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Maintenance in
Internet of Things enabling elevators
condition-based maintenance in service

elevators service
Chia Tai Angus Lai 563
Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Received 11 June 2018
Wei Jiang Revised 15 August 2018
26 September 2018
Antai College of Economics and Management, Accepted 17 October 2018
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, and
Paul R. Jackson
Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how Internet of Things (IoT) technology can enable
highly distributed elevator equipment servicing by using remote-monitoring technology to facilitate a shift
from traditional corrective maintenance (CM) and time-based maintenance (TBM) to more predictive,
condition-based maintenance (CBM) in order to achieve various benefits.
Design/methodology/approach – Literature review indicates that CBM has advantages over conventional
CM and TBM from a theoretical perspective, but it depends on continuous monitoring enhancement via
advanced IoT technology. An in-depth case study was carried out to provide practical evidence that IoT
enables elevator firms to achieve CBM.
Findings – From a theoretical perspective, the CBM of elevators makes business sense. The challenges lie in
data collection, data analysis and decision making in real-world business contexts. The main findings of this
study suggest that CBM can be commercialized via IoT in the case of elevators and would improve the safety
and reliability of equipment. It would, thus, make sense from technological, process and economic perspectives.
Practical implications – Our longitudinal real-world case study demonstrates a practical way of making
the CBM of elevators widespread. Integrating IoT and other advanced technology would improve the safety
and reliability of elevator equipment, prolong its useful life, minimize inconvenience and business
interruptions due to equipment downtime and reduce or eliminate major repairs, thus greatly reducing
maintenance costs.
Originality/value – The main contribution of this paper lies in the empirical demonstration of the benefits
and challenges of CBM via IoT relative to conventional CM and TBM in the case of elevators. The authors
believe that this study is timely and will be valuable to firms working on similar research or
commercialization strategies.
Keywords Condition-based maintenance, Internet of Things, Time-based maintenance,
Corrective maintenance
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Elevators are a common form of infrastructure and are widely used by the general public in
everyday life. Continued maintenance after installation is critical to high operational
reliability. As the reliability of elevators is critical to the safety of people moving from one
place to another, maintenance strategy is an important part of the overall strategy for
ensuring the reliability, safety, and efficiency of elevator systems during long periods of
continuous use (Niu et al., 2008). From the customer’s perspective the two most critical
objectives of elevator maintenance are ensuring safety and reliability; the other objectives
Journal of Quality in Maintenance
include prolonging the useful life of equipment, minimizing inconvenience or business Engineering
interruptions due to equipment downtime, reducing or eliminating major repairs and Vol. 25 No. 4, 2019
pp. 563-588
identifying the probability of fault occurrence and troubleshooting (repair or replacement). © Emerald Publishing Limited
1355-2511
Conventionally, there are two types of elevator maintenance strategy: corrective DOI 10.1108/JQME-06-2018-0049
JQME maintenance (CM), also called reactive maintenance or breakdown maintenance; this
25,4 involves sending service technicians to elevator sites to make repairs once a fault or failure
has been reported; and preventive maintenance (PM), the main objective of PM is to carry
out basic maintenance, repair and replacement of components so as to avoid unexpected
failure during normal operations (Duffuaa et al., 2001; Bengtsson, 2004). The most common
approach of PM is known as time-based maintenance (TBM) or predetermined or scheduled
564 maintenance; under this strategy service technicians are dispatched regularly to elevator
sites to carry out maintenance operations (Mann et al., 1995). TBM can generally be
performed using modularized procedures based on the recommendations of the original
equipment manufacturer (OEM), which will be based on sophisticated scientific and
statistical analysis of historic and design data, as well as on exploiting the knowledge
accumulated by skilled technicians during long service. In most cases TBM is performed at
regular time intervals (Sheu et al., 1995).
The elevator industry has also explored the other type of PM strategy, one can use
information about the condition of a component/system to improve the diagnosis and
prognosis of failures in order to reduce maintenance-related costs. This is known as
condition-based maintenance (CBM) and the fundamental objective is to reduce downtime
and set-up costs ( Jardine et al., 2006; Peng et al., 2010). CBM of complex engineering has
attracted considerable attention from researchers over the past few decades. At the heart
of CBM is the condition-monitoring process, in which signals are continuously monitored
using certain types of sensor or other appropriate indicators (Campos, 2009). The key
assumption behind condition monitoring is that 99 percent of equipment failures are
preceded by certain signs, conditions or indications that a failure is going to occur (Bloch
and Geitner, 1983). This implies that maintenance activities can be performed only when
needed or just before failure incurred (Anderson and Rasmussen, 1999). CBM is already
used in many real-world contexts in aviation, oil-gas refineries, energy, the semiconductor
industry and other fields where there is high investment in heavy engineering equipment.
Investment in CBM in context where there is heavy and costly equipment is a case worthy
of special attention (Peng et al., 2010; Hameed et al., 2010; Hernandez and Labib, 2017). It is
not usually feasible to implement CBM in relatively light engineering systems due to
limitations of technology and the high cost of collecting real-time data. Elevator
equipment is widely installed at distributed locations and there is variation in site
conditions and frequency of use. Deploying CBM without an efficient, effective and
economic continuous monitoring mechanism would be a challenge, so mainstream
methods of maintaining the various components used in the elevator industry still entail
intensive use of manpower.
Over the last few decades the growth of technology has brought about great changes in
maintenance functions (Ahmad and Kamaruddin, 2012a). Nowadays the development
of advanced sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) technology has made the remote
acquisition of condition data much more efficient and economic, which makes the business
case for CBM more attractive than it was before. There have been proposals for many real-
world IoT applications in many industries. The domain covers not just conventional
industrial sectors, but also the consumer industries of everyday life, to which IoT can
bring significant improvements, even new business models (Lai et al., 2016). IoT is a broad
term that is commonly applied to a new technological paradigm that envisions a global
network of machines and devices capable of interacting with each other (Lee and Lee,
2015). In parallel with the very rapid advances in the relevant technology, a common
language has developed to describe the fundamental attributes of IoT technology,
which links real-world objects with the virtual world. This has enabled global and
real-time – mainly wireless oriented – solutions to problems of data collection and
exchange. The IoT has the capacity to provide remote monitoring of an environment,
track objects and ultimately carry out comprehensive analysis of data on the surrounding Maintenance in
environment (Yang et al., 2013; Lai et al., 2016). Thus, the IoT could prove the ultimate elevators
solution for the elevator industry’s maintenance needs, implemented in the form of a CBM service
strategy. The advantage of adopting IoT in elevator CBM is not limited to allowing more
economical real-time, remote monitoring; IoT-based CBM could also offer rapid data
analysis, which would enable decisions about maintenance to be taken quickly and on the
basis of real-time information about the condition of the equipment through the use of 565
advanced cloud computing.
The existing studies of CBM often focus on simulations or statistical models that could
be used to coordinate the maintenance of components under a CBM policy; there has been
little research on scalable ways of coordinating the maintenance of the multiple components
of complex infrastructure equipment. In particular, there is a lack of practical research on
the implementation of CBM using advanced technology in industries such as the elevator
industry. The aim of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of CBM underpinned by
IoT technology for a highly distributed elevator service, as well as analyzing how IoT could
be used to realize CBM and identifying the main benefits relative to conventional CM and
TBM. The main contributions of this paper are: a discussion of existing and potential
approaches to maintenance in relation to CBM and IoT in designated domains, and further
investigation of how IoT can be used in a real-world case – elevator servicing – to implement
effective and efficient CBM. Ultimately, we hope to develop guidance for the elevator
industry to enable it to embrace CBM strategies and design maintenance services based on
IoT technology.
This paper begins with a review of the theoretical foundations of various approaches to
maintenance, including CBM, and maintenance strategies used in the elevator industry. We,
then, describe an in-depth case study of the use of IoT to enable CBM in the elevator
industry, followed by an illustration of the benefits of CBM relative to conventional TBM.
Finally, we review the key findings of the case study and the challenges raised and propose
ways of addressing these challenges, which leads us to identify issues to be addressed in
further research.

