#9 From Installation to Innovation – David Wallen on Modernizing Elevators with Purpose

00:00:00: Welcome, here's Lifton Leaders, the podcast by InterLift, where we talk to people shaping the future of vertical mobility.

00:00:10: And my guest today is someone who knows the elevator market from inside out, I would say.

00:00:20: in this industry for more than twenty years.

00:00:24: And we welcome the managing director of Hydroware.

00:00:28: Here's David Wallen.

00:00:30: Hi, David.

00:00:31: How are you?

00:00:31: Hello.

00:00:31: I'm very fine.

00:00:32: How are you?

00:00:33: Yeah.

00:00:33: Good.

00:00:33: Good to see you.

00:00:34: Good to see you.

00:00:35: Thank you for inviting me to the podcast.

00:00:37: Very exciting for me to be at the interlift.

00:00:39: And yeah.

00:00:40: Yeah.

00:00:41: You know, Lift and Leaders is about the people who shape.

00:00:45: the industry.

00:00:46: And so it is interesting to talk to you.

00:00:48: So what led you into the Lyft industry?

00:00:51: Who are you?

00:00:52: Let us know more about you.

00:00:54: That's a very interesting question.

00:00:58: I was starting or I started an apprenticeship with Schindler in two thousand and three years of mechatronics.

00:01:03: and worked there as a new installation technician for about nine years, then switched to a supervising job in Schindler and then switched a couple of years later into sales for a new installation with Schindler and did that about four years.

00:01:17: And yeah, I changed the company in two thousand and seventeen to Kona, was at Kona for a couple of years as a sales director, then went to TKE as a regional manager between Cologne and Dusseldorf.

00:01:31: and got out of TKE and went then to CEDIS as an international key account manager.

00:01:38: I did everything in EMEA besides the Dach region and last year I was asked to become the new managing director of Hydra.

00:01:49: in the Dach region and so I decided for that.

00:01:53: I decided for Heidler and not against C as I can say that.

00:01:57: And yeah, since March I'm the managing director for the Dach region with my team here and it's very nice.

00:02:02: I'm pretty happy to be there.

00:02:04: Well, congratulations to your new role.

00:02:07: and so you started literally on site.

00:02:13: if I understood that as a technician.

00:02:15: So installing the new lifts and since then you have held leadership roles.

00:02:21: Also in sales and management.

00:02:23: I think you know anything.

00:02:24: So what are the key experiences that shaped you?

00:02:29: My key experience that shaped me was really building the new elevators.

00:02:32: back then.

00:02:33: Like in the beginning of the two thousand, two thousand five, six, seven, we had great, great building sites where we had elevators.

00:02:41: They were small.

00:02:42: They were big.

00:02:42: They were heavy.

00:02:44: They were light.

00:02:45: They were everything around that.

00:02:46: And what I really liked was the phase one in building the elevator with the guide.

00:02:50: rails and the doors.

00:02:52: and this is also I think still the heart and the soul of the elevator electronics.

00:02:56: everybody can do electronics but I can say the heart and the soul of the elevator is always the guiding rails and the doors.

00:03:03: and when you enter an elevator when you just just go up or down can you relax or have you?

00:03:10: you have to analyze anything or listen to the noises?

00:03:13: I just I just always say I get in there I see smell feel touch whatever it takes to recognize everything in the elevator.

00:03:25: It's like the sickness of this industry, I can say.

00:03:27: You get in there and then you really want to look out what it is, which brand it is, how the ride is.

00:03:35: And also all my family, friends and everybody that I know sent me pictures from elevators around the world.

00:03:41: I saw this David.

00:03:42: Yeah, maybe, maybe you want to see that.

00:03:44: So I'm influencing them a lot about the elevators.

00:03:47: Yeah,

00:03:47: sure.

00:03:48: So what is keeping you passionate about this industry for so long that you stick there?

00:03:55: Yeah, I got stuck in the elevator.

00:03:58: I can say.

00:04:00: Yeah, it's about... The technology is changing a lot and also the industry.

00:04:06: It's a very small family, I can say, that is around here.

00:04:09: And you can see that today on the InterLift, I know... Hundreds of people and then they're all visiting our booth and coming by and then just also saying hello They're my customers.

00:04:18: They're my friends.

00:04:19: They're my family.

00:04:19: This is this is around that and and I feel like I'm a professional in this industry.

00:04:25: and then There's this when my home is.

