Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / Safety Innovation in the Elevator Industry | Kevin Cunningham, Part 1

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Safety Innovation in the Elevator Industry | Kevin Cunningham, Part 1 · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't know an answer, tell your customer I don't have an answer, but I'm going to get you an answer.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: And get back to them.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: They appreciate that.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: That communication goes a long way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: It really does.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Communication, number one, and learning your product that you are selling, I think, are the two most important things.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry, to inform and share lessons learned, building upon the foundation of those who have gone before to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to today's episode of the Elevator Careers Podcast.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Our guest today is Kevin Cunningham, an industry veteran with over 40 years of experience in elevator construction, modernization, and consulting.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Kevin's journey started with pure determination, calling every day until he got his first job in the elevator trade.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, Kevin shares how his hands-on experience in the field shaped his career and ultimately led him to co-found HydraSafe Break, a company dedicated to improving elevator safety with cutting-edge braking systems.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: We'll explore Kevin's insights on career growth, planning ahead, and the critical role of safety in the elevator industry.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So buckle up and join us as we take a deep dive into the world of elevators and safety innovation with Kevin Cunningham.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is part one.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Kevin, welcome to the show.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks for uh thanks for having me, man.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm excited to be able to talk.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've enjoyed all of our conversations and uh it's it's a lot of fun.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm excited to talk with you.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: So um love to find out how did you get started in the elevator industry from the get-go?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, that's uh yeah, it's a great story.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the elevator industry is uh years ago when I got in 1985.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's kind of funny.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: The the you you really needed to know someone to get into the elevator industry.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: I was I was fortunate enough where um one of my neighbors, uh uh uh his dad and him were in the elevator trade, and I asked him, I said, Hey, how do I get in?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: How do I get into this?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like, Well, you know what?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: We don't really know anybody to get in, but years ago we did.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, they they they told me Fuji Tech had a lot of work in Chicago.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: And um I says, Well, where's the office?
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I was uh uh uh driving a truck at the time for a window manufacturer at a very young age.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think I was 20, 21 at the time.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me ask you, what was it that intrigued you?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Why why would you why would you even think to ask that question, I guess?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, again, I mean, i i it was the elevator business and what they did kind of intrigued me to begin with.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: I okay I I was a mechanical, you know, type of guy, like to work on cars, stuff like that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So really my way in was to go to FujiTech's office literally every day.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Or I called him for three months straight.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna get rid of this guy unless we And it's funny, finally at the time, you know, I got a call from the office, and I says, uh the guy that got me in, he says, you know, Kevin, I am really sick of hearing from you.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want a job in the elevator business, you start tomorrow.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Be at the Union Hall and you start tomorrow with if you don't show up, that's it, right?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're done.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, so I was kind of excited, but me driving a truck at the time was great because I I was able to pop in all the time, every day.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: And he just literally, after a month, he's like, Yeah, I'm don't I'm not here.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Tell him I'm not here.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: But so that's a pretty interesting story.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: So now I'm intrigued in several ways, right?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: A that you knew to to even ask the question, and B that you had the tenacity to just keep knocking on the same door.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's impressive.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: The squeaky wheel, right?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I'm just gonna keep squeaking until you give me the right answer.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So uh you started as a mechanic then?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Is that how no started as a helper uh uh in the trade.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, uh at that time, there was really no set apprenticeship program at the time.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um as soon as you got through all your schooling, you were able to actually take your mechanics exam if you thought you were ready to take it.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh nowadays it's a it's a five-year apprenticeship program uh to go from uh from that helper status to a mechanic status.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Gotcha.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So gotcha.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: How long were you in the in the field then?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I was in the field.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, well, the the helper end of it, I got in 85, took my mechanics exam in 90.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: I was in a field for a little over 20 years.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh before I I I kind of transferred, kind of transferred out of that and and and uh uh office end of it and things of that nature, and then got into the consulting end of it.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: 20 years is a long time.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: What did you what was your favorite thing about being in the field?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I liked the most, and I I started out in construction, um, went into modernizations, did some service work, uh uh, did some maintenance, helping mechanics and things.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: What I found to be the most uh intriguing part of it was the modernization end of it.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: I I I I really did like the modernization end of it.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um that intrigued me because you're you're tearing out, you have to divorce the old elevators from maybe a bank of six or eight and whatnot, and and divorce each one.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then you put a new elevator in, the new computerized circuitry, that's something new that you needed to, you know, again, uh uh coordinate, uh apply to the system where everything works together.