Motion Control Engineering - Non-proprietary elevator control systems – 2019 Series

Colley Elevator experience with Motion Control Engineering - Colley has a history with MCE since their beginning.  I remember hearing the stories of my father visiting California when they first started in the 1980’s.  We have cabinets full of MCE prints of all types.  We have installed white boxes, black boxes, 1000s, 2000s, 4000s, I boxes.  While their ownership has changed a few times the guys and girls who we deal with have been solid and dependable. MCE’s product has been the independent market’s standard bearer for non-proprietary quality.

[MCE controller installed by Colley Elevator recently]

Brief history of the company - Motion Control Engineering (MCE) home office is located in Rancho Cordova, CA.  Founded in the early 1980's, MCE is the largest Independent Elevator Control System Supplier (Vendor) in N. America.  MCE's installation based worldwide includes approximately 200,000 units.  Our Parent Company is Nidec (the World's largest manufacturer of Industrial Motors).  Our Elevator Industry Sister Companies include Imperial Electric and Canton Elevator.   MCE Control Systems are installed all over the Greater Chicagoland Area (unit count of more than 1,000 units).

What is the company's philosophy on non-proprietary technology?  Non-proprietary is the foundational hallmark of MCE.  MCE leads the Industry in providing Control Systems that are serviceable and maintainable to all.  We fundamentally believe that that the term Non-proprietary is not an ambiguous term – we believe that it can be defined and measured.  We believe it is in the Building Owner's best interest to seek solutions that provide them with the lowest total cost of ownership.  Building Owners rarely (intentionally) invest in proprietary vertical transportation equipment.

Is there a litmus test that you can provide to assist Building Owner's and Property Managers in making the best possible determination in sourcing Elevator Control Systems?

MCE's Building Owner's Bill of Rights:

Equipment shall be universally maintainable.

Diagnostics shall be built in.

A proprietary tool shall not be required for adjustment or maintenance.

Parts shall be available via inventory...not just exchange.

Technical Training shall be available to all.

Engineering and technical support shall be available to all.

All Manuals and Drawings shall be provided.

The Control System manufacturer shall provide direct support to the "end user" and their designated maintenance company.    

The Moment of Truth  - "When and/or how will you know" if the product is truly Non-proprietary? 

The true essences of a Non Proprietary Control System should answer YES to every one of the following questions:

• Does the warranty transfer from service provider to service provider during the coverage period?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer free technical support for the life of the system?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer the same replacement part price to the original installer as well as any subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacture offer warranty on parts sale to any maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer to take back or restock parts if the part was not part of the problem?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer free factory training?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer feature upgrade and modification requests to any subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer software upgrades to any subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer provide onsite trouble shooting to any maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer provide call history of the project subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacture provide repair services to any maintenance company?

What competitive advantage/strength does your control system have versus the competition?  Beyond the basic premise of proprietary restraint, MCE provides state-of-the-art Control Systems for virtually every application in the industry, from 2 stop Hydraulic applications to High Rise Traction Control Systems for Class A Buildings.  MCE has the largest Engineering Staff of any Independent Supplier in N. America, with a proven track record of expertise, most especially in modernization applications.     

What markets do you service[low rise, mid rise, high rise, material lifts, etc]?:

As stated above, the breadth of our product line is unsurpassed (Independent Control System Manufacturers).  This provides the Building Owner and Property Manager with a strong sense of confidence based upon the proven success of MCE over 30 plus years.

  

What is your controller's primary platform[PLC, Microprocessor, etc]? Microprocessor only.

What do you like most about the Chicago market? Great question.  Chicago is an extraordinarily busy market with strong technical talent.  From an application standpoint, Chicago "has it all", from the challenge to modernizing historic buildings over 100 years old to state-of-the-art new construction skyscrapers, very exciting.         

What challenges do you have in the Chicago market? Currently, the Chicago market is extremely busy, virtually all Contractors have large backlogs which inevitably leads to challenges in meeting project deadlines, accuracy, quality, attention to detail... 

