KONE References 2017: Urban Journeys

TEXT Kati Leuschel PHOTO KONE & ISS he core of co-creation is to involve external stakeholders and turn customers, competitors and experts into partners. KONE is following through on that concept by working with ISS, a global facility services company, to help provide services to their customers around the world. “I think operationally, real partnerships are becoming more and more important. Today, it is not about being a supplier, it is about being a partner, and for us – and me – it is very important to work with like-minded people who want the same things, and have the same ambitions,” says Troels Bjerg , ISS regional CEO for Northern Europe. This collaborative model has been used by other industry leaders, including Apple Inc. for instance, which teams up with certified repair companies to service its products. By doing so, the tech giant provided repair services to its wide customer base, without having to massively expand its resources. Similarly, the underlying shared company value of precise service delivery feeds and guides the collaboration between KONE and ISS. WITH A CROSS-BORDER CONTRACT covering 21 countries, KONE and ISS are playing to their strengths, using their reach, local knowledge and expertise to effectively expand their operations. While ISS’s focus is to provide quality services, the collaboration will see KONE brought on board to look after vertical transport solutions and maintenance, helping ISS provide superior quality, speed and efficiency to its customers. “ISS is in a business just like KONE, where efficiencies are constantly sought after. When we think of such companies together, we will actually change how these services are delivered in the future,” explains Thomas Hinnerskov , executive vice president, North and Central Europe, KONE. In the shared KONE and ISS venture, analyzing intelligent data and taking full advantage of new technological solutions for building and machinery management is central. Both companies are actively working in the IoT field and see a lot of opportunities that would benefit the thousands of buildings jointly with KONE in locations around the world. KONE can help ISS provide consistent services, across geographies and bring in transparency to services allowing ISS to know in real time how the equipment is performing. The local knowledge and expertise KONE has built up over decades across its wide geographical footprint is a clear benefit to the association. ISS ensures KONE is involved right at the start of a project and is working closely with the customer to customize solutions and decide what solutions need to be put into place to secure the desired outcomes. “Local knowledge and uptime are very important to our customers. Having access to a local supply chain and the ability T Building the A-team The look of the A-team in business is changing. Since the need for knowledge and perspectives is often greater than what is found in one company, could a network of co-creation deliver competitive advantage? KONE and ISS together strongly believe in this. ISS 56