When a lift gets old, a full replacement will seem like an expensive proposition to update it. Did you know you can renew and extend the lifespan of your lift by modernising it instead? Here we review the key points to discuss with your manager.
Cost/benefit analysis
Unless your lift system is unsafe, your manager will have just the one question: will a lift modernisation represent value for money? That means it will be up to you to demonstrate that leaving the lift as it is will be more costly than paying for modernisation.
Here are some of the factors you can include in your proposal to help convince your manager that you should modernise your lift system.
Repairs
Your record of repair callouts will likely be a core part of your proposal. Have callouts been increasing over the past year or so? Have the costs of these repairs been increasing?
This would suggest that the lift is aging and is only going to become more expensive as time goes by. A lift modernisation should update common problem parts and systems, greatly reducing the frequency and costs of repairs.
Downtime
As part of your record on repair callouts, include the amount of downtime these breakdowns caused, as well as any costs that were incurred as a result. Did traffic fall? Were deliveries impacted?
Try to calculate the time spent by everyone, both in the building and without, as a result of lift breakdowns.
Obsolete parts
As a lift gets older, the likelihood increases that the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) will have stopped making the parts needed to repair it. While they will likely have a cache of obsolete parts for repair technicians, the price of the parts will increase dramatically once these are gone.
This may leave you relying on third-party suppliers and, while this does necessarily mean a reduction in quality, it does entail time and effort in finding parts that will last as long and be as safe as the originals.
A lift modernisation replaces aspects of your lift system with new parts, eliminating the risk of scarce and costly OEM parts.
Safety
If there is a clear safety issue with a lift, hopefully you won’t have to do much to convince your manager that you need to modernise it.
But take a look at those maintenance and repair records again. Is there a part that keeps appearing? What if that part suffers a complete failure? Are there any safety implications there? Or has your maintenance engineer advised that there is a risk that a key part may fail?
This issue is about more than cost/benefit. If there is a potential safety risk, you need to flag this as a core part of your proposal.
Maintenance
Maintenance callouts shouldn’t have increased, but will modernising your lift allow you to reduce them? Newer parts may not need as much maintenance as previous iterations. This is not always the case, but it’s worth speaking to an installation expert so you can incorporate this kind of information into your proposal.
You may not need a new lift to achieve big results. If you want more advice on modernising your lift systems talk to your lift company or contact us today and one of our experts will get in touch to discuss your needs. We can offer advice and solutions for emergency communications, lift monitoring and door safety.