ETA Melco Elevator Company has been involved in most of Dubai's recent landmark highrise projects, counting among its successes the Burj Al Arab which boasts the world's tallest hotel tower, the Emirates Towers which comprises a 52-storey hotel tower and an adjacent 53-storey office tower and the latest Dusit Dubai.
The firm is a subsidiary of the giant conglomerate ETA Ascon group of companies. A joint venture between Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Dubai's Emirates Trading Agency, the Dubai-headquartered company is the Japanese firm's the biggest overseas joint venture partner and represents it in Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Bangladesh and all of the CIS countries.
''ETA Melco, backed by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, follows a vigorous marketing strategy with creativity and innovation,'' says M J Mohamed Iqbal, senior manager. ''It has made its presence felt in all the countries it operates in, by achieving a major market share and gaining the trust and confidence of all consultants and clients. Its activities cover design, marketing, supply, installation and maintenance of all types of elevators, escalators, moving walkways and dumbwaiters.
''ETA Melco was accorded ISO 9001 quality certificate by BV (Bureau Veritas) last year, being among the few in its field to attain this certification, which covers all aspects from designs to execution and services.
''ETA Melco has stamped its distinct class in the market and is ahead of the competition - be it in the superior technology of the equipment or in handling challenging installations by way of adopting new methods and cutting-edge technology, using innovative project planning tools and backed by highly-effective and visionary project management.''
Under the leadership of its group managing director Syed Salahudeen and driven forward by its executive director and CEO S Palaniswami, the company has set standards in the industry and is well known for the creative, innovative techniques in all its operations, he comments.
In the key areas of comfort, efficiency and safety, it has achieved new levels of quality. In recent years, it claims to have installed the fastest elevators in the whole Gulf region. These elevators are installed at the Emirates Towers and the Burj Al Arab.
''Achieving travel speeds of upto 7 m/s, these elevators speak volumes of the outstanding work and effort, which has gone into installing them and are the epitome of superior riding quality,'' says Iqbal. ''The marketing team under the leadership of V R Kumar, senior general manager, exerts every effort to be competitive in order to secure the projects and overcome technical and design hassles more efficiently.''
Burj Al Arab: The high zone elevators - consisting of a six-car bank, with a carrying capacity of 1,600 kg - were the first 7 m/sec (420 m/min) elevators to be installed in the Gulf, and serve almost all the hotel floors, he says.
'Mitsubishi, renowned for its high-speed elevators and being the Guinness Book record holder for the fastest elevator in the world (12.5 m/sec in Yokohama Landmark Tower, Japan) had extended its full technical support in this project,'' Iqbal points out. ''Dunbar & Bordman, the specialist elevator consultant, which was the special elevator inspector for this project, commented that the elevators of the Burj Al Arab are the best in safety, installation and riding comfort. This installation is a major source of pride for the ETA Melco project team, who had worked tirelessly to achieve this target.''
Emirates Towers: Derrick Hough from the elevator consulting firm HH Angus & Associates of Canada was involved in the commissioning inspections. On completion of inspections, Hough - who has over 40 years of specialised elevator experience behing him - appreciated the installation team and the company for the quality installation work, their organisational skills and their tireless dedication towards achieving the stipulated time frames, says Iqbal. ''According to Hough, the whole project is considered to be not fast-track but that of a flashy track one and Mitsubishi Elevators installation works are 'just superb','' he adds.
The service elevator in the office tower serves a maximum of 54 floors with a travel height of 245.73 m and having a cabin height of 3.6 m. ''This elevator holds the record for having the maximum number of landings, maximum travel height and maximum cabin height in the whole of the Middle East and Europe. This elevator was handed over for construction use in just 29 days from the date of access to the machine room,'' Iqbal claims.
The fastest elevator group in this project serves at 420 m/min runs throughout the office tower and takes 40 seconds to reach the top floor of the office tower with a travel height of 230.855 m, he adds.
Dusit Dubai: ''The tower has 15 high-speed elevators with an array of eye-catching elevator interior designs. Unparalleled in performance these elevators enhance the overall beauty and functionality of the building,'' he explains. ''Designed in conjunction with consultant Khatib and Alami, they have decorated cabin walls and solid granite flooring with matching designs. The elevators are remotely monitored by Mitsubishi's 'Melmos' system, which is based on a multitasking system and is compatible with Microsoft Windows and also utilises GUI (Graphic User Interface) to effectively improve user interaction. The advanced software makes elevator traffic analysis, traffic statistics and controlling of special elevator operations easy and user-friendly.
''These elevators are equipped with Mitsubishi's latest introduction - the EL display screen in the elevator cabin, which provides information to passengers and helps to make the building more user friendly.''
ETA-Melco and Mitsubishi Electric continue to excel and maintain their Number One position in the Gulf, he concludes.
