Cool Companies #1 - Kone - Dedicated to people flow

Cool Companies Series

Sometimes I find myself thinking about companies. On one hand companies are somewhat robotic, non-human, and calculating. But on the other hand you can't deny that companies differ drastically in culture, aesthetic, and strategy on a level that touches on the spiritual.

It goes far beyond just a company being good or bad. Companies always have an aesthetic which bleeds through to every aspect of their operation. It's my interest in this business aesthetic that made me want to start a series of posts where I examine different companies which have caught my eye in some way.

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Kone

Kone is large but relatively unknown. Their products can be found in all the biggest cities and their revenue is over $10 billion annually. The reason most don't know of Kone is because most people aren't in the business of purchasing or maintaining escalators/elevators. Despite this, most of use elevators and escalators at least a few times a month. It is very likely that you've used a Kone product without ever knowing it.

For some reason I was targeted by a advertisement for Kone's new IoT (internet of things) solution while surfing YouTube. I'm defiantly not in the market for an elevator but I found the advertisement interesting enough to research the company extensively:

The idea of this particular product innovation is to use AI and IoT sensors to predict and prevent elevator downtime.

History of Kone

While Kone's IoT solution and advertising are interesting, it is far from a startup. In addition to a massive annual revenue of over $10 billion, the company has been operating out of Helsinki Finland since 1910. It is the 4th largest elevator company globally.

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People Flow

Another aspect of Kone that really caught my attention is their very well defined mission statement:

"Millions of people use elevators and escalators daily, all over the world. We're in the business of moving them safely, smoothly, and comfortably. We call this people flow."

Kone has been able to condense the goal and aesthetic of the company from a statement to two words people flow.

High-rise laboratory in Tytyri, Finland

Another interesting aspect of Kone is their largest elevator lab. Instead of using a sky-scrapper Kone re-purposed a partially abandoned mine in the city of Tytyri. It is the worlds deepest elevator testing facility.

The world's deepest elevator testing facility houses 11 elevator shafts and test a travel distance of 305 meters.