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: I found it, I found it intriguing uh to try to do that.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is that so yeah, my myself having never done a you know a mod, I I talk about them with some people, but is is the computer integration the most difficult part of actually getting it done?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Or or I mean I I've heard it can be a bear, or that that certain systems won't even talk to each other, even from the same manufacturer sometimes.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Some of that was challenging.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: The most challenging parts were years ago when they when they when they installed elevators, uh all the wiring, it was black.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was all black.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: So when you have a bundle of wiring that big going to another controller, you have to divorce that.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, where does the wire go?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's no tags or today's day and age.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, every wire is numbered in different colors, and so you can take one, two, three, or four and you know, go back to that circuit, disconnect it and whatnot.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: That wasn't like it.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to trace kind of each individual wire back.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Is it like a tone generator or something?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: You have to put some kind of I mean, I I spent a little bit of time in IT 20 plus years ago and and yeah, trying to find, you know, we'd put a little tone on one wire, and it's like, okay, but it seems to be bleeding on all these other wires.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it was, yeah, it was something similar to that.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: You're tracing those wires back, but they're again, are they tied back to certain relays that are that are joined to other controllers or whatnot.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh again, again, you you go back to a central dispatching system back then.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so you're divorcing it from that and making sure that the other elevators are running.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's the challenge.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's as you're disconnecting, it's not a matter of cutting all the wires and saying, okay, pull the controller out.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't work that way.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um so you see, you know, you gingerly go one at a time and and and make sure your elevators are still running in the bank.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's the that's the most uh uh uh intriguing part or challenging part, if you will.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and then you bring back the new one on, and like I say, if these new the new system and the old system don't don't speak the same language, then you may be playing a whole different game bringing on the new ones.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and there's different type of crossovers and different type of of boards years ago that they have, and they still have them today, where you're plugging your old system into the new system, and that's the other challenge, right?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Do they talk to one another?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Do they dispatch the elevators the way they're supposed to?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, a lot of challenges.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: But I found it fun.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: I found it, I found it fun, I found it intriguing.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh that end of it I really, really liked.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, kind of kind of fell in love with Maud, and and 20 years later, you're like, oh, uh let's try something different, is what it sounds like.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was, you know, then the office challenges uh came into effect.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh uh uh you know later on in my career.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh um I I I I once got out of the elevator trade for a little bit, had my own business outside the elevator trade, and uh, and then uh, like I say, went back into the office after that as a superintendent.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um and again, all all all good.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Every aspect of the business I've been in, and now I'm in the manufacturing end of it, which is which is which is a lot different than when I first started.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: What what is one early lesson that you feel like really shaped your career?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it was it was uh uh it was probably planning ahead.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I I I I think was the most challenging part as I as I as I grew up in the business and became a mechanic, and then I became you know a foreman and and and if you will, uh uh I use the term adjuster loosely because I adjusted third-party equipment for the company, Schindler, that I used to work for.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I say that loosely because again, uh uh I knew that equipment rather well.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um but uh uh um you know it was it was uh um no one else was doing it at that time for our company, right?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: So not a lot of guys were were were installing third-party equipment.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: You're installing what Schindler manufactures or Otis, you're installing Otis's equipment.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it was different.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: It was different learning a another system, and and so uh found that exciting as well.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Were there were there any uh experiences where you you learned to plan it ahead by not planning ahead?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, were there any of those uh things that kind of like, oh wow, planning ahead was was a lesson that again, my old uh I used to help an adjuster, and he told me he says, you're not gonna be able to think step 10 while you're doing step one.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: And and and I think that's what I tried to do early on.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I tried to think way ahead of where I needed to be.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that comes with uh experience, it comes with uh uh uh modernizations, one elevator after another.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: But eventually I got there and I was able to say, as an example, hey, I know in two weeks we're gonna be dropping traveling cables.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I need to get those ordered out for the for the teams on the job or re-installing car stations, or we're gonna be so I needed to think ahead.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think that planning aspect is the most important part of trying to uh bring a job in on time.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: You start a job, you might have eight weeks, ten weeks, six weeks, fourteen weeks, depending on the rise of the building, and you have to coordinate your time.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that that was the most challenging part and and the most uh that I've learned is that planning end of it.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is that a formal process where you actually calendar it out, or is this more just kind of relying on your intuition that, oh yeah, hey, in two weeks I need to do, you know, let's let's order this.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or uh what's what's kind of your practice?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: More of just multi- you know, doing performing multiple modernizations.