Stage Division and Management Improvement of Elevator Life Cycle

On February 9, 2018, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening Elevator Quality and Safety Work", proposing to promote the concept of "maximizing safety and cost optimization throughout the life cycle", advocating the use of information technologies such as big data and the Internet of Things to build Elevator safety public information service platform, establish an elevator quality and safety evaluation system with failure rate and service life as the main indicators, and gradually establish an elevator life cycle quality and safety traceability system, to achieve problems can be investigated, responsibility can be traced, play the role of social supervision. Therefore, the elevator life cycle management has become the focus of the elevator industry.

1 Research status of elevator life cycle management

At present, the elevator industry does not have a more mature life cycle management theory, and the same as the vehicle, but there is a clearer definition of the car. Automotive experts divide the life cycle of cars into: run-in period, stable period and recession period.

(1) Run-in period. Generally refers to the mechanical parts in the initial operation of contact, friction, bite process. Generally, it is 1 000~11 500km, which is the basic mileage to ensure full contact, friction, adaptation and shaping of parts. At this stage, auto parts wear fast, fuel consumption is high, and defects are easy to appear.

(2) Stable period. After the running-in period, the car enters the normal driving phase. At this stage, the car shows the characteristics of durability, less trouble, low fuel consumption, and sufficient power.

(3) Recession. before the end of the car life cycle. Under normal circumstances, after the stabilization period, some parts of the car will gradually age, the problems will increase, the noise will increase, the fuel consumption will increase, and the power will decrease.

Elevators (hereinafter referred to as vertical elevators) can of course refer to the phased division of the car life cycle. However, in China, most of the elevator after the completion of the installation will enter a special period-temporary ladder stage or temporary use of the transition period. The concept of temporary use of elevators originated from the temporary use contract signed between the general contractor or construction unit and the elevator company. At this time, the elevator was installed but did not pass the government's acceptance. In order to speed up the construction, the general contractor or construction unit temporarily borrowed the elevator as the construction ladder. However, more and more temporary ladders are now used after installation and acceptance. During this period, newly installed passenger elevators were usually temporarily used as freight elevators, and the general contractor or construction unit used elevators to transport decoration materials during the renovation of the building. Due to the use of non-standard, easy to produce fault.

2 The stage division of the elevator life cycle.

Because the temporary use of the transition period after the installation and acceptance, the elevator has the necessary functions, can be used normally, so the temporary use of the transition period is part of the elevator life cycle. Therefore, the life cycle of elevators is divided into four stages: temporary use transition period, running-in period, stable period and recession period, as shown in Figure 1.

(1) Temporary use of elevators during the transition period. That is, elevators are temporarily used as construction ladders, and passenger elevators are usually used as freight elevators. In particular, the parties to the temporary ladder contract are the general contractor and the elevator maintenance company, not the management unit of the building or community and the elevator maintenance company. In other words, the user of the elevator is not the end user, but the general contractor and the subordinate construction team. The end point of the temporary ladder is the major repair after the temporary ladder is used (this is usually clearly agreed in the contract for the temporary ladder).

(2) the elevator run-in period. After the temporary ladder is overhauled, it enters the running-in period. Due to the rough surface of the parts, there are certain deviations and some potential problems that are difficult to find during installation. During this period, the ability of each part of the elevator to adapt to the environment can be adjusted and the protrusions on the parts can be worn off. The advantages and disadvantages of the elevator running-in will have an important impact on the life, safety and economy of the elevator. Usually this time is about six months to a year.

(3) Elevator stability period. There will be a stable period of several years. The failure rate of the elevator in the stable period will be very low. The length of the stable period is related to the quality of the elevator and the life of the components.

(4) the elevator recession. After the stabilization period, some parts of the elevator will gradually age, the failure will gradually increase, and the safety performance will decrease. At present, there is no mandatory regulation on the service life of elevators in the country. The service life of general elevators is about 15 years, or it may be shorter, mainly due to the maintenance and quality of elevators. Generally, an elevator is used for more than ten years, it is necessary to consider the transformation or replacement.

3 Elevator life cycle management improvements

The competition in the elevator industry has transitioned from the competition of product manufacturing capacity to the competition of product after-sales service level. After-sales service refers to the general term for operators (including manufacturers) to provide various services and benefits to consumers in order to realize the value of their use after the sale of goods. The starting point of after-sales service is also the starting point of elevator life cycle. Therefore, in order to do a good job in after-sales service, targeted solutions should be formulated according to the characteristics of different stages of elevator life cycle, namely, corresponding management measures should be formulated for temporary use transition period, running in period, stable period and recession period to ensure maximum safety and cost optimization, so as to meet the normal use of passengers.

