Nov 3 2012
For the second year running, KONE has been ranked among the top 50 most innovative companies in the world by the U.S.-based business magazine Forbes. KONE is one of two engineering services sector companies that reached the top 50, and remains the only elevator and escalator company ever to have made it to the top 50.
Forbes' ranking is based on a metric called the "Innovation Premium." It is a grade bestowed by Forbes upon a company as a measure of the premium the stock market has placed on the value of the company due to expectations of future innovative products, services, and new markets that will generate even larger income streams.
As the Forbes ranking shows, innovation is one of KONE's key success factors. "KONE is a pioneer within the elevator and escalator industry. We continuously look for opportunities to develop our products, services and processes in order to deliver a better customer and user experience as well as improve our performance in eco-efficiency," says Larry Wash, EVP and Area Director of KONE Americas.
KONE's innovations continue to set benchmarks for the entire elevator and escalator industry, including multiple industry firsts such as:
- Utilizing regenerative drives in elevator solutions in 1991
- Inventing and launching the revolutionary Machine Room-less elevator in 1996
- Developing the KONE EcoMod solution in 2003, which allows escalators to be replaced without removing the truss
- Integrating GPS and work force scheduling technology into service delivery methods in 2003
- Utilizing GPS technology in the management of mobile work force in 2005
- Launching new eco-efficient solutions to further reduce the energy consumption by 50 percent in 2010
- Introducing energy efficient TravelMaster 110 escalator solution to North American market in 2011
- Supply North America's first Jump Lift Elevators in new Toronto Residential Building in 2014.
- KONE has developed an advanced self-climbing elevator, the KONE JumpLift, which increases safety on the construction site, improves cost-efficiency and speeds up construction work.
The list of world's most innovative companies can be viewed on forbes.com.
Source: http://www.kone.com/