2. Theoretical background
This section describes and analyzes existing theories and previous research on IoT, CBM
and the intersection of the two in order to place the research in context and give the reader
an overview of related research.

2.1 Maintenance types

The most commonly used of the various definitions of maintenance is that of the European
Standard SS-EN 13306:2001 for Maintenance Terminology, approved by the European
Committee of Standardization. This defines maintenance as a “combination of all technical,
administrative, and managerial actions during the life cycle of an item intended to retain in
it, or restore it to, a state in which it can perform the required function.” In general,
maintenance strategies can be broadly classified as CM and PM (Duffuaa et al., 2001). CM is
a strategy that is used to restore equipment to full functioning after it has failed, and is also
known as reactive maintenance or on-call service (Blanchard et al., 1995). CM can, for some
situation, be deferred in time if the consequences of a fault do not affect the comprehensive
function of equipment or services, this deferred CM can instead be planned to be executed at
a time more appropriate for productivity capacity. Faults or breakdowns have direct effect
on system downtime, or that are hazardous to safety, or other specific maintenance rules,
must without delay be maintained (Bengtsson, 2004). It is argued that this strategy leads to
long periods of machine downtime and high maintenance costs due to sudden failures
(Tsang, 1995). PM is an alternative to CM; it involves carrying out maintenance activities
JQME before equipment fails. The main objectives of PM are to reduce the frequency of equipment
25,4 failure and thus, reduce failure and maintenance costs and machine downtime as well as
increasing project quality and improving productivity (Usher et al., 1998; Lofsten, 1999).
PM involves maintaining, repairing and replacing components in order to avoid
unexpected failures during normal operations. The objective of any PM strategy is to
minimize the total cost of inspection and repair and to minimize the loss of productivity and
566 business interruptions due to equipment downtime. There are typically two approaches to
PM. The traditional approach is to perform maintenance at scheduled intervals (TBM),
selected on the basis of statistical analyses of equipment failure and reliability; this is also
known as period-based maintenance (Yam et al., 2001). With sophisticated, statistical,
reliability-based analysis, total cost is minimized by establishing a static, statistically
“optimal” maintenance schedule, replacing or overhaul equipment or components at
scheduled intervals (Lawrence et al., 1995). A number of studies have focused on optimizing
this kind of PM schedule to reduce costs while ensuring that normal operations are not
interrupted and service quality is maintained (Yamashina and Otani, 2001a). The second
approach involves sensor-based monitoring of the condition of equipment in order to predict
when machine failure or malfunction is likely to occur. The maintenance schedule is no
longer static or fixed; the objective of CBM is to perform maintenance when needed. The
principle of CBM is that one can use information about the condition of a component/system
to improve the diagnosis and prediction of failures and thus reduce maintenance-related
costs by reducing downtime and set-up costs ( Jardine et al., 2006; Peng et al., 2010), the
summary of maintenance types shown at Figure 1.
A few critical terms commonly used in relation to maintenance strategies need to be
clarified. Asset malfunction conditions are described as “faults” and “failures,” as these two
terms are closely related and can be misused, the International Standards Organization
(ISO) has provided clear definitions of failures and faults in machines (Hitchcock, 2006): “An
engineering asset has a fault if any of its components or subsystems has a behavior or
condition that is below its designated level, but the asset can still perform its principal
functions,” whereas “An engineering asset suffers from a failure when it can no longer
accomplish one or several of its required principal functions.” The terms “diagnostics” and
“prognostics” describe two important aspects of a maintenance program. Diagnostics
deals with fault/failure detection, identification and isolation. Fault/failure detection is
a task which indicates when something is going wrong in the monitored system;
fault/failure isolation involves locating the component that is faulty; fault/failure
identification involves determining the nature of the fault/failure once it has been
detected. Prognostics deals with predicting fault/failures before they occur. Fault/failure
prediction involves determining whether a fault/failure is impending and estimating the
probability that it will materialize and the time at which it will do so ( Jardine et al., 2006;
Bengtsson and Jackson, 2004).

Maintenance Types

Corrective
Preventive Maintenance
Maintenance

Figure 1.
Summary of
maintenance types Deferred (Materials Time-Based Condition-Based
Immediate
Readiness) Maintenance (TBM) Maintenance (CBM)
2.2 Condition-based maintenance (CBM) Maintenance in
CBM has been a research topic since 1975. It was introduced as a more economical and more elevators
effective alternative to traditional maintenance strategies. Due to the massive advances in service
information technology, there is now much more research being done into this area. Compared
with traditional TBM and CM, CBM is more beneficial and realistic (Ahmad and Kamaruddin,
2012b). Preventive strategies are now mainstream in the servicing of industrial products and
machinery; they are gradually replacing CM strategies, also called reactive or unplanned 567
maintenance strategies. Because it is recognized that CM strategies are more expensive, PM
strategy has been recognized as an attractive alternative (Gertsbakh, 1977). A PM strategy
involves undertaking regular, planned maintenance before failure occurs thus avoiding the
costs of unexpected failures ( Jayaswal et al., 2008). According to the literature, maintenance
services must deal with three major problems: planning maintenance work for durable assets
in a complex operational environment; the need to reduce the high cost of labor and spare
parts and the need to avoid the risk of catastrophic failure and eliminate unplanned forced
outages of equipment or systems (Tse and Atherton, 1999). Maintenance based on the actual
condition of assets has been introduced as an alternative to CM and as a PM strategy that
addresses these three problems.
The formal definition of CBM given in the BS3811 British Standard Glossary of
Maintenance Management Terms in Terotechnology in 1993 is that it is a method used to
reduce the uncertainty of maintenance activities, and involves carrying out maintenance
activities according to need as indicated by the condition of the equipment. The key
assumption of CBM is derived from the modeling of the deterioration process and is that
99 percent of equipment failures are preceded by certain signs, conditions or indications
that a failure is going to occur (Bloch and Geitner, 1983). Thus, CBM assumes that there
are indicators that can be used to detect and quantify the possible failure of equipment
before it actually occurs. Prognostic parameters provide an indication of potential
problems and instantly detect faults that would cause the equipment or component to
deviate from the acceptable level of performance (Yam et al., 2001). There is probably
little argument about the definition of CBM; however, there is a considerable body of
research demonstrating the different ways in which it can be applied in real-world cases.
CBM is most commonly implemented in the form of a maintenance program that makes
recommendations about maintenance based on the information collected through
continuous or interval-based monitoring of the condition of equipment, either by local
wired connections or remotely over a wide area or mobile network. According to Jardine
et al. (2006), CBM consists of three main components/steps: data acquisition, data
processing and maintenance decision making. There are amount of literatures which
articulate each of these three major components under CBM related discussions.
For instance, data acquisition is now a popular IoT research area, Hashemian and Bean
(2011) categorized CBM into three sub-groups based on the data acquisition: existing
sensor-based maintenance techniques; test-sensor-based maintenance techniques and
test-signal-based maintenance techniques. Data processing research deals with statistical
analysis and scientific data modeling, and has recently expanded to include the analysis of
“big data,” cloud computing and machine learning. Decision-making research now mainly
involves human behavioral science, integrated with work on machine learning,
organizational behavior and decision support systems (Sabnavis et al., 2004; Tallam
et al., 2007; Lai et al., 2016).
Over the past few decades, researchers have paid considerable attention to CBM of
complex engineering systems. Studies have been undertaken in many industries and
real-world implementations have been in use for many years, in areas such as aviation,
oil-gas refineries, energy, the semiconductor industry and other fields with high investment in
heavy engineering equipment (Ahmad and Kamaruddin, 2012a). The main reason CBM
JQME cannot be deployed more broadly is the investment required to enable the collection of data
25,4 through continuous performance monitoring. At the heart of CBM is the condition-monitoring
process, and CBM requires robust analysis of reliability and financial maintenance data
(Ellis, 2008), such that signals are continuously monitored using certain types of sensors or
other appropriate indicators (Campos, 2009). The development of advanced sensors and IoT
technology means that nowadays the remote acquisition of condition data is much more
568 efficient and economical, which makes the business case for CBM more attractive than it was
before. We can, thus, expect to see CBM more widely deployed in many industries, together
with other advanced technologies (Lai et al., 2016).

