A Partner’s Perspective on Platform lifts

Commercial elevators, found in buildings shared by many people, present a different set of challenges than residential elevators. Daniel Lindgren from RC Hiss, one of our long-term partners in Sweden, talks about the benefits of a platform lift compared to a conventional elevator and tells us about his experiences with tackling the unique challenges of working with commercial elevators.

RC Hiss was founded in southwest Sweden back in 1977 and installs and services both commercial and residential elevators of various brands. Since Daniel joined the company in 2015, he has most frequently worked on public projects for hotels, municipality buildings, offices, and the like. Whether for homes or public buildings, he usually recommends platform elevators over other types.

“There is a number of reasons to choose a platform lift over the traditional ones,” Daniel says and explains that “they require much less space over and underneath the elevator, have shorter timelines for delivery and installation, and cost less than the bigger ones.”

These factors are of great importance as staying within both the budget and the timeline of a project is essential with public installations.

For most public projects, a platform lift just makes more sense.

Elevators in public areas also typically handle more traffic than residential ones, which is why the ease of maintaining them is yet another important aspect to consider. With a simpler functionality as opposed to other variants, the platform lift presents an advantage in this regard as well.

“For most public projects, a platform lift just makes more sense” Daniel continues. “The only time that I will recommend a different solution is if the measurements of the building do not allow for a platform lift or if more than four floors are required.”

Picture: Service technician from RC Hiss installing an Aritco platform lift.

Beyond the lasting relationship that RC Hiss enjoys with Aritco, Daniel appreciates the wide variety of commercial lifts in the Aritco portfolio. Coming in various sizes and builds, the three main models focus on different key needs.

From the versatile cabin elevator Aritco PublicLift Cabin and newest addition Aritco PublicLift Access, one of RC Hiss top-sellers that meets all the accessibility demands, to the Aritco 9000 that is designed with accessibility in mind and where the user does not need to keep the button pressed during the ride.

“What I really like is the breadth of the Aritco portfolio” Daniel elaborates. “I can listen to a client’s needs and almost always find an elevator that suits them perfectly. That is really a great feeling, especially considering how varied customer needs can be!”

While some of his clients only ask for a cost-efficient solution that meets the accessibility requirements, others have more elaborate requests regarding design and functionality. On both ends of the spectrum, Daniel views Aritco as a first option.

“Only if I for some reason cannot fit an Aritco lift in a project I’m working on, I will look for another brand” he concludes.

“Only if I for some reason cannot fit an Aritco lift in a project I’m working on, I will look for another brand.”