00:04:28: so yeah, this is where I got stuck.

00:04:31: And you just mentioned that the technology changed a lot.

00:04:35: So what really impressed you or what would you say is changed so in so many ways?

00:04:41: It's the microcontrollers that really started beginning in in the early two thousands that really entered the market with the machine room as elevators that changed a lot the the whole industry.

00:04:53: I can say and Yeah, what what I what I like about it is that every time you go to the interlift or you go to other fairs and exhibitions There is something new something you know that is that is really nice.

00:05:07: for like like electronic activated safety gears came up now or like we do in with Hydroware the Modestation kits for for all those MRL elevators because they're yeah getting in in certain kind of age and they have all this place now they're going to an AI they're going to a cloud and so on.

00:05:23: so this is really the technology driven industry.

00:05:29: What would you say sets Hydroware apart from others?

00:05:35: That's a very good question.

00:05:37: I say that you have a team you can call and have a real support behind that.

00:05:43: My team in the Dach region, but also the Swiss guys, the people that we have in Benelux in the UK and also, especially in Sweden, are very, very supportive and very, very helpful.

00:05:56: We want to have a customer with success.

00:05:58: We say always, we build forever.

00:06:00: We have a very, very high quality... and a very good support behind that, absolutely.

00:06:06: And besides that, absolutely our technology can say that.

00:06:10: Ten inch touch display we have on our H-II units.

00:06:15: This is just magical for a technician because all know we are all lack of guys and girls that go to the elevator and they know how to operate.

00:06:25: And from my perspective, the technicians aren't getting better or more at this point.

00:06:30: And so we always try to make it as easy as possible to operate, to make service, to get the notified body certification and so on and so

00:06:39: on.

00:06:40: You just mentioned that working with a team, with the people behind Hydro, really is that what really is passionate for you.

00:06:48: So what kind of leadership, philosophy do you bring into your new role?

00:06:54: In the pre-talk you just mentioned you were a football player as well.

00:06:57: So is it kind of, yeah, how do you play the game in the company?

00:07:02: It's like, yeah, I was involved in American football since I was twelve years old and had many stages and also been a team captain.

00:07:10: And what I learned there is that you have to find a way to work and win with your team.

00:07:15: And it does matter if the person you're working with is... dumb or most intelligent, is slow, is fast, is tall, is small, is whatever, you know.

00:07:26: You have to find a way to work and be successful and win with the team.

00:07:30: And I feel that in Hyde really.

00:07:32: And my leadership style is really being in the team.

00:07:36: I'm not a guy that locks in his office and closes the door.

00:07:39: I'm always open, I'm always available.

00:07:41: I sit with my team in the same office space.

00:07:44: So I really like that to be there and for me it feels like a family and really a success-driven team.

00:07:53: How do you balance the Swedish tradition of Swedish innovation where Hydroware comes from with the... Let's say German precision or precision in the Dachh region as well or the cultural precision in your company culture or is there any difference

00:08:11: or not?

00:08:12: I'd say there are some differences but all of them have very high standards.

00:08:17: And this is what I like.

00:08:18: How to treat people, especially how to say we want to have a quality solution, not only a product.

00:08:25: We are not a supplier.

00:08:26: We are a partner.

00:08:27: And this is the values of our company and the heart of the company, I can say.

00:08:31: And so this doesn't differ too much around in Sweden or Germany or also in Benelux or UK.

00:08:40: Do you think other industries could learn from the lift industry?

00:08:45: So with innovation, precision, reliability or don't know anything?

00:08:52: Good question.

00:08:53: I never thought about that.

00:08:55: But I know that we can learn from other industries.

00:08:57: Absolutely.

00:08:58: Like the building industry or also like the car industry where there's a lot of precision and a lot of technology.

00:09:06: And yeah, I don't know.

00:09:08: Yeah, maybe.

00:09:09: Maybe.

00:09:12: So you were officially stepping into your new position in March, you mentioned.

00:09:20: So what are your first priorities or goals you have for Hydrowear within the next year?

00:09:27: Okay, I had a plan for the first month.

00:09:30: I had a plan for the first hundred days.

00:09:32: I had a plan for the first six months.

00:09:36: And if you step into your role, still have to find your way through.

00:09:42: Look at the people, get to know each other, spend time, listen, really listen, take notes and then after a while start changing processes, changing positions, changing people maybe.