2.3 IoT enabling CBM in service business

Service companies are constantly seeking to develop better maintenance strategies with a
view to improving productivity and optimizing maintenance planning. As we saw above,
CBM is considered a more productive and lower cost maintenance strategy from
theoretical perspective, and the underlying assumption of CBM is to understand
equipment or each of components’ useful life and predictive faults and failure under real
conditions basis, and thus can reduce downtime and set-up costs ( Jardine et al., 2006; Peng
et al., 2010). Over the past few decades, CBM has attracted considerable attentions from
researchers interested in potential applications in complex engineering systems. Studies
have been conducted in many industries, and real-world applications of CBM have existed
for years; however, the field of application has been limited to heavy engineering
equipment, such as in aviation, oil-gas refineries, energy, the semiconductor industry and
other fields, where there is high investment in engineering equipment (Anderson and
Rasmussen, 1999; Jardine et al., 2006; Peng et al., 2010). As noted in the introductory
section, the heart of CBM is the condition-monitoring process, in which signals are
continuously monitored using certain types of sensors or other appropriate indicators
(Campos, 2009). However, it may not be feasible to all equipment due to the fact that heavy
first time and on-going cost is associated to continuous monitoring and particularly in
real-time basis. Hence, it is likely that only a limited number of critical components will be
subject to continuous condition monitoring. CM and TBM may still be the optimal way of
maintaining the rest of the components (Alsyouf, 2009).
Many real-world IoT applications have been postulated in many industries: the domain
not only covers conventional industrial sectors, but also the consuming industry of
everyday life, in which IoT can bring significant improvements, even leading to new
business models (Lai et al., 2016). In parallel with the rapid development of the relevant
technology, a common language has been developed to describe the fundamental
attributes of IoT technology, which can be summarized as: IoT is a global and real-time
solution; IoT is mainly wireless oriented and can be used to collect and exchange data; IoT
has the ability to monitor environments and track objects from remote locations; and
IoT can provide comprehensive analysis of data about the surrounding environment
(Yang et al., 2013). Based on trends in technology and previous research, we concluded
that IoT can enhance firms’ value from different perspective, they are enhancing
situational awareness, improving navigation control and automation, reinforcing
monitoring and control, improving the speed and efficiency of decision making by
tracking behavior, optimizing resource planning and enabling information sharing and
collaboration, up to more complex autonomous system and decision support (Chui et al.,
2010; Lai et al., 2016).
Thus, the development of advanced sensors and IoT technology enable the remote
acquisition of condition data much more efficient and economical nowadays, which makes
the business case for CBM more attractive than it was before, IoT could prove the best
way of implementing CBM strategies. The advantages of adopting IoT for CBM are not
limited to the opportunity for more economical real-time, remote monitoring; they include Maintenance in
the capacity for rapid data analysis, which allows maintenance decisions to be made elevators
quickly and on the basis of real-time information about the condition of equipment service
provided by advanced cloud computing. Furthermore, IoT technology might allow firms
to promote integrated product and service operations – for instance, wireless sensor
networks or remote-monitoring systems that consist of distributed autonomous sensor-
equipped devices that monitor physical or environmental conditions and can cooperate 569
with internal systems to monitor the real-time status of a product or equipment, including
variables such as its location, temperature, movement or even component utilization in
order to facilitate better maintenance (Atzori et al., 2010). The true value of IoT for
enterprises will be realized when connected devices are able to integrate with in-house
business intelligence applications, traditional enterprise resource planning and supply
chain systems, collecting big data and business analytics for other decision support
systems (Bradley et al., 2013).
Amount of literatures has shown the increasing trend of embracing IoT with CBM at
both scholarly and practitioner’s discussion. For instance, embedded devices that carry
out real-time monitoring of temperature and thermal humidity could significantly
improve the performance and prognostic capability of the dairy and agricultural
industries. Experimental studies have produced positive results and have led to
real-world applications (Kedari et al., 2018). Thanks to the continual development of IoT
technology, CBM theory is beginning to be used in equipment safety management. An
example of equipment bearing condition maintenance was given to illustrate the
feasibility and the result shows that the IoT-based safety management for equipment
condition maintenance is scientific and feasible; it can facilitate the management of
equipment maintenance and prolong the safe service life of equipment (Song et al., 2011).
Rymaszewska et al. (2017) sought to address how servitization can utilize IoT, which has
the potential to usher in unprecedented innovation in product–service systems.
An analysis of successful implementations of IoT in power generator manufacturing
showed that CBM can be used in larger projects to improve the reliability of the
machinery; while this may increase the company’s maintenance business somewhat, the
main value proposition is for the end customer in the form of lower ownership costs
(Rymaszewska et al., 2017). In Kwon et al.’s (2016) broad discussions on how prognostics
and system health management can enable discipline that used sensors to access the
health of system, diagnose anomalous behavior and ultimately predict the remaining
useful performance over the life of assets.
Our research deals with the use of IoT to enable CBM in the elevator industry. Although
there have been many proposals to apply CBM to elevator servicing over the decades, it was
Lin et al. (2002) who published the first simulation of CBM in the elevator service field.
Lawrence et al. (1995) proposed CBM over statistical-based maintenance in the elevator
industry. Lee et al. (2006) demonstrated CBM using one of the main elevator manufacturers
as a case study. They implemented continuous monitoring of braking systems and the
acceleration and deceleration of elevators to ensure the elevators met high safety standards
in high-rise buildings. The idea was to use product degradation information extracted using
online sensing techniques to minimize system downtime to assess the risk of failure. CBM of
elevators has recently taken off, thanks to the rapid maturation of condition-monitoring
equipment. The cost of collecting data has declined rapidly, at the same time as signal
processing and sophisticated data modeling and analysis have become much faster thanks
to cloud computing. In addition, measurement units are shrinking in size, and the reliability
and durability of monitoring equipment in harsh environments are improving. All these
factors mean the climate is now ripe for the adoption of condition-based elevator
maintenance (Lai et al., 2016).
JQME 3. Methodology
25,4 The study is a single, in-depth case study of a company operating in the elevator industry in
China. We have been investigating this company for more than three years and have published
related research (Lai et al., 2016, 2018a). Our motivation for continuing to study the same
company is that it enables us to carry out in-depth research on certain phenomena in a real-life
context. The company has adopted the most advanced IoT technology, together with
570 sophisticated data modeling, and has the potential to build upon machine learning and artificial
intelligence into a new commercialized service-oriented offering, embedding a CBM strategy
under a new business model. This case is an exceptionally interesting illustration of the
importance of integrating technology and CBM in elevator maintenance, as well as the specific
challenges inherent in IoT and CBM. Here, we describe the continuation of our research; further
analyzing how IoT facilitates the implementation of CBM in elevator servicing. We also
highlight the main benefits of CBM relative to conventional CM and TBM using two years of
real-world data collected from more than six hundred installations at different sites operating
under different conditions using the company’s IoT-connected service.
The data for this research were obtained from a number of sources. First, information
was collected through participatory observation, which involved one of researchers working
with a global elevator company in China, participating in developing an IoT solution for the
company. This meant that it was possible to obtain case study information through direct or
indirect interactions with other stakeholders and gave us insight into the perspective of
various stakeholders. However, we were only able to review the outcome of data analysis
instead of raw data in order to be free of competing interests. We believe that is sufficient
from qualitative research perspective as external interpreters. Second, publicly available
information was collected from the company, including exemplary CBM cases described in
its public documentation and on its website. Third, seven semi-structured interviews were
conducted with company leaders involved in the IoT project, including service operations
executives, an IoT project manager, the service innovation director, a sourcing manager and
service maintenance managers located at various sites. The interviews varied in length but
typically lasted 1 h. Interviews were conducted at various stages of the project: proof of
concept, practical implementation, when customer feedback became available and when the
outcomes of implementations were evaluated. The objective was to gain an understanding
of in-depth contemporary phenomenon, in particular the conceptual design framework and
outcomes of execution. Fourth, we conducted three additional interviews with various IoT
vendors from a digitalization consultancy who help to integrate IoT resources, a software
company that designs user interfaces for coordinating data analysis and maintenance
actions and a global partner providing cloud computing services who provided statistical
analysis and cognitive data modeling. Finally, we were able to review the outcomes of the
analytical modeling, which encompassed more than six hundred installed IoT units running
range from one to two years’ timeframe.
The interviews were conducted as open-ended discussions, rather than in formal
question and answer style. The interviewer began by asking about the participant’s role in
the overall project design, then about his or her main contribution and the progress of the
project, then gradually moved the discussion from the technical aspects of the project to
the commercial factors driving business model value and the underlying challenges. The
interview questions included the following, “What are the main drivers of the value of the
IoT offering in elevator maintenance from the client’s perspective?”; “How do the outcomes
of CBM compare with those of traditional CM and TBM models and what are the challenges
of CBM?”; “Are your clients happy with this service offering in general?” What is the value
you or your clients perceived vs the monetary value paying?’; ‘What do you see as the main
challenges in condition-based elevator maintenance and IoT technology and how do you see
these fields developing in the future?
4. Case description Maintenance in
In this section we describe the case study in greater detail, based on the market assessment, elevators
documentation review, direct observation and outcome of interviews. These various sources service
of data reveal the company’s strategy and managerial implications to IoT–CBM offerings,
as well as their proposed method of creating value internally, for customers and for other
stakeholders. We start by describing the company and case background, then the general
process of elevator maintenance in theory, and finally its IoT offering and the value the 571
company hopes to create through its use of IoT technology.

