HANOVER, Germany, April 26 (Reuters) - German industrial group Thyssenkrupp plans to connect 180,000 elevators to its MAX predictive maintenance service by the end of 2017, it said as it launched the service in Germany, where it targets 15,000 in the same period.
MAX connects elevators via the cloud - through a partnership with Microsoft - to allow real-time monitoring of data such as operating speed, capacity or door mechanisms. It eventually aims to reduce elevator down time by half.
Thousands of elevators, mainly in the United States, are already connected and sending data to the cloud, Thyssenkrupp said at the Hannover Messe industry trade fair on Tuesday.
By 2018, it aims for MAX to be available in 80 percent of all elevators worldwide. The service is offered to third parties as well as for Thyssenkrupp's own elevators.
Pilot countries include the United States, Germany and Spain, with other key markets in Europe, Asia and South America to follow, Thyssenkrupp said.
With the new mobile MAX app, customers will also be able to find out in advance what spare parts have to be changed, while service technicians will be able to get real-time analysis and information on the elevator's status for the upcoming months, making it possible to plan maintenance upfront.
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)