00:09:57: Got more people in.

00:10:00: Fortunately, we got more people in.

00:10:04: But I also made up that I wasn't always strict.

00:10:10: going that line that I planned.

00:10:11: So now is the time after like six months, going back, sit down, have the next plan, what we're doing for the next three months, end of the year and then twenty twenty six ongoing.

00:10:21: So I have to set back again and check what I did, what I don't and get back to the plan, I'd say.

00:10:30: So is there any project challenge that excites you the most, actually?

00:10:37: Yes, yes, what is it?

00:10:39: It's our machine room less elevator.

00:10:41: This is this is the project I want to.

00:10:44: I want to push very hard.

00:10:45: we have Modization kits for those ML elevators from all the big OEMs can say and we feel also on our booth that this is Taking the most interest from our customers.

00:10:57: and I just had a meeting before I came here and the customer said we put in the mod kit and he was so excited and so Satisfied with it.

00:11:05: It's just gives me goosebumps when I speak about it.

00:11:07: So I'm so passionate about this and this is I think this is the future of hardware.

00:11:13: Besides our very good hydraulics we build that we have a perfect number one product for this industry to replace the controllers in the MRLs.

00:11:26: So David, lifts exists for over one hundred, about one hundred thirty years.

00:11:31: Fifty,

00:11:31: fifty years now.

00:11:32: One hundred fifty even.

00:11:33: Oh my god.

00:11:33: It's eighteen

00:11:34: seventy two four something.

00:11:38: Okay, they were very mechanic.

00:11:39: Then there came more electricity.

00:11:42: Right now it's more digitalization and getting smarter.

00:11:47: They didn't change a lot.

00:11:49: They just stayed.

00:11:51: A lift is a lift and it's a lift.

00:11:53: But when you look into the future in the year twenty forty five, do you think the industry will change?

00:12:00: Because I mean society is changing the way we work, the way we think, the way we move, the way we're getting older.

00:12:07: Do you think the lift industry will also have a significant change in any way?

00:12:11: I think, I think the lift itself will not change too much.

00:12:16: The last big innovation came in nineteen ninety-eight when Kona put in the monospace machine room as elevator.

00:12:24: This was a major change for the industry.

00:12:26: But I don't see such a change.

00:12:28: Maybe they will come.

00:12:29: I will be surprised.

00:12:31: But at this point, I don't see that.

00:12:32: There are projects like the Multi from TKE.

00:12:35: But this is for me like very, very far in the future still.

00:12:39: I saw that product.

00:12:40: It's a great solution.

00:12:41: It's a great idea.

00:12:43: And somebody has to thrive that.

00:12:45: And somebody has to say, I do it now.

00:12:47: And I really put money in it, put people and thrive that.

00:12:52: But the major change I see is really like the technology or like database maintenance we're looking at like AI or everybody's asking if we can do the service like from my computer via the hydro cloud maybe or our cloud solution.

00:13:10: And this is what's going to change.

00:13:11: So I think we're, especially in Germany, we are going back from I go to a black box four times a year to I check the elevator twenty four seven on the cloud solution and then go there when it's needed to have just a great capability of that.

00:13:32: So if a young technician.

00:13:34: A young David is listening today.

00:13:37: What advice would you give to her?

00:13:41: Yeah, what?

00:13:44: Do it the same way.

00:13:45: I did it.

00:13:46: Just do it.

00:13:47: Learn it, do

00:13:48: it.

00:13:48: Do it and never stop asking for more.

00:13:51: Really never stop asking for more because there is more, especially in the lift industry.

00:13:55: There are a lot of people that didn't go to university.

00:13:58: I didn't either.

00:14:00: obviously managing director position and this is just because it's maybe about the industry that you can move to certain positions because you gain a lot of knowledge and you sometimes at the right place in the right time.

00:14:15: and I think all this work that I put in the last more than twenty years makes out the success.

00:14:23: and I would say to the young they would just maybe do more

00:14:27: even.

00:14:27: oh yeah how if you had to describe this industry in three words what would it be?

00:14:38: sustainable family and technology

00:14:45: like that a lot.

00:14:47: So thank you very much for joining us here in this Lift and Leaders podcast.

00:14:52: David Whalen, great story and love to hear more of you within the next years.

00:14:57: Thank you for joining us and thanks for listening to all this news.

00:15:00: Thank you.

00:15:00: Enjoy the podcast.