4.1 Case background

The company we studied is a leading global company based in Europe that provides
solutions for the installation, maintenance and modernization of elevators and escalators. It
has a strong presence in China. In addition to manufacturing elevator equipment in China,
the company is aggressively expanding its service business by providing CM, TBM, major
repairs, retrofits and full replacement service at the end of an installation’s useful life (see
Figure 2). The company installs a lot of its own equipment nationwide, providing a platform
for attracting customers to its service offers. Therefore, company has an incentive to seek
opportunities aggressively in order to expand its service offering for higher revenue from
external, and internally improving service productivity and lowering the cost. As such,
company provides a standard maintenance service, covering basic maintenance and labor,
and a comprehensive maintenance service, covering basic maintenance plus repairs and
spare parts. The company’s new offering is connected services based on a CBM approach,
which customers can purchase in addition to either the standard or comprehensive service
package. CM, TBM and CBM can co-exist; they are not mutually exclusive. In addition to
offering connected services directly, under its own name, the company is also offering open
IoT platform to partnering with independent service companies who are interested in using
the connected service to enhance their own service offerings.
IoT provides an excellent match in terms of realized CBM, as well as testing the new business
model and gaining sustainable competitive advantage. The company chose to work with a
prestigious global player in IoT and cloud computing as a major partner from the co-creation of
value perspective, as well as working with local partners to tailor an elevator service solution
specifically for the Chinese context. Thus, the project represents a joint effort embrace business
ecosystem in IoT context. The expected benefits include the generation of new revenue from a
real-time remote-monitoring service, establishing safety alerts, progress toward a more
advanced, predictive maintenance services and supplementary benefits such as being able to
promote own-brand spare parts and productivity improvements. In addition, the company aims
to develop a lock-in business model through value co-creation efforts to maintain long-term
relationships with customers. Specifically, it hopes to offer tailored services to building owners
that will tie them to the company for major repairs and the full replacement of equipment. This
new service offering will be targeted at a particular segment, namely those customers that have
installed the company’s equipment (installed base), irrespective of whether they have scheduled
service contract with the company or use a third party to service the equipment.

Equipment
Product Development Production Planning Manufacturing Delivery

Service: Corrective and

Full Replacement
Major Repair and Preventive Maintenance, Installation
Figure 2.
Modernization Spare Parts Life cycle of the
elevator business
Source: Lai et al. (2016, p. 49)
JQME 4.2 Elevator maintenance
25,4 As described in Section 1, elevators are a common form of infrastructure encountered by the
general public in everyday life. After-sales service is crucial to the operational reliability of
elevators (Yamashina and Otani, 2001b). As public safety is concerned, maintenance
strategy is an important part of an elevator system; it must ensure that the elevators operate
safely, reliably and efficiently throughout long periods of continuous usage (Niu et al., 2008).
572 Operational safety and reliability are paramount for the owners of buildings where elevator
systems are installed, the facility management company, the tenants and the visitors who
use them (Park and Yang, 2010). There are various key objectives of elevator maintenance
from the customer perspective:
• improve safety and reliability;
• prolong useful life;
• minimize inconvenience or business interruptions due to equipment downtime;
• reduce or eliminate the cost of major repairs; and
• identify the probability of fault occurrence and troubleshoot issues (repair or replacement).
Conventionally, elevator maintenance operations are mainly carried out by maintenance
personnel dispatched regularly to each site. Scheduled maintenance, which is normally
carried out at least once a month, can be categorized into two types: basic maintenance,
comprising works common to all elevators, including cleaning, lubrication and
retightening – these are routine tasks and vary little from one piece of equipment to
another; and preventative maintenance, where the tasks vary greatly depending on the
parts to be maintained and the work required (Imark and Ozkirim, 1999; Luk et al., 1997).
Preventative maintenance is common throughout the world and may be time- or
condition-based. It has been argued that standard TBM is mostly based on OEM
recommendations, which may not be relevant if the objective is to minimize operational
costs while maximizing machine performance (Ahmad and Kamaruddin, 2012a),
particularly given that there is variation in installation environments and frequency of
usage. This variation means that tailored maintenance schedules are necessary. Moreover,
machine designers often have little experience of dealing with machine failures and are less
able to make recommendations for preventing failure than the people who operate and
maintain them (Labib, 2004). Furthermore, it is possible that OEMs and service providers
have a hidden agenda which involves using frequent CM to maximize revenue from the
provision of replacement parts (Labib, 2004; Tam et al., 2006). Because of the problems
inherent in conventional TBM and CM strategies it is now recommended that CBM should
be used to complement these two maintenance strategy in the elevator industry.

4.3 The IoT elevator service offering

IoT has attracted the attention of actors in the technology and business communities, who
eagerly await the unleashing of its full potential. All companies operating in the Chinese
elevator industry, whether global or local players, have started to introduce IoT offerings in
the past two to three years. Their offerings have been focused on connected services that
enable remote monitoring and have been oriented toward improving existing TBM strategy.
All the companies used connected services in a slightly different way, based on their specific
objectives. Some provide connected services to fulfill basic public safety requirements, others
use an IoT platform to attract medium- or small-elevator companies that lack the capacity or
capital investment (Lai et al., 2018a). And the global players are seeking to provide a brand
new offering that incorporates a more predictive CBM service to embrace increasingly
demanding customer needs and having a longer term business model opportunity.
 In our case company, the new offering is intended to increase end-user satisfaction and Maintenance in
reduce complaints, by maintaining the value of assets, prolonging the useful life of equipment, elevators
improving public safety and making the operation of equipment more transparent by service
providing more information. This is summarized in Figure 3.
There are more specific services that the company claimed their clients and stakeholders
should benefit from over the traditional maintenance strategy:
• real-time remote monitoring of elevator equipment; 573
• earlier fault detection and real-time alerts;
• enhanced, faster service from technicians;
• basic PM, repairs or parts replacement that is based on continuous equipment checks
and performance monitoring;
• voice or video communication at remote locations;
• operational analysis and regular reports to all stakeholders, including authorities,
through a mobile device portal or direct interface; and
• user portals that enable clients to understand equipment performance, and thus,
prolong the useful life of assets.
In basic concept of this offering, machines (elevators and escalators) can communicate with
other machines without human intervention, thus, cloud computing and data analysis can
be used to identify situation in which machine failure is likely to issue alerts to a
remote-monitoring center, as shown in Figure 4. Follow-up actions can then to be triggered,
including dispatching service technicians to the site with parts and repair tips in advance of
a failure actually occurring. The user portal allows the client and other stakeholders to
inspect machines before and after the repair or replacement actions.
When it was working on a proof of concept design, the company used a value co-creation
design process to gather input from all its stakeholders. The purpose was to ensure the
project would deliver value for all the stakeholders; for instance, the local authority expected
an IoT–CBM connected service to be able to pass information quickly, and hence, allow
trapped passengers to be rescued quickly as well as reducing the frequency of other safety
incidents. CBM can mean more reliable lifts, which has benefits for public safety. The China
Elevators Association (CEA) believes that IoT–CBM can increase transparency and
improve overall lifts assets management; this should lead to further policy improvements.
Property/facility management companies would be interested in how the IoT–CBM service
could improve elevator reliability and prolong useful life, as well as direct and indirect ways
in which it would allow them to enhance their customers (end-users) satisfaction. All the
players in the IoT ecosystem – remote transmission device providers, system integration

