis. Born in 1811 the youngest of six children to Stephen Otis and Phoebe Glynn in Halifax, Vermont. He is acknowledged as the creator of the industry because of his invention of the elevator ‘brake’ (safety gear) that prevented elevators from falling if the hoisting cable failed. This invention made high-rise buildings a practical reality and his sons, Charles and Norton, went on to build a company that became a global giant.

Early career

His career was very varied. He worked as a wagon driver, carpenter and owned a gristmill that he converted to a sawmill. He also worked as a builder of wagons and carriages and as a doll maker for Otis Tingely.

Persistence

Elisha was involved in many business ventures both as an employee and business owner and was dogged by uncertainty, financial insecurity and ill health and yet persisted with his inventions and tinkering.

Problems present opportunities

While working for Otis Tingely in Albany, New York he struggled to meet the daily quota of making twelve dolls per day. His response was to invent and patent a mechanical doll turner that enabled him to produce dolls four times faster - he could produce 50 per day. He was rewarded with a $500 bonus.

Failure was his best teacher

It was his failure at running his own sawmill due to an inability to attract enough customers that ultimately prepared him to capitalise on his greatest opportunity with the elevator brake. 

It’s never too late to make your mark

Elisha was 40 years old when he created the elevator brake while overseeing the conversion of a sawmill to a bedstead factory. He was clearing up debris by hand and wondering how to move debris to the upper levels of the factory. Hoisting platforms existed but were unreliable – is response was to invent the “safety elevator” with the elevator ‘brake’. He did not think enough of it to patent the invention initially. The elevator ‘brake’ was used successfully in the factory until the bedstead business failed.

Delight and amaze your customers

Many of the businesses that Elisha had been involved with had failed to attract enough customers. After the bedstead company failed he focused on his elevator brake invention and founded Union Elevator Works in 1852. There were no orders for his invention. His theatrical demonstration of the elevator brake at the 1854 New York World's Fair complete with axe man cutting the hoisting rope was a masterful act of showmanship. When the rope was cut the platform fell only a few inches because of the elevator brake / safety gear. This demonstration led to continuous orders from customers and laid the foundations for the vertical transportation industry.  After the World’s Fair Elisha changed the name of his company to The Otis Elevator Company.

Leave a legacy

Charles and Norton built on their father’s achievements after his death from diphtheria in 1861 and established the company as a global giant. They installed an elevator in Paris's Eiffel Tower in 1889 and another in the Washington Monument the following year. In 1913, the Otis Company installed an elevator inside the 60-storey Woolworth Building in New York City, at that time the world's tallest building.

What have we learned? With grit and determination driven by need we can succeed to break down social boundaries and perceptions.  

Dunbar and Boardman is the lift, escalator and access equipment consultancy. Do you have a current or planned project that includes elevators? We would be happy to discuss any such requirements and how we may be able to assist. Give us a call on T +44 (0) 20 7739 5093 or send us an email via peterboardman@dunbarboardman.com to start the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.