KONE signs multi-year agreement with IBM

Elevator and escalator manufacturer KONE has signed a multi-year agreement with technology giant IBM to provide cloud-based Internet of Things technologies and services.
KONE would tap the "Watson IoT Cloud Platform" provided by IBM to connect and monitor and optimise management of escalators, doors in buildings located worldwide, the company said in a statement.
"The system will analyse vast amount of data from sensors embedded in equipment helping to identify and predict issues and to minimise downtime," it said.
Instead of a customer calling a service engineer, KONE with the tie-up would be able to predict and resolve "selected" technical issues "remotely".

"Our partnership with IBM is exciting and it is an important stepping stone to deliver the best People Flow experience", KONE Corporation President and CEO, Henrik Ehrnrooth said.
Using IBM's open standards-based Watson IoT Cloud Plafform, KONE plans to allow a vast developer eco-system via Application Programming Interfaces, to build new applications, to provide smoother and safer experiences to users.