Customer Benefits Operational Benefits Business Model Benefits

(1) Safety enhancement (1) Optimized maintenance planning (1) Long-term customer relationship

(2) Less business interruption (2) Reduce call out rate – minimize (2) Value co-creation with customers
unplanned visit
(3) Prolong assets useful life (3) Differentiation
(3) Preventive repairs
(4) Planned/scheduled down time (4) Improve quality and reliability
(4) Optimized maintenance planning
(5) Asset management – total cost of
(5) New value creation through
ownership (5) Increase customer satisfaction
additional service offering
Figure 3.
Summary of benefits
(6) Analytical information on people (6) Improve communication through offered by IoT
flow professional information
JQME
25,4

Installed Equipment Cloud Computing

574 (with Transmission DTU) Data Analytics
Remote Monitoring Center

Figure 4.
Basic elevator IoT Portal Interface Serv Service Technicians Dispatching Service Technicians
offering activities (Site Conditions and on site
Information)

providers, user-interface software companies, cloud computing and data modeling

companies – have their own business considerations or business models and so creating
a project which allows them to move in the same direction and work toward the same goal
was one of the biggest challenges, according to the company executives we interviewed.
Figure 5 depicts the complex network of activities making up the IoT ecosystem, which need
to be coordinated among the various stakeholders (vendors, other service providers,
customers and authorities).

Cloud
Computing
Real Time
Data/Voice/Video
Data
Transmission
Unit
Installed Real Time
(DTU)
Equipment Status/Faults
Shared
Information
Local Authority
Server

Customers and Call CEA

End-users out/in
CEA
Remote
Monitoring
Job Center

Mobility Tool Customers

Call
out/in

Usage End-users
Figure 5. Statistics
IoT–CBM service Service Technician
Reports
structure and
its ecosystem
Service Firms
5. Case analysis Maintenance in
In the previous sections we have described the various maintenance strategies, CBM, the elevators
principles, general processes involved in IoT–CBM operations as well as the commercial service
considerations. We have also provided background to the case study and set out the main
objectives of the new service offering, which is the subject of this study. Thereby,
information deriving from multiple research methods, we illustrate in greater detail how IoT
can enable CBM in elevator servicing employing the case from an elevator maintenance 575
perspective, drawing on the three main elements of maintenance strategy ( Jardine et al.,
2006): data collection, data analysis/modeling, the decision process. We also analyze the
differences between CBM and traditional CM or TBM and discuss their relative merits.

5.1 Data collection

Data collection is the most important task in any maintenance operation and is always the
most challenging (Waeyenbergh and Pintelon, 2002). There is always a timing effect
concerning data set, regardless of whether one is measuring failure data, operational
information or other predictive parameters. This means that the parameters of interest
always include timing, in seconds, minutes, hours, days or some other unit of time. Our case
study data reveal that only very limited information can be collected using CM, because
extensive data are only collected after equipment failure. Nevertheless, it is still possible to
obtain a limited historical data by downloading data from the control system attached at
equipment. In conventional, preventive TBM, maintenance is performed at specified
intervals or during call-outs for repair. Data can be collected at every visit, but the data set
will still comprise interval data rather than continuous data. Moreover, there are two
fundamental problems with TBM data collection: first, the data may not always be available
or possibly inaccurate due to incorrect recording of sensory effects; second, a considerable
amount of time is required to collect sufficient data points for predictive analysis; in fact
the useful life of certain components may not be long enough to allow sufficient data to be
collected. As we have already noted, TBM mostly relies on OEM recommendations and
experienced technicians’ knowledge of what is required to prevent failures. Each elevator
installation may be subject to different environmental factors, the quality of installations
may vary based on site conditions and all these factors can affect the operation of
equipment and follow-up maintenance. Therefore, CBM is introduced to provide a more
effective and efficient way of handling this variability than traditional TBM or CM. CBM
requires continuous data and until recently continuous performance monitoring was
expensive. Nowadays, advanced information technology, such as IoT, sensory equipment
and cloud computing, has made such monitoring much more economically justifiable in the
case of highly distributed equipment such as elevators and escalators and is ideal for
supporting a CBM strategy.
The IoT system used in our case study can monitor up to 200 critical elevator parameters
in real time and more than 100 escalator parameters. These parameters include door
operations, numbers of starts, stopping accuracy, operating direction (up or down),
vibration and noise, braking distance, step chain speed and tension (escalator), deceleration
time and many mechanical and engineering statistics; the critical parameters measured
shown in Figure 6 for elevators and escalators, respectively. A smart data transmission unit
(DTU) that can be attached to the control system for each elevator has been installed. This
can collect real-time data and transmit them to the cloud at up to 200 times in a second in
three ways: the installation site can be equipped with a wired or wireless local area network
(LAN); the site can be connected through an Access Point Name (APN) using a 2G/3G/4G
mobile network signal and data can then be transmitted through the mobile network to the
cloud; and if neither the mobile network nor LAN is available or the mobile signal is too
weak, a sub-district network can be introduced. Access to the internet is enabled by wireless
JQME LAN and DTUs via a network of wireless transmitters and wireless relays. A sub-district
25,4 local network consists of g50 elevators or escalators, which are then connected directly to
the internet through DTU, with only one data flow for each group of up to 50 elevators. This
is the most cost-effective solution if there is a high density of elevators in a building or a
group of buildings, such as subway stations, shopping malls, schools, groups of residential
buildings, etc. Figure 7 illustrates the different methods of uploading data to the cloud.
576 Data security is ensured because the connections between the cloud and elevator sensors
are encrypted and required authentication. When working with cloud partners the company
adopts secure software development methods for working in embedded systems and for
software development.