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: So knowing what those next steps were, you know, the first aspect is you know, you're gonna you're gonna maybe uh disconnect all the wiring, as I told you.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you want to run off the new system as quick as possible.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this way you're on a new controller, uh, all the wiring's dead.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Now you can take out all the wiring.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you could you could put new wiring in place, things of that nature.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's more of a uh each time you do it, it's more of a uh like riding a bicycle, right?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know what to do, you know when it's turning on the balance.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Becomes real intuitive about you know just just kind of the the flow of the process.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell Flow of the process, and you know, where do you cut corners?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you save money?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh how do you save money uh uh uh while you're in the course of a mod?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what do you need?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: What can you reuse?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: So uh that was a big part of it.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Were there any times early on where you're like, oh, whoops, I should have done that a week ago.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're now we're delayed a bit.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, there was a lot of that.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of that, yeah, when I first started out, and uh uh again, you you kind of think you're you're you're jumping ahead of things, but really you're not.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um so a lot of that, yeah, it played a role.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you knew what not to do next time in the next car.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's uh those are important lessons.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's how I learned how to tie my shoes, was landing on my face and realizing, uh, I guess I need to tie my shoes.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, those are important lessons as you as as you go on.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you don't know, you know, again, no one you don't know everything.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, you you you you move forward and and you learn as you go.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Who are some of your early mentors that really made a difference for you?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some of the uh it's funny, I call I call them the old timers back then, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: The seasoned guys.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh now I'm the old timer, but but um those are the guys that I relied on and and the things I didn't know.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: I reached back out to them.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, you know, what's the approach on this?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Or what do you think I should do with this, or how do you do that?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, you know, and I got that advice from those guys.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: So how long did it take you to kind of build that trust?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean I've I've heard some different stories about how mechanics kind of you know don't respect their their helpers early on.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, did it do you feel like it took a while to kind of whatever, prove yourself or or uh you know have them.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it takes a while.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: It takes a while for the confidence level of the person that you're what we call helping, or you're uh being an apprentice, uh helping a mechanic, if you will, assisting a mechanic.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it takes it takes time.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: They gotta kind of know well, what can you do, what can't you do, what can I trust you with?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Can I trust you with wiring up a door operator, or are you strictly gonna be taking garbage out off a job site all the time?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so so so that comes along with with working with each individual and and things of that nature, getting into projects where you need the two people.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, part part of our, you know, I I I believe some of the problems today is a team, sure, as I was part of, you know, only one guy's working.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, hand me that pair of strippers, hand me that screwdriver, hand me.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: What we did is is and I did that uh with that same practice, is I wanted to put my helper to work when I was a mechanic, just like I was put to work.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Go do this, because now I can see, okay, how do you how is he doing that?
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he needs a little bit more training on that end of it.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Now you know what to trust him on.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Can I have him wire off a door operator by himself?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, things of that nature.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I and I think you learn you learn that as you go along.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh right, right.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Did you what kind of learning curve was there once you stepped out of the field and into the office?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was a little bit of a different world in some respects.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think a little bit of a different world, uh different computer programs, things of that nature.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the work was the same.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you have you you accumulate uh different teams under you that that that work for you.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, or like I used to say, we all work together, we're all one team.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so again, if I fail, you fail, and vice versa.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's it's really knowing who you have, and it's really preparing them uh uh really for the work that comes ahead.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: What is that work?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: What does it look like?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: What are you installing?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Did I order everything correctly?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh did I set them up for uh for success or failure?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the biggest part of what you're learning in the office, beside the fact of computer new systems, things of that nature, right?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um so um, you know, the bigger companies, uh uh uh the bigger companies were more challenging.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I've worked for a bigger uh company, I've worked for smaller independents, so a lot less uh a lot less meetings in the smaller independent world.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, right?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: More getting it done.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and then you you moved on to uh consulting at some point and and what what was the I guess the biggest difference there from working from a contractor to to moving to a consulting role?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's and that's a great question, right?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I mean, moving from what I thought I knew.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking well, I've an elevator guy, I've been in the field, been in off.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: What is there to know in consulting?