3.1 Elevator Temporary Use Transition Period

(1) The problem. Temporary ladder stage, the use of the elevator environment is very bad. For example: the pit into the water; Sand jammed the door; Long and heavy items were forced into the car. Construction personnel rough use of elevators, etc. In short, during the temporary use transition period, the elevator operating environment is poor, the failure rate is high, and it is easy to be damaged.

(2) The measures. ① For the harsh environment, increase the necessary protection, such as: increase the shaft hole protection; install the elevator wall protection plate; increase the hall door entrance protection. ② Strengthen the use of management, set up the elevator driver for management. The elevator driver will manage the elevator around the clock and will not allow long and heavy items to be forced into the car. If there is a driver, it is also possible not to install the call button outside the hall to prevent it from being damaged. ③ Increase the frequency of maintenance to replace maintenance. Because the use environment of temporary ladders is poor and not easy to manage, elevator maintenance companies usually adopt the strategy of replacing maintenance with repair, which is wrong. It is this negative response plan that makes temporary ladder accidents occur frequently, such as elevator top, bottom and safety gear movements, and even cause casualties to passengers.

In short, the temporary use of elevators during the transition period has many problems and high risks. Therefore, the construction unit or the general contractor should actively cooperate with the elevator maintenance company to strengthen management and quickly deal with problems to prevent major accidents.

3.2 elevator running-in period

(1) The problem. After the temporary elevator overhaul, the elevator components are intact, almost a new elevator, officially entered the run-in period. However, the elevator in this stage of the use of the process is often relatively high failure rate, mainly caused by two reasons. ① The installation cannot be 100% perfect, and there will always be some omissions, such as a screw is not tightened or the gap at a certain position is not adjusted properly. These problems will gradually be exposed during operation and cause failures. ② In general, the installation of new elevators in new buildings will always encounter decoration by owners or users. Elevators are used as freight elevators for transporting decoration materials. Elevator problems during temporary use of elevators will reappear at this stage.

(2) The measures. ① Please professional maintenance company, especially the original maintenance company for maintenance. The benefits of original maintenance are very much. For example, the equipment is very well understood, the maintenance plan is targeted, etc. At the same time, most elevator companies have a site problem tracking system. After finding problems, they will carefully analyze the root causes, prepare preventive and corrective measures, and implement them on all in-use and newly installed elevators. This closed-loop control system will prevent the same problem from recurring on different sites. The property company should communicate with the owners, strengthen the elevator use management, to ensure that the owners comply with the elevator use regulations, to ensure that the elevator good use of the environment. If necessary, consider adding elevator drivers for manual management. After the owner finishes the decoration, it is best to ask the elevator company to do a comprehensive inspection and deal with it according to the inspection results.

In short, the property company and the elevator maintenance company should work together to do a good job in the elevator management during the running-in period and prepare for the next stable period. At the same time, the property company and the owner have just contacted and are also in the running-in period. Therefore, the property company should also take time to fully communicate with the owner, establish mutual trust, and prepare for the harmonious coexistence and mutual cooperation in the future. The running-in period is the most critical period in the elevator life cycle. Only by doing a good job in the running-in period can the elevator have a bright future.

Stable period of 3.3 elevator

After the elevator enters the stable period, there are few problems and the failure rate is low; except for the quality problem, the elevator has no concentration problem. This is the best time in the elevator life cycle. In order to make this stage last longer, we should do a good job of maintenance. However, it is precisely at this time that many property companies, in order to save money, often use cheap maintenance companies to replace the original maintenance companies, while the new maintenance companies, considering the cost, often adopt the scheme of replacing the maintenance with repair, which will greatly shorten the stability period of the elevator.

3.4 elevator recession period

(1) The problem. After the elevator has been used for more than ten years, the components begin to age, especially the main components, such as control cabinets, frequency converters, traction machines, etc., because of aging, the performance begins to decline. At this time, the cost of maintenance and replacement is very high.

(2) The measures. ① When the important parts of the elevator are damaged due to aging, the elevator upgrade should be considered. Please ask a professional elevator company to provide an upgrade plan according to the use of the elevator. If the important parts of the elevator are still healthy, they can continue to be used under the condition of good maintenance, but it is best to invite the original experts to conduct a comprehensive inspection and diagnosis of the elevator every year, which is conducive to the discovery of major hidden dangers of the elevator.

In short, any equipment has a life, and now the elevator can not reach the same life with the building. Elevator as a special equipment, extended service, or a risk.

Source: China Elevator

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