5.2 Data analysis/modeling

Data analysis is the process by which data about the condition of equipment are cleaned and
used in calculations and modeling to generate information that can be used to formulate
action plans and take decisions. This is also a common theme in TBM concerning elevators
the company analyzes data on the timing of failure to uncover trends and identify predictors
of failure based on data gathered during scheduled repairs or component replacement.
Maintenance decisions are based on failure time analysis, which assumes that the failure
behavior of the equipment is predictable. This assumption is based on reliability theory with
respect to the Weibull distribution and bathtub curve assumption, as shown in Figure 8
(Ebeling, 1997; Hameed et al., 2010). The Weibull distribution is a life distribution that is
widely used in reliability analysis. It is very flexible and can, with an appropriate choice of
parameters, be used to model many types of failure behavior (Hameed et al., 2010). The
bathtub curve assumes that the rate of failure of equipment decreases during the early part
of the life cycle (burn-in), becomes near-constant (useful life) and then increases toward the
end of life cycle (wear-out), until failure actually occurs. As elevators are complex
multiple-component systems, the OEM will specify a design lifetime for all the critical
components based on multiple reliability distribution theories and this information can be
used to formulate a maintenance strategy. The design lifetime is the time within selected
duty that the product fulfills its intend performance with defined reliability range, when

Position and movement in shaft Usage statistics (people counter)

Travel mileage and drive time Braking distance
Doors opening and closing behavios Step chain speed
Push button functioning
Step chain tension
Figure 6. Stopping accuracy and stopping behavior
Operation direction and running time
Critical parameters Usage statistics and condition
Vibration and noise temperature
Indirect door usage and condition
measured for both Power consumption
Pressure, temperature and humidity measurement
elevators and Car cage phone and video image Deceleration time
escalators Ride comfort measurement Speed (handrail matching with step speed)
Braking distance and stability Safety switch control

Sub-district LAN

Transmitter

2G/3G/4G and LAN Relay

Relay

Figure 7. Transmitter
Methods of uploading
data to the cloud
Transmitter
 Failure Maintenance in
rate elevators
Burn-in Useful life Wear-out
service

577

Time t Figure 8.
Bathtub curve
Equipment operating life (age)

design lifetime exceeds, component’s performance starts to fall into wear-out phase.
Furthermore, equipment designed lifetime matches to intended market conditions, customer
segments and it align with corresponding elevator equipment solutions and processes. For
instance, safety gear designed for 13 years in standard duty load and not much different
among low duty to heavy duty. The design lifetime of drive belts of landing doors is more
variable, ranging from eight years under standard duty to four years under heavy duty. The
reliability of traveling cable has even wider variation, ranging from 25 years under standard
use to 4 years under extra-heavy duty. All these design lifetimes provide basic assumption
to formulate standard and planned maintenance. However, because elevators are installed in
dispersed and different environments with varied installation quality and operating
conditions. These varied conditions influence the useful life of standard components, the
assumptions on which design lifetimes are based may not always apply in practice. Trend
analysis or statistical modeling cannot assume constant operating conditions (Mann et al.,
1995). Constant operation conditions may not represent the actual conditions of the
equipment during real operations, and therefore preventative maintenance still relies on the
knowledge and decision making of skilled and experienced service technicians undertaking
regular periodic maintenance. Expert interviews also revealed that in the elevator and
escalator industry it is standard to offer a one-year comprehensive warranty covering labor
and materials; this allows owners to avoid the financial risks associated with possible early
burn out of components or initial commissioning phase adjustment to site conditions.
CBM is based on the principle that it is possible to determine the condition of equipment
by analyzing up-to-date data on certain parameters. In our case, we observed that cloud
computing partners, using sophisticated data modeling together with machine learning and
AI systems, are capable of analyzing various forms of data collected from the cloud,
including acoustic data (noise), numerical values, temperatures, waveforms and multi-
dimensional engineering data. In addition to data analysis modeling and machine learning
enablement, noise of data needs to be eliminated or minimized during the analytic process,
as well as considering OEM recommendations and expert knowledge. Ultimately, data can
be converted into useful information that can be used in subsequent decision making.
Figure 9 illustrates an example that by analyzing the continuous data tracking for elevator,
breaking noise can have early detection for predictive actions to minimize the occurrence of
faults or failure.

5.3 Decision-making actions

The decision process consists of using information obtained from analytical modeling
or intelligent predictive decision support systems to take decisions about maintenance.
JQME
25,4 Noise Level A break adjustment
was suggested as a
Real time data preventive procedure
showed braking during a maintenance
noise level peaks visit

578

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Time t

Figure 9. Elevator noise

PM – braking noise back to normal
adjustment levels

The main objective is to avoid machine failure causing an interruption to business or a

safety incident, while also minimizing unplanned maintenance, which is undesirable from
the service firm’s perspective.
In preventive maintenance, fundamental in theory aims to optimize planned maintenance
and minimize the frequency of maintenance intervals, at the same time achieving the
avoidance of machine downtime, reducing maintenance costs and prolonging the useful life
of the asset. However, as discussed earlier, the service firm may having hidden agenda to
increase revenue by replacing spare parts more frequently. Because elevators used daily by
the general public safety is critical, so maintenance decisions are governed by two
principles. First, they must comply with mandatory regulations. For instance, in China
(Special Equipment Safety Supervision Regulation, State Council Order No. 549, 2009; Lift
Maintenance Regulation, 2017) bi-monthly maintenance checks are mandatory, although a
few cities are already considering whether this requirement could be relaxed where real-time
monitoring and CBM are in place. Second, there is a need to consider OEM
recommendations, which are based on historical failure data and statistical simulations,
plus the knowledge of experienced and skilled engineers. There are pre-defined, standard,
modular elevator and escalator maintenance procedures, which vary from company to
company based on the company’s understanding of the different types of manufacturing
equipment design and installation quality, such as basic inspection modules, door operator
modules, landing door modules, machinery modules, control panel modules and
signalization modules, inter alia, all have to be examined on every standard maintenance
visit or every other visit, depending on the planned maintenance schedule, as well as during
occasional unplanned, urgent call-outs for repairs or component replacement. All these
maintenance decisions not only affect the cost of maintenance directly, they also affect the
final price the end customer is charged for a service package. Most companies offer several
service packages at different prices: standard maintenance, comprehensive maintenance
(covering both labor and material) and call-out maintenance (charges based on the work
carried out).
In CBM maintenance in our case, decision making, particularly concerning prognostics,
can be accomplished through deterioration modeling, using both current condition
evaluation-based (CCEB) and future condition prediction-based (FCPB) methods. Thus, we
use one of the installed elevator real cases as an example (see Figure 9), representing a Maintenance in
typical CCEB situation. Real-time monitoring detected an increase in the background elevators
noise level and although this does not affect the normal operation of the equipment, the service
decision-making system nevertheless suggested that adjustments should be made at the
next regular maintenance visit, based on these data. Another example of CCEB is shown
in the left-hand box of Figure 10. The condition-monitoring system detects unusual
opening and closing of the elevator doors; the system continues to track the irregularity 579
and evaluates when to trigger maintenance action, system has to analyze the condition
either reparable or irreparable before maintenance action can be carried out when
necessary or planned. The right-hand box of Figure 10 illustrates a system for calculating
the frequency of unusual door opening and closing; the monitoring system also predicts
the trend in this system behavior, in this instance it predicts that there is a high
probability of breakdown in the next few days. This would be risky for passengers, so the
system immediately triggers planned maintenance action designed to avoid the predicted
safety incident. This is an example of the FCPB approach. The limitation of CCEB is that
there may not be sufficient time for planned maintenance if the evaluation shows that the
equipment has already reached or exceeded the failure threshold; on the other hand, the
limitation of FCPB is that predictions of the trend are based solely on the most up-to-date
data set, and thus observing a clean data set based on the real condition in real time is
mandated, otherwise unplanned maintenance will be carried even more frequently than
the predetermined TBM level if the data noise is deemed unacceptable. However, the
challenge lies in the real world there will be noise in the data when unforeseen external
forces, such as passengers forcing doors open when the elevator is still running, or
touching the stop button when an escalator is running in normal conditions, trigger
instantaneous failure signals.

5.4 Comparison of corrective, time-based and condition-based maintenance

In this section we use two real elevator system cases to compare CBM based on an IoT-based
remote-monitoring service with conventional CM and TBM. The data-based prognostic
capabilities of the new CBM service allow detection of faults or failures via an IoT-based
remote-monitoring system, which should – in theory – mean a more efficient and effective
response to site conditions than conventional, labor-intensive approaches to maintenance.
Figure 11 depicts a case of an elevator fault or failure at an installation unit. Under the
traditional approach, the customer will react by calling the elevator hotline as soon as
possible and the service company call center will respond by sending a service technician to
the site. Usually customers have insufficient knowledge to describe clearly what
components and parts of the system have failed or malfunctioned. The service technician
has to travel to the site, carrying diagnostic tools and assess the condition of the system on
site, then report back by mobile phone, requesting the delivery of spare parts to the site.
A service technician visits later to carry out repairs.

