Your Elevator Pal’s Take on Pre-Modernization

My name is Edward A. Rivera Jr., but you may know me as Your Elevator Pal. I am currently a Regional Modernization Trainer at TK Elevator. Yes, it’s a long title, but it essentially means that I provide training and technical support to our region’s modernization departments. Be it providing an Execution of Excellence plan for the removal of massive vertical transportation equipment, teaching field technicians the best practices for roping elevators, or simply adjusting elevators prior to testing and turnover. If you can name it, I can provide support and training on it.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot to learn here. Only the naïve think they know it all, especially with all this new state-of-the-art elevator equipment I get to work on. But that’s one of the many things I enjoy about my current position — working with and learning about new things daily. One of the more recent practices I’ve noticed that I want to touch on today is premod.

Pre-modernization, or premod for short, is work that takes place before the beginning of a true modernization project. It entails performing “low-impact” scopes of work with the goal of minimizing elevator “out-of-service time,” which is all an illusion.

The elevators are taken out of service to perform these premod tasks so that the out-of-service time ends up being incremental. While it may seem like it makes sense at first, it ends up using up more time and taking longer due to inefficiencies in the process.

Imagine painting a 20-by-8-foot wall. Before you paint, you must unload and set up all your tooling and equipment and protect your workspace. Now imagine doing all of that and painting only a 1-by-8-foot section of the wall. After you complete that small section, you have to pack up your tools, clean up, demobilize and come back sometime in the future to complete the remaining wall.

Not very efficient, huh? I agree.

In the meantime, your wall doesn’t look any better. The same thing happens when you only upgrade segments of your system which require other segments to also be upgraded in tandem. The temporary, existing and new equipment tend to not marry well. This is why it’s very important to fully paint the wall in one swoop.

Now an argument can be made for painting that foot-long section of wall. It could be in horrible condition and need immediate remedy. In that case, action to be taken and the inefficiencies that come with it have to be accepted with the additional cost being captured upfront. Other than this specific reason, there’s no good excuse for only taking care of the isolated section.

What’s the best thing I can do for my building when I need a modernization job?

Elevator modernization projects are complex in nature. That’s why I always recommend finding a qualified and experienced elevator consultant who can guide you through the entire process.

The consultant will also be able to recommend highly qualified and reputable elevator contractors such as TK Elevator to perform the work.

To learn more about the many wonders of our industry and modernization work in general, you can visit my LinkedIn page or contact your local TK Elevator representative. Who knows, maybe I could be the one helping with your next mod!