Otis says service business set to lift off

Otis Elevator (China) Investment Co Ltd said on Monday that it plans to expand its footprint in the elevator maintenance and service business in China, because that the sector was poised for higher growth than the new elevators and escalators market.


OCL President Tony Black said his group was hiring more staff, including service technicians and supervisors. The company already has more than 300 service branches and service stations across China, but the figure is expected to increase 15 to 20 percent each year.


"Service is in our DNA," Black said.


"We have a very professional service team both here and abroad and we are expanding that team so that they are very close to customers and can respond quickly."


Black, a company veteran with more than 30 years experience with Otis and its parent United Technologies Corp, said despite high growth in China, the world's biggest elevator market, only 10 to 15 percent of sales to date has been generated annually by the service segment. That was, he said, in contrast to the much higher percentage for that segment of the business found in the other mature and international lift markets.


Analysts have estimated that there are 4 million elevators and escalators installed and operating today in China, giving a huge impetus to the service business, which has enjoyed double-digit growth in China, compared with only single-digit growth for installations of new units.


Zhang Lexiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Elevator Association, said revenue generated from servicing lifts accounted for a small part of the market in China, while service work in the elevator and escalator markets in the US and Europe accounted for more than two-thirds of total revenue.


The article transsshipment from China Daily