- The intelligent service centre will be equipped with advanced solutions offering uninterrupted service aiding the fast evolving smart cities in Thailand
KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, today announced the inauguration of its intelligent training and service centre in Thailand. Thailand is in its fourth phase of economic transformation, evolving from an agrarian country to a value-based economy. The country has been witnessing an increase in foreign investment spurring accelerated infrastructure development. The intelligent training and service centre is in line with KONE's commitment to investment in upskilling of the local workforce and integration of smart technologies in its solutions.
The 815 square meter site located at Sukhothai Avenue 99 (Muang Thong Thani), is an integrated facility that houses a showroom exhibiting innovations from KONE, service centre to serve their more than 1,500 customers in Thailand and training centre to impart professional know-how to about 330 employees of KONE Thailand. It is a new digital, modern ecosystem created by KONE that showcase its state-of-the-art, industry- leading innovations and nurture advanced learning opportunities. The Training Centre brings together experienced trainers and new ways of learning, such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Gamification and eLearning. To drive more application-based learning, the centre will be able to simulate real-life scenarios linked to the KONE Customer Care Centre (KC3) for product and service trainings.
The service centre employs emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to provide seamless service to KONE customer and end-users. KONE offers 24/7 Connected Services and KONE Online which help in expediting issue redressals, thereby decreasing the downtime substantially. The showroom within the facility showcases a wide range of KONE solutions including its environment-friendly innovations like the UltraRope. It's a super-light carbon fibre cable that is used as suspension for elevators in place of conventional steel cables reducing the weight of an elevator by up to 80 percent and in turn saving energy consumption by 11 percent.
The inauguration ceremony was led by Mr Axel Berkling, Executive Vice President, Asia-Pacific, KONE Corporation and Mr Anthony Tan, Managing Director of KONE Thailand along with Guest of Honour, Ms Satu Suikkari-Kleven, Ambassador of Finland to Thailand.
Congratulating the Thailand team on the occasion, Mr Axel Berkling, Executive Vice President, Asia-Pacific, KONE Corporation said, "The Thailand Training and Service Centre is a true microcosm of KONE; it demonstrates our technology prowess as well as our eagerness to learn more and innovate more. Thailand is at the cusp of change, witnessing a strong wave of digital transformation and we are fortunate to be a part of this journey. We have always taken pride in being a sustainable and innovative company and promise to further strengthen the onward stride of Thailand in becoming a smart and sustainable economy.'
"The Thailand Training and Service Centre will meet the needs of our two most important partners - customers and employees. The urban landscape of Thailand is evolving at a rapid pace, with cities becoming smarter and buildings becoming taller. Harnessing smart technologies, we offer always-on-call customer service and are working towards increasing the digital competencies of our workforce to better manage the growing needs of our evolving cities", said Mr Anthony Tan, Managing Director of KONE Thailand.
Thailand has been undergoing rapid urbanisation with more than half (52.9%) of the population expected to be living in cities by 2022, a figure that may reach close to 60% by 2030. In its effort to become a dynamic, high-income nation with a value-based economy, the government has set a target of 30 smart cities in 24 provinces by 2020 and hopes to transform 100 cities in the country to smart cities by 2022. The growing impetus on digital adoption and smart cities has created a huge appetite for smart building solutions in Thailand.
The Asia Pacific region has been a growth engine for KONE and for the first half of the year, sales in Asia-Pacific grew by 13.5%. The strong push towards building a smart nation has positioned Thailand as a very important market for KONE driving the demand of KONE's smart solutions. KONE solutions have been powering many high-end projects in Thailand including 98 Wireless in Bangkok, the most expensive residential complex in Thailand.
KONE has been recognised as one of the world's most innovative companies by Forbes. The company defines 'People Flow' as the movement of people in and between buildings. An efficient people flow means moving smoothly, safely, comfortably and reliably eliminating delays.
About KONE
At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernisation to add value to buildings throughout their life cycle. Through more effective People Flow(R), we make people's journeys safe, convenient and reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. In 2018, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 9.1 billion, and at the end of the year over 57,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.
www.kone.com
www.kone.co.th