Mar del Plata and Córdoba. Sea and mountains, two classics, two geographical tastes that dispute the summer destiny of Argentines.
Despite the diversification of the holiday offer, Mar del Plata continues to be a never-give-up option for Argentines, just like Córdoba with its mountains, rivers, and streams continue to hold the scepter of summer destiny when the mountain is chosen to spend the summer.
In summer, both in Mar del Plata and in Córdoba, the residential buildings and hotels have their elevators working at full capacity, unusually multiplying their trips compared to their frequency the rest of the year.
We wanted to know a little more about how elevator operators experience the season and to do so we went to the Mar del Plata Elevator Chamber and the Córdoba Elevator Chamber, who very kindly gave us this interesting information.
MAR DEL PLATA: with approximately 8,000 elevators
1- We know that work for company’s increases a lot in summer. What percentage would you place it?
In summer, work in the claims area increases significantly, due to the intensive use of the facilities. We must consider that Mar del Plata, whose stable population is around 700 thousand inhabitants, receives about 4 million tourists in the summer season.
2- And how would you divide the percentage of that work? How much is dedicated to maintenance and how much to repair?
Maintenance tasks do not differ from those carried out throughout the year, given that the Municipal Government of General Pueyrredón has a current Ordinance (No. 16,589) that indicates the obligation, on the part of the owners, to hire a maintenance company to carry out said tasks.
Regarding repair tasks, these increase due to intensive use and, in some cases, to the carelessness of some users.
3-Where does maintenance increase most, in hotels or apartments.
In the case of hotels, complaints increase, especially in the afternoon, with people returning from the beach and then going out to dinner or seeing a show.-
4- Is it used to install and modernize in summer, or is that done before?
Modernizations or major repairs are not carried out in the summer season.
In the case of facilities under construction, they continue throughout the summer.
5- Do you need to increase your staff in these months? Do you have enough trained personnel or is there a lack?
The lack of trained personnel is a general problem, for all guilds, including ours. This is why our Chamber carries out different actions to improve the training of our staff and future applicants. To improve the training of our staff we organize technical talks with elevator component manufacturers. On the other hand, we participate in the training of fifth and sixth grade students of the technical schools.
6- Do the new government’s economic measures affect you to any extent? Do you see the opening of imports well?
Judging by what we can see by now, the government is trying to normalize the macro economy. Until the micro economy is fixed, and users increase their purchasing power, it is very difficult to continue with the appropriate pace to complete in time and manner of the adaptation of the facilities to the current ordinances. This causes a significant decrease in the number of jobs.
On the other hand, the opening of imports is allowing the gradual normalization of the supply of necessary inputs and having some reference prices for materials to be able to quote
7- Is the price of the monthly payment similar to that charged by companies in C.A.B.A. (Buenos Aires, Federal Capital), referring to companies that are in the Chambers?
The price of the monthly payments is based on how companies must carry out their routines according to the local ordinances and the operating costs; therefore, it may differ between one place and another considering these two significant differences.
8- Does the influence of the sea and saltpeter affect elevators differently from those in other regions?
Yes, it affects them a lot. In our city, we have harsh winters with a lot of salty humidity and almost permanent winds, contrasting with very hot summers. The vertical transport traffic above normal (greater number of trips, since the tourist moves more than the locals, the theoretical population in buildings vastly outnumbered by the number of people by apartment, etc.) affects the ventilation of the engine rooms, which sometimes become excessive for the winter, generating greater deterioration and perhaps scarcity for the summer.
9- Are you applying the sustainability measures that the world is adopting today?
The elevator industry has been adopting measures in pursuit of greater sustainability. Among them are the incorporation of frequency converters and more recently gearless traction.
CÓRDOBA: the capital city has about 12,000 pieces of equipment, including all types of lifting machines. In the rest of the province, 15.000 are estimated.
1- Does work increase for Córdoba companies on holidays? If so, what percentage would you place it at?
As opposed to what happens in Mar del Plata, during holiday time, Cordoba city experiences a decrease in its jobs, which is proportional to the decrease in the number of users in buildings, which is difficult to measure. However, in Carlos Paz, the most popular holiday spot in Cordoba province, it increases substantially.
2- Can you split that percentage? How much is maintenance, how much is repair?
Maintenance is carried out regularly, according to the service contracts, and in the prevention of possible emergencies, which are quickly attended to when they happen.
The repairs that any equipment may need do not depend on whether it is summer or not, but rather on the conditions of the device and its proper use, or if it had happened an incident usually caused by power outages due to high temperatures during the summer period.
3- Do you install and modernize in summer, or do you do it at another moment?
At this moment, consortia have reduced their budgets, so very little modernization is being carried out, soft in exceptional cases of emergencies or pressures that require a comprehensive update of the equipment to function normally.
4- Do you need to increase your staff in these months? Do you have enough trained personnel?
There is no need to increase the staff, as the population in residential buildings decreases in summer and so do the claims.
The companies associated with the Cordoba Elevator Chamber have highly trained personnel. They are continuously trained on administration and technical issues, by the C.A.C., throughout the year, except in summer.
5- Where does work increase the most, in hotels or apartments?
In hotels and tourist areas depending on the tourist flow. As it was said in Cordoba city itself the work declines and increases in the tourists mountain holiday spots. Similarly, it happens in Buenos Aires during the summertime.
6- Do the new government’s economic measures affect you to any extent? Do you see well the opening of imports?
It is premature to know to what extent and how the economic measures of the new national and provincial governments (in Córdoba) will affect us, although it is foreseeable that no sector of industrial activity will be exempt from its impacts.
Regarding the opening of imports, in general, is perceived as positive, and although it is desirable, it is not in indiscriminate and ruthless terms.
7- Is the price of the monthly payment charged in Cordoba, similar to that charged by companies in the Capital City of Buenos Aires, referring to companies that are members of chambers?
Multiple factors influence the calculation of this value, even more so in the context of a serious socioeconomic crisis like the one we are suffering in Argentina.
If the prices of the Capital City of Buenos Aires are taken as a reference, it will be noted that the modalities for fixing the value for the elevator maintenance differs depending on the city or region in question, for the same reason that the conditions of the equipment park in operation are not the same depending of the neighborhoods and their financial possibilities.
The companies associated with the C.A.C. stipulate reference service values, based on reasonableness criteria appropriate to the circumstances and the cost scheme, without condescending to prices that bastardize the market.
8- Does the Cordoba geography of mountains, rivers and streams affect the elevators or their installation differently than those from other regions?
Elevators are not installed near the river… with exceptions in projects, if applicable, are analyzed individually.
9- Are you applying the sustainability measures that the world is adopting today?
They have been applied in a low percentage, although the Chamber of Elevators of Córdoba permanently urges to take into account sustainability measures in vertical transport.
