Can an independent maintenance company compete against an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)? The answer is yes. But how do we make it work? Let’s see how WeMaintain uses the power of independence and expertise to provide customers with a satisfying, first-rate service.

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Hand-picked lift engineers

When you are managing one building stock but several lift brands, you need versatile experts who can deal with anything. This is why WeMaintain has chosen to work exclusively with lift experts who have at least 10 years of experience in the field. These engineers are not only trained on all brands, but are part of a collaborative team whose purpose is to train others on the functioning of those brands. 

WeMaintain is the ultimate go-to for lift maintenance: we work with technical directors – a.k.a. “super technical gurus” – who assist our experts on-site and in real-time. Also, all engineers regularly follow training courses in the UK for continued upskilling, to make sure that they stay at the top of their game.

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Versatile experts

Our experts have both the skills and technical knowledge in multiple areas. But in practice, what tasks is a technical expert at WeMaintain expected to perform? Well, a technical team leader or expert will have to use complex technologies, and meet the requirements of demanding facilities such as malls and data centers: this entails selecting them in light of their skilfulness and adaptability.

They must also guide other experts when technical support is required for a complicated breakdown that has to be solved on-site. A trainer’s role is crucial to the team’s expertise as well, offering support on complex technologies and improving the expertise WeMaintain provides: their purpose is to create a comprehensive skill set shared by the whole team.

“What I like most about working here is working with developers, software engineers, and data scientists. I have really enjoyed mixing my skill sets with people that have completely different backgrounds and ideas for the future” Tek Hussein, UK Technical Director

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Guaranteed quality 

To ensure quality of service, each WeMaintain engineer manages a maximum of 80 lifts. In comparison, most experts in maintenance companies (including OEMs) manage approximately twice as much. By reducing this number, we improve initial maintenance: the engineer can dedicate a lot of time to each visit: each one lasts 40 minutes on average. The result? A 60% reduction in lift breakdowns.

“We have been working with WeMaintain since October 2021 and we consider the service excellent because we have been with a previous contractor who’s also the manufacturer for the past 10 years, and it was very hard to find someone for replacement cause they were holding everything and it was very challenging to find a company that was going to take over. They took our feedback seriously and resolved issues we had with our previous contractor”. Michelle Ng, Managing Agent and resident at the Lattiz Condo, SG

WeMaintain also implemented versatile and adapted tracking processes. For instance, after each visit, a service report (with photos and a detailed description) is created in the engineer’s app. The client then receives this report on their customer platform and/or in their inbox. 

This ensures the traceability of each visit and substantially improves customer experience: with one dedicated engineer per customer, ongoing information exchange via the customer platform, and longer on-site maintenance visits, the relationship between engineer and customer is built to last and remain positive.

“My experience so far with WeMaintain has been great, they are very efficient, reliable, and their response is always within minutes. They are very friendly, very transparent and most importantly very presentable. You don’t have to ask them what happened; you can get your report on the spot. I would definitely highly recommend WeMaintain to other people. If you are thinking about switching to another lift company, choose WeMaintain!” Emma Ambrose, Residential Manager in Singapore

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Independence from monopoly

The antitrust law against the monopoly of OEM brands

In 2013, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) condemned four historical lift manufacturers – Otis, Schindler, Thyssenkrupp and Koné – for violating competition rules. As a matter of fact, antitrust laws are essential when it comes to making sure that the spare parts market remains an open market – without any monopoly for manufacturers to take advantage of.

Why does it concern the Singaporean market?

The Singapore market receives spare parts from European tier 1 manufacturing companies such as Sodemas. What does this mean? Well, this law obligates spare parts suppliers to accept spare parts orders. This means that independent maintenance companies such as WeMaintain have guaranteed access to repair and maintenance materials just as fast – if not faster – than Original Equipment Manufacturers.

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The independent stock advantage

Both OEM and independent maintenance companies have to deal with ordering processes. However, for OEMs this process is long and involves stock tracking, dependence on spare parts availability, complex supply chains and a lack of flexibility. Besides, spare parts monitoring in their portfolios is less accurate, and turnaround tends to be lengthy.

Independent maintenance companies, on the other hand, can stock up on what is needed and adapt to each customer’s lifts: we currently meet the majority of current brands requirements in terms of spare parts, and our portfolio is regularly updated. 

So how does WeMaintain anticipate demand? Our experience and knowledge of complex technologies (as well as IoT), allow us to prepare for most breakdowns in advance. Predictive supply is enabled by pre-visits of the lifts by our experts, who conduct an on-site audit before the maintenance contract is signed and sent out. The stockpile can then be adapted accordingly; this means that by the time the contract starts, the customer’s parts are already in stock. Efficient and convenient!

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An optimised supply chain

We have a direct link with Tier One independent manufacturing companies specialized in the sale of original parts; these are faster and more efficient when it comes to ordering spare parts. Original Equipment Manufacturers, on the other hand, can encounter multiple delivery delays between their manufacturers and their warehouses. 

WeMaintain uses the WeSupply mobile app, which displays a complete spare parts catalog. This enables experts to schedule spare parts deliveries directly on-site: the orders do not need to go through warehouses or agencies, which is truly time-saving.

Need an order ASAP? WeMaintain has got you covered. You can rest assured that any part from our stockpile will be sent directly to your address within 48 hours. Efficient and eco-friendly!

Lift maintenance shouldn’t be a stumbling block or an inconvenience: WeMaintain makes the whole process quicker, easier, and more efficient. So why go to an OEM when you can have an all-in-one service? WeMaintain’s trained experts are ready to put their skills at your service and offer a competitive service to keep your lifts safe and functional.

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