Failure Zone Failure Zone

Take Elevator failure, Detect Irregularity

maintenance
Operation Zone action
breakdown or Operation Zone of landing doors
malfunction open and close

Figure 10.
Condition Trend
Condition Trend

Frequency of
Irregularity
increases
Current condition
Predict the trend
evaluation-based
Detect irregularity Detect Irregularity
(CCEB) and future
of landing doors
open and close
of landing doors
open and close
Take maintenance
action
condition prediction-
based (FCPB) elevator
maintenance
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
JQME CBM with an IoT-connected service would provide a much better service. The remote
25,4 system would detect the failure almost in real time and without human intervention. The
system would then trigger maintenance action, either urgent or deferred, based on the actual
operating condition of the equipment. Detailed machine information would be sent
simultaneously to the service technician’s hand-held device and the spare parts delivery
center. Because the spare parts will be available when the technician arrives on site, the
580 technician will be able to carry out repairs straight away. The system is different from
traditional CM in being based on analysis of data by a smart system rather than diagnosis
by a human technician. It is, thus, more efficient and effective, and equipment can be
returned to normal operation more rapidly. By the same token, the cost of maintenance is
much lower from the service firm’s perspective.
Figure 12 demonstrates the advantages of CBM over TBM. Essentially, CBM triggers
maintenance actions based on up-to-date information about the actual condition of
equipment, whereas TBM involves carrying out maintenance actions according to a
predetermined schedule. Under both systems a breakdown triggers an urgent visit, but
under CBM the visit will be more productive (see Figure 11). If clients adopt CBM then
service technicians’ visits will be determined by the operational condition of the installation,
but they will carry out routine inspections when they do visit, thus reducing the overall cost
of maintenance and making the running of equipment more effective. In summary, CBM is
more data driven which exploits a solution addressing targeted and tailored actions based
on the real needs of operational equipment.

6. Case managerial implications and challenges

The research presented in this paper explores the potential benefits of CBM underpinned
by IoT technology for a highly distributed elevator service. Interviews and empirical
observations suggested that there are also a number of challenges to be tackled. The aim
of this section is to discuss what the case study suggests is the main challenge
of IoT–CBM applications, as well as the managerial implication for options to overcome
these challenges:
• Maintenance optimization: our case study reveals that CBM has advantages over
conventional CM and TBM when it comes to elevator maintenance. However, our
interview data suggest that the various maintenance strategies are not mutually

Condition-based maintenance with IoT connected service

System detect System sends Fix problem with

elevator detail information Technician travel System back
to site spare parts to Operation
breakdown to technicians readiness
Timing (hours)

System Center react and Technician travel

Figure 11. breakdown, send technician Technician travel Technician access
Waiting for spare
parts deliver to to site with spare
Repair and System back
to Normal
to site the situation remove the issues
IoT–CBM vs CM customer call on site site parts
Conventional corrective (call-out) maintenance

Condition-based maintenance with IoT connected service

Repair landing Control system Urgent visit Repair landing Repair engine
doors curtain of fault adjustment + due to braking doors button + parts + machine
light failure inspection failure basic inspection inspection

Basic inspection Basic inspection Basic Inspection Basic inspection Basic Inspection Basic inspection
Figure 12. Door operation Machine Door operation
Urgent visit
due to braking Machine Door operation Machine
IoT–CBM vs TBM Landing door Control system Landing door failure Control system Landing door Control system

Preventive time-based maintenance

 exclusive: CBM is an optional service that companies can adopt and it is becoming Maintenance in
more economically feasible to use the IoT technology on which CBM relies in elevators
business contexts. We argue, therefore, that CBM and TBM can be complementary service
rather than alternative services, for the purpose of resource optimization. For
example, Figure 9 shows that although the analysis of real-time data indicates an
increasing noise level, the increase is not sufficient to trigger immediate maintenance
action. It is, therefore, sufficient to notify the service technician via his or her portable 581
device that a braking adjustment is needed on the next scheduled maintenance visit.
The managerial implication is that CBM should be considered carefully and not
regarded as a panacea; managers seem keen to use CBM alongside other maintenance
strategies in order to optimize overall resource use.
• Data integrity: CBM relies on the availability of valid, clean data sets; without such
data the analyses on which decisions about maintenance are based cannot be
undertaken. CBM requires both structure and anomalous patterns in the data to the
failure mode and makes connection to the underlying physical equipment, data need
to be screened to avoid spurious patterns of correlations. Unfortunately, there is no
such thing as a clean data set and so dealing with noise and outliers is the biggest
challenge to implementing CBM in real-world conditions. Elevators are used in
everyday life in multiple locations and situations; not every elevator operates in a
clean, well-organized and safe environment. Analysis of data and direct observation
indicates that passengers frequently use elevators or escalators in unforeseen ways,
for example forcing doors open or closed, damaging buttons, running in the opposite
direction on escalators, overloading equipment, damaging it with extraneous objects,
pouring water into electrical parts, etc. All these unpredictable actions will cause
unusual signals in data and they are difficult to identify using remote-monitoring
systems. As far as possible, these data must be eliminated from statistical modeling,
otherwise the predictions underlying recommendations for PM, particularly
predictions about components’ useful life, will be inaccurate and hence, lead to
inappropriate recommendations for maintenance activity. Figure 13 illustrates the
concept that the case study company is working with partners to find ways in which
cognitive and machine learning systems can identify these outliers; it is hoped that
eventually self-learning systems will be developed and predictions about the future
condition of equipment will become more accurate.
• Data acquisition: real-time data collection is one of the value drivers of elevator CBM,
these data set could include both voice and video in addition to text data. However, it
is important to consider the cost-benefit justification for 24 h seven days “real-time”
monitoring of all data formats. For instance, if passengers are trapped inside an
elevator the system must treat this as high priority and trigger an urgent reaction,
because of the public safety implications. Under this safety related incident, real-time
video monitoring could be the utmost solution which complement other maintenance
strategy. In reality, transmitting text format signals via mobile access points (APN) is
affordable, and can enable the cloud to alert the service center to a possible major
system breakdown, transmitting voice data costs more, but the costs may be
acceptable in urgent cases. Video services may cost much more at current stage and
so, real-time 24/7 video monitoring may not be cost-effective or financially viable
unless there is a local Wi-Fi network available. Hence, company treat voice and video
as an optional connected service and is up to customers to decide based on specific
needs and local network condition. There is an implication that ultimately technology
development may enable faster mobile networks becoming available or carrier costs
are significantly lower.
 25,4

582

integrity
JQME

Figure 13.
Analyzing data
Count
30 Count
30 70 45
120
25
100
20
80
15 Moter temp running 60
10
40
5
0 60 44 high, 20
0

25 It is reported that
50 43
running mode
changed during
electrician on-site
20 40 42

Man walking by

GBTEMPAVG
Man walking by

PASSENGERCOUNT

GBVIBFORWARDRMS
30 41

15
Vibration Pattern Change on Friday
Morning 20 40

Some operation change on running mode,

10 to be further studied 10 39

2017-06-15 2017-06-16 2017-06-17 2017-06-18 2017-06-19 2017-06-20 2017-06-21 2017-06-22 2017-06-23 2017-06-24 2017-06-25 2017-06-26 2017-06-15 2017-06-16 2017-06-17 2017-06-18 2017-06-19 2017-06-20 2017-06-21 2017-06-22 2017-06-23 2017-06-15 2017-06-16 2017-06-17 2017-06-18 2017-06-19 2017-06-20 2017-06-21 2017-06-22 2017-06-23 2017-06-24 2017-06-25 2017-06-26
00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00
SEND_TIME SEND_TIME SEND_TIME

