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Schindler, the world's largest escalator company and second-largest elevator company, maintains tens of thousands of elevators and escalators throughout North America. Thousands of technicians are on the road each day to maintain, repair, and help in emergencies. Each technician s route requires precise and optimized planning. Schindler Elevator Corporation turned to Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) to develop an automated route-scheduling and planning system. ESRI provided a geographic-information-system-integrated application that employs operations research techniques to optimize preventive maintenance operations. It relies on a series of algorithms to assign maintenance work to technicians and to create efficient day-routes by solving the periodic-vehicle-routing problem. These automated tools allow Schindler to restructure and streamline service areas. The optimization system saves over $1 million annually and increases Schindler's managers' awareness of operating revenue. (Transportation: scheduling, personnel. Facilities/equipment planning: maintenance, replacement.)
Most of us are in awe of the technology we use to scale heights without losing our breath; we experience a thrill using elevators like those in the Sears Tower in Chicago. But complex machinery needs repair and periodic maintenance to keep its parts moving.
Schindler Elevator Corporation operates more than 100 offices in the United States and Canada and employs over 6,500 people. It is the North American operating entity of the Swiss-based Schindler Group, the world's second largest elevator company and the leading escalator supplier. Schindler's offices cover a wide range of areas, from dense central cities to territories consisting of several states. Schindler was the first elevator company in the United States to achieve ISO 9001 certification for its manufacturing plants, and its service organization was among the first in any US industry to receive ISO 9001 certification.
Schindler designs, manufactures, installs, maintains, and modernizes internal transport systems for almost every type of building requirement worldwide. The company specializes in latest-technology engineering, and mechanical and microprocessor-technology products designed and rigorously tested for comfort, efficiency, and reliability. Schindler provides maintenance and modernization services for all brands of elevator and escalator equipment. Its competitor competency center in Holland, Ohio, is devoted entirely to training and troubleshooting for non-Schindler equipment. The company stocks more than 85,000 different elevator and escalator parts (Table 1).
In each office, one or more service superintendents supervise the service technicians who maintain and...