KONE reaches new heights in Vietnam with 10-year milestone

Bas Degeling, managing director of KONE Vietnam, addressing the ceremony marking the company’s 10-year development journey in Vietnam

Since setting foot in Ho Chi Minh City in 2009, KONE has grown its operations in Vietnam and now provides quality service to customers by incorporating emerging technologies into their offerings.

Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies and is undergoing rapid urbanisation. According to the World Bank, 36 per cent of the country's population is now living in cities which are increasingly implementing programmes to create smart and sustainable cities.

This, in turn, leads to an increased demand for elevators and escalators throughout the country with more people living in apartment blocks and working in high-rise office complexes. This calls for the need to implement high-quality people flow solutions to meet the rising demand and reduce congestions. To cater to this growth, KONE Vietnam has since opened representative offices in Hanoi and Danang.

KONE has launched the 24/7 Connected Services in Vietnam to help customers substantially reduce downtime. KONE 24/7 Connected Services uses the IBM Watson IoT platform and other advanced technologies such as AI to bring intelligent services to elevators and escalators. With this system, extensive data from elevator sensors can be examined in real-time and used for predictive maintenance and insights into better operational decisions. Overall, this provides KONE’s customers and end-users with a safe and seamless experience.

Chau Huy Lich - national service director (left), Bas Degeling, managing director of KONE Vietnam and Truong Dang Nghia - NEB director of KONE Vietnam (right) toasting the occasion

“I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to our Vietnamese colleagues in reaching this historical milestone to deliver smart and sustainable solutions to ensure smooth, safe, and efficient people flows. KONE has attained substantial growth and success in both Vietnam and Southeast Asia, making it an important market for us,” said Axel Berkling, executive vice president, Asia-Pacific, KONE Corporation.

“This is testament to our continued commitment and dedication to the region through investing in local talent and technology to provide enhanced services for our customers. Looking ahead, we hope to meet the demands of a smart and cosmopolitan Vietnam and enhance the quality of life by continuing to provide exceptional people flow solutions,” Berkling added.

Bas Degeling, managing director of KONE Vietnam, said, “Over the past decade, Vietnam has emerged as a high-growth market for KONE in both operations and customer base. The opportunities present and the confidence our customers have in us enabled us to grow tremendously over the past decade and reach new heights.

“Moving forward, we aim to improve our service provisions to meet the rising demand for smart buildings through intelligent services such as KONE 24/7 Connected Services. With predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring of equipment, we are able to ensure minimal disruption and a smoother and safer people flow experience.”

The Asia-Pacific has been a growth engine for KONE and for the third quarter of 2019, sales in the region grew by 14.3 per cent.

The strong push towards building a smart nation has positioned Vietnam as a very important market for KONE, driving the demand of its smart solutions. KONE solutions have been powering many high-end developments in Vietnam including the Friendship Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, The Grand Ho Tram Strip, JW Marriott Hanoi, Le Méridien Saigon, InterContinental Nha Trang, Masteri Thao Dien, and the Sunrise City high-end apartment blocks in Ho Chi Minh City, to name but a few.

KONE has been recognised as one of the world’s most innovative companies by Forbes.