Count
68 Count
24
200
150
50
100
40 50
30 0

20
66 22
10
0

64 20

62 18

GBVIBLATERALRMS
HANDRALTEMPLEFTINFRAREDAVG

60 16

58 14

2017-06-16 2017-06-17 2017-06-18 2017-06-19 2017-06-20 2017-06-21 2017-06-22 2017-06-23 2017-06-24 2017-06-25 2017-06-26 2017-06-27 2017-06-19 2017-06-20 2017-06-21 2017-06-22 2017-06-23 2017-06-24 2017-06-25 2017-06-26 2017-06-27 2017-06-28 2017-06-29 2017-06-30 2017-06-15 2017-06-16 2017-06-17 2017-06-18 2017-06-19 2017-06-20 2017-06-21 2017-06-22 2017-06-23 2017-06-24 2017-06-25 2017-06-26
00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00 00.00.00

SEND_TIME SEND_TIME SEND_TIME

944 Count
Count
28
50 200
40 150
30 Power overshoot during start 100
50
20 0
10
942
0 26

940 Normal running range 24

938 22

GBVIVERTICALRMS
HANDRALANBTEMPLEFTAVG

Equipment Stopped
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• Data availability: the challenges of collecting data in real time are probably less Maintenance in
critical, if data is available. Measuring the condition of equipment in real time to elevators
support decision making remains a particular challenge if needed data is not service
available at current setup. The expert interviews we carried out revealed that the best
way to determine what data need to be collected by experimenting continuously,
finding more patterns through data modeling, learning from failures or faults not
detected by existing models and implementing corrections on the fly. As an example, 583
in traditional time-based elevator maintenance the technician needs to carry tools to
measure when the elevator balancing rope needs to be replaced, as well as have the
experience and knowledge to use them and interpret the results. Teams are now
analyzing installing a few more sensors in the shaft to measure steel balancing rope
tension, which would allow a remote-monitoring center to infer the condition of the
rope. It implied that as IoT–CBM gets along the way, more and more data must be
obtained with additional sensors installed. As another example, installing infrared
sensors in elevator cage makes it possible to identify the number of passengers in the
car cage on a continuous basis and these data can be used to analyze the flow of
people and elevator usage and to determine whether there are passengers inside the
cage in the event of power outage. Additionally, by installing additional counter
sensors on an escalator, it enables measuring the number of people and establishing
the load on the escalator; at the same time it provided additional people flow analysis
so that the client could understand the dynamics of escalator traffic and use this
information to redesign the transportation flow. All these examples reveal that when
there are insufficient data currently, by obtaining more data, CBM can learn and thus,
handle more situations concerning the actual conditions of equipment, and become
more adequate for commercialized application.
• Data analysis/modeling: data can be collected from the main control box in
elevators with a few dozen sensors and detectors pre-installed in the standard
elevator. These data are transmitted to the cloud in real time, but the challenge is to
identify useful patterns in the immense volumes of data gathered. The concept of
an IoT has become popular, but it only becomes really exciting when some
intelligence is applied to the process of linking data computing and analyzing in the
cloud. The single most important element of CBM is converting data into
information that can be used in decision making, and this remains a major
challenge. Taken from our interview, company expect to advance elevator services
toward a more predictive basis, which depends on the accumulation of data over
time, sophisticated data modeling and the latest AI machine learning technology.
This capability is probably the most valuable driver in IoT–CBM, but we believe
this still in the early stage and needs time to develop.
• Investment in knowledge and skill: IoT makes CBM of elevators possible; however,
company believes that to promise full CBM is still ahead of road to go, and the main
limiting factor is the lack of human capital to develop, validate and maintain the
models necessary for prognostics. These models require not only conventional
industry specific engineering and innovation competence, but also expertise in IoT
technology, data modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence, which the
company currently lacks. From workforce perspective, they also require a suite of
new skills for which the current service fleet is not necessarily ready. CBM would
make some basic service technicians’ skills redundant as diagnoses would be carried
out by machines; some decision making and data analysis could well be done better
by machines than by humans. As such, one of managerial implications is to invest
new suite of knowledge and skills under IoT–CBM environment.
JQME • Business model perspective: one of biggest challenges for IoT business models in
25,4 other industries has been realizing the potential business value of IoT in real-life
contexts (Leminen et al., 2014). IoT will provide a breakthrough if and only if it
provides customers with clear benefits, so that business models can be monetized
(Leminen et al., 2012). In our elevator CBM case, the company had solid business
applications linked to its core competences; the challenge was convincing clients and
584 other stakeholders of the added value, so that they would be willing to pay for the
new service. During our interviews, customers constantly asked “Is this new offering
really for my benefit or is it for your company’s benefit?”, “The money I already pay
for your service should include high quality and safety standards, so why should I
pay more?” and “If this will improve your productivity why not pass on some or all of
the savings to me?” Companies may approach the commercialization of IoT solutions
from different perspectives, depending on the environment in which they operate. IoT
is a relatively new technology and at present there is no way of telling which model
will achieve the greatest customer acceptance. This is why the case company
believed that there was still a need for trial-and-error adjustment in testing market
acceptance. The managerial implication for overcoming this challenge was to have
value design tailored to customers’ specific needs based on value co-creation with
customers or other stakeholders (Lai et al., 2018b).
• Ecosystem perspective: IoT is moving into a new phase, shifting from being used in
traditional industries, with a product focus, to service-centric industries, of which the
elevator service industry is a good example. The company has maintained its
firm-centric perspective for decades, and may not have expertise in IoT ecosystem
technology and management so shifting from a company-based business model
to an ecosystem business model could be a challenge, regardless of which
commercialization strategy is employed (Lai et al., 2018a). We argue that one of the
main challenges the company encountered was integrating the business network at
the ecosystem level rather than drawing on its own firm-centered competences. It is
critical to the business model that the company is able to ensure that all the actors
within the business ecosystem share a common goal from value design perspective.

7. Conclusions
IoT is changing our world and has great potential as a digital disruptor. It could have a huge
impact on the physical world, improving operations and reducing costs, creating new
products and business models and driving engagement and customer experience. Recent
advances in IoT technology have provided economic and effective ways for industry to
move toward continuous performance monitoring solutions. Performance monitoring,
particularly on a real-time basis, is the key element in the shift from conventional TMB to
CBM. The main factor limiting the implementation of CBM is that the required monitoring
system is too sophisticated to be implemented or too expensive. Hence, CBM has had very
limited application so far, specifically, it has been used in aviation, oil-gas refineries, the
energy sector, the semiconductor industry and other sectors where there is high investment
in heavy engineering equipment. In these sectors, it is worth investing in expensive
performance monitoring systems because CBM helps to maintain equipment in good
condition and prolongs its useful life.
Elevator equipment is installed in millions of dispersed locations and is used by many
people in everyday life. Maintenance is critical to ensure the equipment operates smoothly
and safely. From a theoretical perceptive, adopting CBM is more realistic and beneficial than
TBM or CM in elevator servicing. However, in the business environment it is both difficult
and expensive to implement CBM for elevator servicing due to the challenges of collecting
continuous data for predictive modeling cost-effectively. Nonetheless, the spread of IoT has Maintenance in
the potential to make continuous monitoring much more feasible and affordable than it was elevators
decades ago. service
In this paper, we illustrate the potential benefits and advantages of CBM underpinned by
IoT technology for a highly distributed elevator service over TBM and CM through
empirical commercial demonstrations. We conclude that CBM is no longer confined to the
realms of theory and academic research; thanks to technological advances, it can now be 585
implemented in a commercial environment. The elevator service industry used to focus on
field service offerings, but is now shifting to analytics and new types of experience, with a
win–win situation for all related stakeholders. It is finding better ways to deliver, operate,
communicate and tailor its services to customers, with the aim of ensuring greater safety
and comfort. We have discussed various challenges and limitations relating to data
collection, data integrity, data analysis and modeling. There is scope for further research in
these areas and into the development of CBM business models and ecosystems from both
scholarly and practical perspectives. Our main conclusion is that IoT-based CBM will have
significant influence on the implementation of elevator equipment maintenance realizability
assessment, prediction, risk mitigation and will ultimately lead to the creation of new
business opportunities and business models. We remain positive and will continue research
in the elevator servicing sector, with a view to contributing further to practical and
academic knowledge.

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Corresponding author
Chia Tai Angus Lai can be contacted at: [email protected]

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