| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | SIX: SCHN |
| Industry | Vertical transportation |
| Genre | Corporate histories |
| Founded | Lucerne, Switzerland (1874) |
| Founder(s) | Robert Schindler and Eduard Villiger |
| Headquarters | Ebikon, Switzerland |
| Key people | Alfred N. Schindler (Chairman) |
| Products | Elevators, Escalators |
| Revenue | CHF 8,187 billion (2010), 1.1% from 2009 |
| Employees | 43,010 (2010) |
| Parent | Schindler Holding Ltd |
| Website | The Schindler Group |
Schindler was founded in Switzerland in 1874 and is the largest manufacturer of escalators and the second largest manufacturer of elevators world wide. Schindler produces, installs, maintains and modernizes elevators and escalators in all kind of buildings (Residential, Commercial and High-Rise). The company is present in more than 140 countries and employs 43,000 persons worldwide.[1] The production facilities are located in Austria, Brazil, China, France, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.[2]
The second business division of the Schindler Holding is the ALSO Group. It is a wholesale and logistics company in the information and communications technology sector and the consumer electronics sector. The ALSO division business is mainly in Switzerland and Germany.
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The company was founded in Switzerland in 1874, by Robert Schindler and Eduard Villiger who establish the collective joint partnership Schindler & Villiger.[3] Shortly thereafter, a mechanical engineering workshop was built on an island in the River Reuss in Lucerne, Switzerland, for the production of lifting equipment and machines of all types.
Schindler founded the first foreign subsidiary in Berlin (Germany) in 1906. Thereafter, the company expanded continuously and mainly throughout Europe. In 1980 Schindler founded the first Western industrial joint venture in the Peoples Republic of China. With the take over of Atlas in Brazil in 1999 Schindler became a major market player in South America.
Schindler entered the North American elevator market with the purchase of Toledo, OH based Haughton Elevator Company in 1979 - briefly branding their products as Schindler-Haughton. In 1989, the company dramatically increased its presence in the United States after acquiring the Elevator/Escalator division of Westinghouse Electric, one of the largest producers of elevators and escalators at the time. Currently, Schindler Elevator Corporation, the United States operations of Schindler Group, is based in Morristown, NJ.[4]
Schindler's Miconic 10, the company's name for their proprietary control system, introduced in 1995, was the industry first of an innovative type of control systems now known as hall call destination system. The system features keypads and LED screens instead of hall button stations whereby riders enter their desired floor before entering an elevator car. The system then directs the rider to a specific elevator car while grouping riders traveling to nearby floors together. Schindler claims this minimizes the number of stops, and decreases congestion and travel time—especially during peak traffic periods.[6] The system was continuously further developed and new functions were amended eventually evolving in systems which guarantee highly efficient and energy saving traffic management. Especially in high rise buildings traffic management systems like Miconic 10 and Schindler ID allow building designers to maximize rentable space and transport efficiency. Moreover, access control becomes feasible.
Since 2003, Schindler has sponsored the "Schindler Award", a biannual prize for the design of inclusive and accessible urban areas. The competition is open to all students in their final year of study on a bachelor’s course or those enrolled on a master’s course at a European university or college of architecture. If 12 or more students from the same school apply to enter the competition, that school qualifies to participate in the schools’ competition. The Schindler Award 2010 attracted almost 1'400 participants and is therefore one of the most recognized and popular architectural competitions for students in Europe. The next competition, the Schindler Award 2012, will be held in Berne, Switzerland and registration will be open from September 2011 on.
www.schindleraward.com