What are some marquis, challenging or fun projects you have done in the national market and more importantly the Chicago market? MCE is privileged to have provided Control Systems for the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty.  MCE Control Systems were utilized in Elevator World Magazine Project of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2017.  In Chicago, in addition to some very large/tall buildings, MCE provided a Destination Dispatch Solution for the 111 N. Canal Project in Chicago (an exceptionally challenging modernization, 10 Car Group which is very rare in N. America).  MCE provided the Control System at the Museum of Science and Industry at the Coal Mining exhibit, which provides the riders with a sense (illusion) of traveling deep into a mine.

What is on the horizon for the company?  MCE is at the forefront of technical advances in the Elevator Industry.  We are the leading provider of a new type of Dispatching called Destination Dispatch - an optimization technique used for multi elevator installations, which groups passengers for the same destinations into the same elevators, thereby reducing waiting and travel times when compared to a traditional approach where all passengers wishing to ascend or descend enter any available elevator and then request their destination.  Using destination dispatch, passengers request travel to a particular floor using a touch screen, keypad or proximity card room key in the lobby, individuals are then immediately directed to an appropriate elevator car.

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Vertitron Midwest - Non proprietary elevator control systems – 2019 Series

This is the first in our series of non-proprietary elevator control systems. We spend a lot of time educating building owners on the benefits of working with a control system that has open architecture and anyone can service. Thank you to Vertitron Midwest for being a part of our series!

Colley Elevator experience with VMI - Colley Elevator has a long history with Vertitron, now called Veritron Midwest.  In our market we have a lot of Vertitron control systems put in 1980’s to 1990’s.  Vertitron is now owned by Minnesota Elevator, who is known as a regional contractor but nationally known as a premiere elevator package provider.  Last year Colley partnered with MEI to do a tearout of an entire Otis LRV elevator and install a MEI package with Vertitron control system w/the Reflex leveling system at the MCA[Museum of Contemporary Art].  We love these guys!

What is the company’s philosophy on non-proprietary technology?

Non-proprietary equipment can be translated into many meanings, to Vertitron non-proprietary means equipment that allows the user to install and service the elevator giving the ability to get standard operating information without requiring any special tools or equipment.

What competitive advantage/strength does your control system have versus the competition?

There are several great controller products on the market today, a few main differences that set us apart from the others are.

1.    Reflex leveling system: With the Reflex we are able very our slowdowns based on oil temp, acceleration and position in the hoist way. The result is quicker floor to floor times, saving energy, wear on equipment and most of all the end user gets to their destination quicker.

2.    Valve setup: When paired with the Reflex we offer an onscreen tool that gives the mechanic accurate data needed for setting the valve properly with ease right in the machine room.

3.    On screen help: We offer an on-screen help mode that allows the users to define features, I/O, functions and faults using the on-screen menu.

4.    Support: We want our customers to prevail when using our products, to help with this we offer comprehensive support to our customers from the quoting process through the install and service in the future, we take care of our customers.

 What markets do you service[low rise, mid rise, high rise, material lifts, etc]

We  offer controllers for the low rise hydraulic market, featuring Passenger, Freight and Residential as well as Remote controls including our phone app. also offering many common replacement parts.

[Standard hydraulic controller]

What is your controller’s primary platform[PLC, Microprocessor, etc]?

Our controllers are a microprocessor-based platform.

What do you like most about the Chicago market?

It is a very diverse market.  A large number of both Hydraulic and Traction elevators.  Also, many of the multi-national elevator contractors have a presence, as well as several strong, local, Independent elevator contractors.

What challenges do you have in the Chicago market?

Probably the biggest challenge is knowing what code is in affect based on whether the job is located in the Chicago city limits or outside the city limits.

What are some marquis, challenging or fun projects you have done in the national market and more importantly the Chicago market?

One of the most recent fun and challenging projects that we’ve worked on is the Appello+ phone app. The project continuously is evolving based on customer needs, the funnest/ challenging part is talking with customers to better understand their needs and finding solutions for those needs.

What is on the horizon for the company?

We are always working to improve our current products with the end user in mind. One of our big projects for 2019 is our microprocessor based residential control.

Anything additional that makes your company unique, fun facts, etc.

