ILE - IoT Lift Monitoring Solution
Since 1976, International Lift Equipment (ILE) has been a leading manufacturer and supplier of complete lift packages, components and peripheral devices to the UK lift industry. ILE provides solutions for installing new lifts, refurbishing existing lifts and repairing broken ones.
With full technical support on both mechanical and electrical ranges, ILE offers a complete service from design to installation. Products range from control panels and drives to mechanical items such as motors, safety gears and full lift cars.
Truly remote monitoring
As part of its commitment to improving customer service, ILE wanted to introduce a fully remote monitoring system for all of its lifts. The company needed to be able to receive data from all lifts so that it could address faults quickly and efficiently. With each lift producing up to 1 Gigabyte of data per month, ILE looked to technology to resolve this challenge.
"After talking to one of our clients who wanted this service, you could argue a case to say that they already provided remote monitoring via a concierge at each location who would report faults and provide information. However, we were looking for a ‘true remote monitoring system’. We had no resources in-house to undertake such a technology-based project and couldn’t see a particular off-the-shelf industry solution available to us. We were aware of the expertise of Xibis, having attended an inspiring web development seminar with them in the past. We started to talk to Xibis about getting a specification together for our end client."
Taking advantage of IoT technology
Xibis created a system using Internet of Things (IoT) technology that transmits and records data, in real time, from the lift controllers direct to engineers at ILE. By using and adapting widely available commercial hardware, Xibis experts avoided the need for expensive custom hardware development.
Software on a Raspberry Pi computer feeds key, lift telemetry to the Xibis system in real-time such as what floor the lifts are at, the direction of travel, are the doors open or closed, the status of the lift, is anybody trapped in the lift or have any errors been reported.
Easy to see online data and faster response
The system is now live in multiple locations across London for clients such as Brent Council, CityWest Homes and Amalgamated Lifts (Boroughs of London), plus other UK locations including Leicester. ILE plans to roll-out around 200 monitoring systems over time.
With lifts in various buildings around the country, all monitored through a portal solution, ILE now has a national map of the state and availability of all lifts. Through the solution, the company can also send commands to the lifts.
The new web-based system makes it easy for ILE and its clients to monitor them all closely, with real-time animation and notifications significantly reducing reaction times for any related lift events.
The Xibis-developed system will also show when there are potentially people trapped inside the lift. This information helps ILE’s clients to prioritise breakdown calls and alert engineers accordingly to the seriousness of the job.
Driving data through the web interface
Rob Bierton continues: “Having all of the live performance data available on an easy-to-use web interface means that engineers and service provision staff can see, at a glance, which lifts need attention and what the problem is. This cuts down on waiting times for our clients and reduces the time engineers have to spend fixing faults as they have all of the relevant information before they attend.
“We’re very pleased with the way the system works. It’s easy to use and has improved the efficiency of our clients’ monitoring and repairs.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Xibis as we consider tweaks and new functionality that we can add to the system.”