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I see a bunch of different consultants out there.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've worked at a bunch of different ones.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's a huge learning curve.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot to learn.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me, tell me a little bit about what what were some of the bigger curves and bumps to to kind of adapt to as a consultant?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when I first when I first started uh the consulting end of it, uh writing a report, great example.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I knew what to say.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: I knew what I looked at, but I stared at a blank screen, right?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: At a mic at a at a word document.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: What do I say?
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: What do I so that was articulate it in a way that that sounds intelligent?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: And and what information am I am I giving the customer?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: What does that customer really want to know?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of that, you know, I've picked up throughout the years.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: I've had people that you know used to go through and read through reports, uh uh used to navigate through them before they even went out.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: I had admin that used to do that.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: I had other consultants that went through that to make sure that, you know, uh we're the repetition is being followed uh according to, you know, according to the reputation that we had.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, they used to send send reports back redlined all the time.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean a lot of red lines.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how I learned.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's I learned.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's it's I saved those red lines.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: So the next report, I I went through the red lines.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Do I say that?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I and eventually, you know, over over over time, all those red lines came out.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: And uh uh I've I learned how to write a write a report.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: But most people today, again, even even the consultants today still have trouble writing reports.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you ask consultants, they'll tell you, I hate writing a report.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's a different skill altogether than than a lot of what they're probably used to and and maybe enjoy.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean I'm sure there are people out there that love writing reports, but you know, marrying up those different things into one job can be a trick.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's challenging, but also, you know, when you're sitting with a customer finding out what are you looking for, what do you want, what are you doing, you know, and also having templates.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we built templates as as we progressed.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we built templates so we kind of knew, you know, what's that first paragraph gonna be?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh uh what are we telling them about?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: Are we telling them about deficiencies first?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Are we telling them about their equipment first?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Are we giving them the outline of what they have?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: So having those templates really helped uh uh uh moving forward because you already kind of knew what you were gonna say, you're kind of filling in the blanks.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I think it would help a lot, you know, with those who are coming in, maybe they're new newer to consulting.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you know, instead of having a blank sheet, oh hey, Kevin's done 85%, I just have to fill in a few details.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and it's a lot, and it's a lot easier because then you can get out what you really want to say.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: What what what is the idea of uh again, of of what I'm trying to get across to the customer?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: What's the customer looking for?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: Is it strictly dollar related?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Is it is it is it future related for his assets?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Are we gonna build this thing up over the next five years?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: What are so you know, so that all plays a role too.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: So when you learn all that.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, so now you've moved to uh to the manufacturing side, which is a a total different slice of the pie.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um what what are some of the things you've had to learn in this in this space?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I like the consulting end better.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I can tell you that.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, we we we we we came up with with a product about 10, 11 years ago.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um really uh uh my partner did, came up with the original idea, and and we took and we built it in our garage.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: We built the prototype and uh went from there.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of thought, hey, once we start you know moving forward, you know, we'll create it, we'll build it, we'll get a patent on it.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: And once we get a patent, we're done.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm done.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna sell it.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna sell it to someone else out there.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's an Otis or Schindler or Coney or TK uh Tyson at the time.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but who knows?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and once we did all that, it never, it never it never came uh never came through.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody said, Hey, I want to I want to see it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Want to see it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Did you guys got one installed?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: So at one point in time I told my partner, look, we gotta we gotta go into manufacturing.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: And and and that was another uh I have I have a another respect, more so now for some of the elevator companies when they said, Boy, you know what, I I can't get this part.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, guys, what do you mean you can't get the part?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, I'll find it for you.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's really supply chain issues.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they're real it's real.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: It is real in certain situations.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, can you find a board here or there?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're going long-term or or or dealing with manufacturers, uh foundries, machine shops, uh um grabbing some of your parts and pieces to put together, that's a huge learning curve.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's part of it that uh uh again, you really got to have very tight partnerships.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that's that's part of really the main the the mainstay the manufacturing in because everything is changing and there's certifications you need, and people come through your shop and and and you know you have to verify that each and every year and your CSA approvals, Lyft Institute approvals, um a lot more to it.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's an orchestration on a much grander scale.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean it's one thing to orchestrate a mod, but but if you're having to orchestrate where where are the bolts, where are the nuts, where are the screws, where are the wires, where are the where are all these things coming from?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: And what which of these am I actually gonna produce in-house?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Which of these am I gonna actually in-source?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, are they coming from overseas?
