We Combine Our Longstanding Know-How in the Sensor Domain With the Latest Innovations to Provide Solutions That Matter: Daan Smans of CEDES AG Stated in an Exclusive Interview with SME Business Review

CEDES AG is a Swiss technology company specializing in innovative sensor solutions and IoT-based digital products for the vertical transportation (VT) and entrance automation (EA) industries. Renowned for its expertise in intelligent sensor systems, CEDES develops advanced products that enhance operational efficiency, safety, and convenience across a variety of applications, including elevators, escalators, industrial doors, and access control systems. With a strong focus on the integration of IoT technologies, CEDES provides real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and data-driven insights, enabling businesses to optimize their operations and improve customer experience. Through its global presence and commitment to innovation, CEDES continues to shape the future of smart building management and transportation solutions.

In a recent interview with SME Business Review, Daan Smans, President Business Development IoT & Digital Products, discussed the IoT and digital products he oversees at CEDES, the company's vision for the future, and the impact of its innovative remote monitoring platform on the vertical transportation and entrance automation industries. Here’s what Mr. Smans had to say.

Interview Excerpts

Could you elaborate on how CEDES AG was founded and discuss the initial vision behind its establishment?

CEDES successfully introduced innovative products to the vertical transportation industry, including commercial light curtains in the 1990s and advanced 3D camera sensors using time-of-flight technology. The benefit of these systems is that they are (I) non-contact – unlike bumper-type sensors and (II) have no moving parts in them, hence are maintenance-free. Later, we expanded into adjacent industries, most predominantly in the Entrance Automation space. More recently, CEDES has been spearheading the development of the VT industry’s third-generation remote monitoring technology, leveraging the novel concept of sensor fusion using an Internet of Things (IoT) backbone. Until now, IoT technology was limited to equipment controller-based interfaces, which are OEM-dependent and thus proprietary. Sensor fusion enables the use of the universal laws of physics, hence the ability to provide for one universal solution irrespective of make, model, or vintage.

As a global leader in elevator and entrance automation sensor technology, what are CEDES’ key focus areas?

CEDES’ vision is to become the IoT enabler for the VT and EA industries. This is easier said than done. The smart building systems in use today are typically provided by companies that produce the equipment’s control systems, commonly as an extended service. The history to this is the early adoption of automation for building systems (e.g., elevators, automatic doors, HVAC, etc.) without there being universal standards. Hence, the equipment’s control systems are typically proprietary. However, both computing and connectivity technologies have come a long way and now enable a direct connection of the equipment’s various sensors to an IoT backbone in a cost-effective manner. At CEDES, we combine our longstanding know-how in the sensor domain with the latest innovations to provide solutions that matter.

How does CEDES drive innovation for customers through its intelligent sensor solutions?

In the end, innovation is meaningless if no one is willing to adopt it. There are ample examples of companies that were first to innovate but failed to gain traction following their offering’s going to market. Hence, it starts with not only thoroughly understanding the technology but, perhaps even more importantly, understanding your customer’s underserved needs. This differentiates companies between “a solution in need of a problem” and “a problem in need of a solution.” Once you have a clear picture of what problems you are trying to solve and why they matter, the offering must be easy to understand, easy to implement, and easy to use. Too many tech products face adoption issues because one needs a Master’s degree to understand and use them. Lastly, when your innovation impacts your customer’s workflow, you need to stand shoulder to shoulder with them to ensure success with your offering.

What more can you tell us about these intelligent sensor solutions, especially in light of CEDES' expansion into the entrance automation markets?

The added benefit of using optical sensors at the core is that they enable visualization of what passes through their detection range. For both elevators and industrial doors, CEDES’ intelligent sensor solutions can identify whether a person or an object passes through. When aggregated across a building and over time, this data essentially maps the flow of people and goods within any given building. This is important for two key reasons:

1. 1. Insights into how a building is used can enhance its efficiency and convenience.

2. 2. Standalone IoT-connected sensors eliminate the need for costly renovation work in existing buildings, making smart building management easy to retrofit and adopt.

For the Entrance Automation space, goods flow is of special importance in relation to the operational efficiency of internal logistics and warehousing.

How many industries does CEDES serve with its intelligent sensor solutions, and how has its expansion into the entrance automation markets influenced its offerings?

CEDES serves both the Vertical Transportation and the Entrance Automation spaces. The VT space is predominantly subdivided into passenger and freight elevators, as well as escalators and travellators. Within the EA space, CEDES primarily serves the industrial doors and docking doors segments. Beyond the hardware, CEDES provides digital products to equipment service providers and facility managers, most notably Elevate.

Could you provide an example of a recent success story where CEDES' solutions significantly impacted a customer's operational outcomes?

By monitoring a fleet of diverse equipment types across different buildings, users, and geographies, we experience a thing or two every day. For example, with a New York-based customer, we recently observed a sudden increase in vibrations on the elevator cabin doors. Even though the company is highly reputed and the elevator had received maintenance not too long ago, a bracket started to come loose. This particular part is not typically covered under existing maintenance control plans; hence, the anomaly occurred unnoticed. If we had not sent out an alert to go check, this would have certainly resulted in an equipment breakdown within weeks. Our predictive maintenance-based actionable insights prevented unplanned elevator downtime and led to a satisfied customer.

Will CEDES be launching any new solutions that we should be aware of?

For 2025, we will be focusing on workflow integration of our actionable insights into Field Management Systems (FMS), commonly used across the VT space. Recently, we announced our partnership with US-based FIELDBOSS, a leading FMS provider, at the 2024 International Elevator & Escalator Symposium, which was well received.

We will also be expanding our reach beyond where most of the proverbial action happens in order to capture less common cases with more severe impacts. Think of detecting water in the elevator pit or detecting intrusion in the elevator machine room or shaft.

How do you see CEDES evolving its technology solutions to address future challenges and capitalize on opportunities in the industries it serves

We are expanding our data-hub concept to offer IoT enablement to leading component manufacturers in our respective markets. For many, the request for more transparency through machine data from their customers is challenging to facilitate and not necessarily core to their business model. The CEDES data-hub provides the opportunity to interface their respective products with our IoT technology, and in doing so, cater to the needs of their customers. However, we will not limit the expansion of our data-hub to partnerships; in 2025, we will be expanding our reach through the application of battery-powered, wireless sensors. This opens up whole new avenues of opportunity to explore.

Do you have any final thoughts or comments before we conclude?

The coming year will be exciting! We see a rapidly growing adoption of third generation remote monitoring systems in the VT space, with the EA space fast in pursuit. Since the market launch of Elevate in late 2023, we have onboarded new customers across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America throughout 2024. Being one of the world’s leading innovators with a global presence, we are well set for healthy growth in 2025.  

Daan Smans | President Business Development IoT & Digital Products

Daan Smans is currently serving as President Business Development for IoT & Digital Products at CEDES AG of Switzerland. An Industrial Engineer by trade, he joined TK Elevator in 2011 in one of its local branches. Following an International Management Trainee program, he has been in leading positions across various countries for over 10 years. Throughout his career, he has led the development of multiple, award-winning digital products. Daan has introduced and scaled up XaaS-based offerings across the world. At CEDES, Daan is leading the digital product suite 'Elevate' based on CEDES’s third-generation remote monitoring platform technology. 

“Our vision is to become the IoT enabler for the VT and EA industries.”

“For 2025, we will be focusing on workflow integration of our actionable insights into Field Management Systems (FMS), commonly used across the VT space. Recently, we announced our partnership with US-based FIELDBOSS, a leading FMS provider, at the 2024 International Elevator & Escalator Symposium, which was well received.”