We are known for our products and service as well as Control Freaks logo which really signifies our people with their dedication and passion to the elevator industry and controls.

How do I see more? http://vertitron.com/ they have some really good information and Utube videos of their products.

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Colley Elevator year end party

On Saturday we had our company year-end party at Top Golf – Naperville, IL.  We have over 60 people at the party and collectively 381 years of experience working at Colley Elevator.  We had several 5 year, 10 year and 15 year anniversaries to celebrate and recognized some of the people who have been around longer that are a part of the fabric of Colley Elevator.

We had a quick congregation, had dinner, had some quick top golf instruction then raffled over 23 items ranging from gift cards, White Sox tickets, Black Hawk tickets and a signed Chicago Bears Dick Butkus Jersey.  One of the more unique features of the evening was hitting golf balls into the snow.

It was great to have people meet each other’s significant others, people who came before them and are retired, and other people who all work at Colley that don’t get to have interaction on a regular basis because we are on modernization projects, work in the office or on a maintenance route.  As the year goes by it is great to catch up if only for a few minutes here or there and hear about families and what they have been up to outside of elevators in a laid back atmosphere.

It takes a team to keep the 111 year old company going from the person who answers the phone to the person executing the repair or installation.  We appreciated everyone coming out and taking the time to come together!

Next week will be our first installment of non proprietary controllers.

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Non proprietary elevator control systems – 2019 Series

This is the first in a series of blogs about non-proprietary elevator control systems.  We will be featuring a different non-proprietary elevator control manufacturer each week.  I am pretty excited about this group of blogs and would like to thank everyone who has or will be helping out with supplying me with information for this series.   Some of the content in this blog is a rebroadcast of the 5/13/18 blog.

What is the big deal about non-proprietary control systems?  This is potentially the difference of being stuck and not stuck with one service provider.

Definition of proprietary - As an adjective, belonging to ownership; owned by a particular person; belonging or pertaining to a proprietor; relating to a certain owner or proprietor. Proprietary refers to ownership or characteristics relating to ownership.

What proprietary means to an elevator owner?  This means that the XYZ company who installs this equipment owns the ability to disseminate service tools, technical support and parts for the elevator system.  Legally the elevator contractor has to supply parts for the elevator system but they do not need assist in troubleshooting or sell the diagnostic system[even if the diagnostic tool technically belongs to the elevator owner when they purchase the elevator].

Examples of proprietary elevator systems – Otis, Kone, Schindler, Thyssen Krupp[to name a few].

Definition of non-proprietary - not registered or protected as a trademark or brand name; generic.

(especially of computer hardware or software) conforming to standards that are in the public domain or are widely licensed, and so not restricted to one manufacturer.)

What non-proprietary means to an elevator owner?  It means that anyone and everyone that is qualified to work on elevators has access to software, diagnostic systems & technical support.  More flexibility with an open architecture plan.

Examples of non-proprietary elevator systems – MCE, Smartrise, GAL, Vertitron Midwest, Virginia Controls, Elevator Systems, Elevator Controls among others.

The true essences of a Non Proprietary Control System should answer YES to every one of the following questions:

• Does the warranty transfer from service provider to service provider during the coverage period?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer free technical support for the life of the system?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer the same replacement part price to the original installer as well as any subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacture offer warranty on parts sale to any maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer to take back or restock parts if the part was not part of the problem?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer free factory training?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer feature upgrade and modification requests to any subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer offer software upgrades to any subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer provide onsite trouble shooting to any maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacturer provide call history of the project subsequent maintenance company?
• Does the controller manufacture provide repair services to any maintenance company?

[Read the affidavit some interesting questions when considering buying a controller]

[Will the control company you choose put their name on this document?  If they will not perhaps you should ask some more questions.]

When you are making a purchasing decision for your elevators take some time to get these answers or send this to the control manufacturer the company is choosing to use to see what answers or lack of answers you get.  Your elevator investment is one of the largest building capital expenditures, you should have confidence you are making a good decision.

*Thank you Jeff Yeager from MCE for sending me some great information to get this series going.

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107.

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.