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and yeah, something I haven't.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that relates, you know, you get back to planning, right?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: It gets it really does relate now to processes and procedures.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: And and what what is that first step when you get that product in?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: What do you do?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: And you and you keep on the process procedure end of it from first cleaning off one of our calipers to actually putting it and running it through a testing uh uh simulator, if you will, logging it all on a computer and boxing it up and shipping it out.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the biggest thing.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: You you have to have everybody on the same page as you are manufacturing and have that again, that procedure or process put in place.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Very good.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: So having worked in you know, kind of uh I wouldn't say it's every part of the business, but you've you've kind of touched every part of the business at this point and yeah and uh have had a very interesting career you know and and which I think is awesome.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's it's amazing that that people can kind of go from bottom to top and side to side and and experience so much of what you had.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: What uh you know as we you know kind of finish up this this uh interview about your career what advice would you give to somebody who you know maybe they're the kid knocking on the door or or coming in as a new salesperson what would just what would you say?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know the salespeople I used to get when I was in the office uh uh when I was in the office and you get the new new folks coming in pretty sharp kids uh guys and gals right that used to come through and the most important thing I used to tell them was two things two main things um return phone calls very very important and learn the product you're selling so again you know push button as simple as it sounds hey these guys want uh all new buttons inside their elevator or all new hall stations learn your product don't just go in the computer system and say well I think it's a TX21 or a or a YZ123 and just put the proposal together and send it and call it a day learn that product so I used to my my recommendation was go out and see your technicians learn that button is it an Adams button is it an innovations is it an EPCO is it learn those buttons so you know and you can talk intelligently now to your customer because now you're in an arena where you can sell them something that you have that confidence in.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: And again I think here for this building you would need a PB101 or whatever that might be I I I I've always recommended that.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: And some of those folks have followed through with that the returning the phone call it might sound kind of crazy but in today's day and age everybody's email based I was still the old school when I was in there and I would still pick the phone up or I would drop out and visit my customer especially toward the end of the year my larger customers and because of doing that they'd always tell me hey I got a couple hundred grand to spend by the end of the year.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of an email it's more of a personal right you're on a personal level with them.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: And again when people do place phone calls to you uh uh they're placing a phone call for a reason and I always used to tell the sales staff account managers if you don't know an answer tell your customer I don't have an answer but I'm gonna get you an answer and get back to them.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: They appreciate that that communication goes a long way it really does.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Communication number one and learning your product uh that you are selling I think are the two most important things so perfect that's beautiful and and honestly I've heard from a lot of people that exactly the same thing that uh you know call me back and and people won't call me back well they're not gonna get my business you know it's it's pretty straightforward in that regard it's frustrating because again uh you know half the battle is if a customer is calling you man I kind of look at that as eighty to ninety percent of the sale sure all you gotta do is return return the phone call and ask them what can I do for you today and you'd find that you'd make more money that way than any other way.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: But you know awesome.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Kevin thank you for uh for this interview it's been a pleasure privilege and I appreciate you being with me today.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah thank you I appreciate it.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast sponsored by the Allred Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting please visit our YouTube channel at Elevator Careers or check us out online at elevatorcareers.net please like and subscribe and until next time stay safe