About one year ago, we all encountered an extraordinary moment in time when Covid-19 caused life as we knew it to suddenly shut down. We at D&D took this as a challenge: to do all we could to ensure that your elevators would not.

We were determined to continue fulfilling D&D’s purpose and mission: to provide our family of customers with the highest degree of safety, reliability, service and peace-of-mind with regard to their elevators, even in this most difficult of environments. And now, together, we’ve made it through the year and Spring is upon us. The communal mood is improving and the future is appearing a good deal brighter. So, after a quick look back, here is an optimistic look forward at a number of important ways you can prepare for the future as we begin to evolve into the post-Covid world.

During the past year, without interruption, we remained open for business without any change to our hours of operation. Our responsiveness to emergencies continued as usual, with our mechanics strictly following safety guidelines and wearing protective gear as prescribed by the Center for Disease Control and N.Y. State. And, now, we reaffirm our strong commitment to these standards as we work our way toward the eventual wind-down of the pandemic, with the wellbeing of you, your property, your tenants, their visitors and the mechanics always front-and-center in whatever we do.

Tips for the Months Ahead

• Now is an ideal time to address any outstanding violations that need to be removed, especially if they involve issues of safety, reliability, and, ultimately, tenant satisfaction.
  
  
• Consider an upgrade to your lobby and cab aesthetics, to remain competitive in the rapidly-evolving real estate market
  
  
• In a similar vein, consider upgrades using technologies that support passenger safety while enhancing your property’s reputation and market value. New technologies are rapidly emerging, alongside already-available approaches such as HEPA and UV air filtration and sterilization, touchless buttons, voice-controlled operation and more. D&D currently offers several such solutions to its customers, which you can see by going HERE
  
  
• Consider providing signage in lobbies, cabs and on landings, promoting safe passenger behavior (masking, distancing, avoiding conversation, self-limiting the number of passengers, loading in a checkerboard pattern). You can work with your tenants to stagger arrival and departure times to help avoid crowded cabs.
  
  
• Toward this same end, if yours is a multi-elevator property, consider upgrading to a system that monitors and controls elevator traffic based on time-of-day and prevailing conditions:
  
  • Destination Dispatch: an optimization technique in which passengers heading to the same destinations use the same elevators, thereby reducing cab crowding, waiting and travel times
  • Lobby Boost: Uses destination dispatching only in the lobby

We miss you and eagerly look forward the day when we’ll once again be able to see each other face-to-face: at conventions, outings and social occasions, over a meal or cocktail, and visits at your place of business. In the meanwhile…

Talk To Us – We Can Help!

Chat with our friendly team about how we can assist you in being properly prepared for the times to come. Call (914) 347-4344 for a free, no-obligation review!

Bob	Michael	Nunzio
and the D&D Team

For you as a property owner or manager, there exist many reasons why modernizing your elevators is desirable or a necessity. “Desirable” upgrades include enhancing performance, making your elevators more energy efficient, and creating “peace of mind” by heading off potential shutdowns and unexpected expenses. Also included is aesthetically and functionally modernizing your elevators to delight and retain your current tenants and attract new ones. But upgrading becomes “urgent” when it involves correcting matters of tenant dissatisfaction, system dependability, code compliance, violation removal, and, far above all, safety.

Of course, we at D&D are aware that money is always a consideration and modernizations are not always planned for, or “in the budget.” Therefore, we have created a plan for you to upgrade your elevators and enjoy the benefits without a major one-time budget hit.

Upgrading, One Step at A Time

In most cases, with an eye on practical capital planning, D&D can help you implement an upgrade program over a period of time, spaced over 3-5 years. How the stages are strategized depends on the priority of your needs and budgetary considerations. This can help you achieve the ongoing benefits of an upgrade, including resulting cost savings and efficiencies, while comfortably managing your financial resources and business considerations.

These are some suggested early-stage upgrades:

• To meet the current moment, consider upgrades that address Covid-19 safety and make your property known for its concern regarding the health and well-being of its tenants, visitors and service technicians. D&D offers a number of Covid safety solutions, viewable here
• If your elevators do not exhibit any obvious mechanical or safety issues, but do suffer from outdated cab interiors, this may be among the first upgrades to consider. Your cabs can be redesigned / remodeled without needing major work on any other components of your systems.
• The majority of shutdowns result from problems surrounding the doors, since they wear much more quickly compared with the rest of the elevator. Proactively upgrading your elevators’ door systems is a meaningful step toward preventing future problems, including possible passenger entrapment. If your doors are already causing shutdowns, the system should be upgraded immediately.
• If yours is an older building with an obsolete, single speed AC traction system that relies on mechanical brakes to stop the car, you should consider an upgrade as soon as possible, especially if your elevator is having difficulty leveling. This is a code violation and a dangerous tripping hazard that will steadily grow worse and should be eliminated. The best solution is an upgrade to a modern VVVF (Variable Voltage-Variable Frequency) control system that employs electrical stops to always land the elevator at floor level within tolerances of 1/4 inch. 

If your elevators are constantly breaking down and causing repeated call-backs, or they have aged more than 12-15 years without a significant upgrade, it’s time to consider at least some immediate action to avoid major problems, and strategize a phased modernization plan over the next several years. 

D&D Can Help!

Call us for a free evaluation of your elevator systems and developing an upgrade plan customized to your specific needs and financial considerations. Regardless of the path you choose, or the size of your upgrade, your job will require permits and inspections, with which D&D will assist you. We stand ready to serve you at (914) 347-4344

For property owners and managers providing elevator service to their tenants, it’s an open-and-shut fact that 80-90% of potential problems are attributable to the doors. The reasons for this are several and readily apparent. Aside from unpredictable and hopefully rare vandalism, passengers routinely bash into the doors with all manner of objects, hold the doors open and jam things into the mechanism to prevent them from closing. But above all it’s that the doors operate two times as often as the elevator itself, since with each run, they open and close twice. The door equipment tends to reach end-of-life in half the amount of time as the rest of the elevator and becomes increasingly troublesome along the way, exposing occupants to the heightened possibility of major inconvenience and the building owner to tenant complaints and undue costs. Therefore – to help keep the tenants happy and callbacks and costs to a minimum – of all components in an elevator system, the doors require a particular focus of attention and care.

Preventive Maintenance is the Key

Typical components of a door system are as follows, with items 1 through 6 statistically most likely to fail:

1. Door operators
2. Hanger rollers
3. Door tracks
4. Door checks
5. Door pivots
6. Door locks & clutches
7. Hatch door panels
8. Car door panels
9. Sills
10. Struts
11. Door bucks
12. Door “eyes” (safety edges)

• Before they fail, periodically replacing/upgrading various door components – particularly the “top six” – can go a long way toward preventing shutdowns and callbacks
• Periodically upgrading door equipment is necessary to ensure proper operation. For example, misaligned doors, which can cause breakdowns, and, in a worst-case scenario, entrapment, require immediate service.
• Keeping the door tracks free of obstructions, particularly during the winter months (gravel, ice, holiday tree needles, etc.), can be helpful in extending the life of the door system
• If the doors start opening and closing erratically and making noise, it’s likely time for a new operator system
• If the elevator has been in service in the neighborhood of 10-15 years without any meaningful door system upgrades, it’s time to consider a complete door system modernization to head off a sudden intermittent shutdown and its accompanying downsides 

Talk to D&D Elevator

The experts at D&D can evaluate your system and advise what is best to maintain the reliability of your elevators, the safety and convenience of passengers, and the ways to maintain these standards at maximum cost-efficiency.

Call us at (914) 347-4344