ThyssenKrupp ranked amongst the 50 Smartest Companies 2015 by MIT Technology Review

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the leading names in technology research and education worldwide, has recognized ThyssenKrupp in its list of 50 Smartest Companies for 2015, in particular for its reinvention of the elevator industry. According to MIT technology review, to make the list, a company must have truly innovative technology and a business model that is both practical and ambitious, with the result that it has set the agenda in its field over the past 12 months.

According to Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG, "MULTI is the latest offering in the company’s extensive repertoire of elevator technologies, representing nothing less than a technological revolution."

MULTI applies the linear motor technology of the magnetic levitation train Transrapid to the elevator industry, the new design can incorporate various self-propelled elevator cabins per shaft running in a loop, similar to a metro system. This increases the shaft transport capacity by up to 50%, making it possible to reduce the elevator footprint in buildings by as much as 50%. The rope-free technology also allows the cabin to move horizontally as well as to unrestricted heights. This will permit architects to adapt buildings to new heights, shapes and purposes.

ThyssenKrupp recently presented a second innovation: ACCEL. It was developed to address the need for safe, comfortable and efficient mobility in the current multimodal transportation network of large cities. The unique accelerating moving walk applies the same linear motor technology as MULTI and is set to transform mobility in cities and large infrastructures like airports, metro stations or shopping malls. Placed on skywalks or within buildings, ACCEL covers distances between 100 and 1,500 meters with speeds of up to 2 m/s (7.2 km/h), with no waiting times for passengers and is thus capable of attracting up to 30% additional passengers to metro stations and cutting transit times in airports by up to two-thirds.

The motivation of ThyssenKrupp to develop new passenger transportation solutions is obvious. The world’s population is continuously increasing and more and more people are moving to cities. In 1950, urban populations accounted for only 30% of the global population and by 2050, this figure is expected to have more than doubled to 70%. Already today half of the world’s population is living in urban areas, resulting in megacities with populations of more than 10 million people all around the world. Keeping pace with this rapid increase in city populations, the demand for additional working and living space as well as infrastructure for mobility inside and outside of buildings is also growing.

Energy efficient technologies such as MULTI and ACCEL engineered by ThyssenKrupp teams across business areas provide a range of meaningful benefits to make cities of the future more livable. The editors of MIT Technology Review recognized the group’s ambitious efforts, when they conducted their annual search for the 50 Smartest Companies 2015 and ranked ThyssenKrupp on No. 35, as only German representative on the list.

About us:

thyssenkrupp Elevator

thyssenkrupp Elevator brings together the Group’s global activities in passenger transportation systems. With sales of 7.2 billion euros in fiscal 2014/2015 and customers in 150 countries, thyssenkrupp Elevator built its position as one of the world’s leading elevator companies from scratch in a mere 40 years’ time applying thyssenkrupp unique engineering capabilities. With more than 50,000 highly skilled employees, the company offers smart and innovative products and services designed to meet customers’ individual requirements. The portfolio includes passenger and freight elevators, escalators and moving walks, passenger boarding bridges, stair and platform lifts as well as tailored service solutions for all products. Over 900 locations around the world provide an extensive sales and service network to guarantee closeness to customers.

thyssenkrupp

thyssenkrupp is a diversified industrial group with traditional strengths in materials and a growing share of capital goods and services businesses. Around 155,000 employees in nearly 80 countries work with passion and technological expertise to develop high-quality products and intelligent industrial processes and services for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2014/2015 thyssenkrupp generated sales of around €43 billion.

Together with our customers we develop competitive solutions for the challenges of the future in the areas Mechanical, Plant and Materials. With our engineering expertise we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. For us, technical progress and innovations, allied with the combined strength of the Group, are key factors enabling us to meet current and future customer and market requirements around the world, grow on the markets of the future, and generate strong and stable earnings, cash flows and value growth.