A COMPANY IN A FULL GROWTH
As an installation technician, Enrique Cortés Alarcón reached such a high level and qualification in his specialty that KONE Mexico, where he worked, awarded him the responsibility of being the first installer, in Mexico and 28 other countries, for the famous KONE MonoSpace elevator, which came out to the market at the beginning of the 21st century. Today, he recreates the same reliable professional level in his company, ASCENDO ELEVADORES Y ESCALERAS, based in Monterrey City.
Revista del Ascensor: – How would you define Ascendo Elevadores y Escaleras S.A. de C.V. company, currently?
Enrique Cortés Alarcón: – ASCENDO Elevadores y Escaleras is a company that I founded in 2016 in Monterrey, state of Nuevo León, which is focused on providing an option to clients who feel captive of leading brands. It began by providing maintenance services, then consolidated in modernization, and is now expanding into the market for the sale of new equipment and spare parts to companies in the same field.
R del A.: Please Enrique, would you tell us, what your training and career were like, at KONE Mexico and how it led to the creation of Ascendo Elevadores y Escaleras S.A. of C.V.?
E.C.A.: – I started working in Mexico City, on September 24 1994, as a technician in installations or assembly of new equipment. As a technician, I learned to install equipment and put it to work; here we call it adjustment.
The main thing I can say is that I happened to be the first mechanic in installing the KONE elevator without a machine room, called MonoSpace, in Mexico and the entire world.
KONE gave me the responsibility to install these elevators in 28 other countries, which included Central America and the Caribbean—and Venezuela in 1998. I resigned from KONE in 2008, at the request of my CEO, to start as a subcontractor for that company in Monterrey City. We kept working that way until 2012.That year we founded a company that offered services for maintaining and repairing elevators and escalators, which on May 27 became Ascendo Elevadores y Escaleras in Monterrey City, State of Nuevo León, northern Mexico.
R del A.: – In which cities does your company operate? Do you they have a fixed headquarters?
E.C.A.: – We are present in the cities of Monterrey, Saltillo, Guadalajara, Chihuahua, Los Cabos in Baja California and the capital CDMX.
R del A.: – What are the Ascendo Ascensores and Escaleras features Ascendo Ascensores you would highlight? What makes it different from other companies in the sector?
E.C.A.: – We are a group of people with experience in the market. In addition to me, engineers trained in other companies such as KONE, OTIS, Thyssen, and Schindler give us the tools to provide experience and translate it into better service, surpassing the leading brands.
Differences with other companies:
Fair prices on spare parts and repairs.
Accurate diagnoses and honesty when calculating the budgets. It is not allowed to deceive clients with fake diagnoses and heavy costs.
We have a large warehouse with spare parts for immediate delivery.
R del A.: – Do you apply safety standards in Mexico, do you follow any regulations, and which is the enforcement body?
E.C.A.: -Yes, of course, here we have two regulations, NOM-053 and NOM-207.
We are in the certification process and hope to be certified within this year.
R del A.: – Enrique, what is the issue of your profession that you like the most or that gives you the most satisfaction?
E.C.A.: – Without a doubt, it is the attitude of service. It gives us great satisfaction that customers are satisfied with our services, our costs, and our delivery times.
R del A.: – Monterrey, the great city of the north is your stronghold, isn’t it?
E.C.A.: – The importance of ASCENDO Elevadores y Escaleras in the city, in which we serve more than 500 pieces of equipment, is being a relief for large investors when they see their buildings and shopping centers served by some companies do not meet the needs of a quick and efficient service.
R del A.: – Do you think that a medium-sized company can be more efficient than a multinational?
E.C.A.: – Definitely, since in a small or medium-sized company the indirect expenses are much lower, as well as the warmth of the personalized service results in better service in terms of attention and fair costs for clients.
R del A.: – Do companies in Mexico have a maintainer permit number? There exists one in Argentina, for instance, where, by the way, maintenance companies pay for an annual renovation. It is supposed this avoids improvisers and disloyal competitors in the sector.
E.C.A.: – In Mexico, doesn’t exist something like this. What is now being implemented is the certification of companies under the two standards: One for maintenance and another for new equipment, so that only certified companies could provide the services.
This certification is carried out every two years and has a cost that must be paid to a Verification Unit.
R del A.: – How do you see the elevator park in Mexico? Is it modern or is there much to be upgraded?
E.C.A.: – We do not have records of the elevator and escalators equipment in Mexico, but we can link it very well with the construction industry. Here I send you a graph where the impact of the pandemic on the slowdown in construction in Mexico is clear.
The lack of water in the country also slows down population growth, and construction permits are increasingly difficult to obtain. Regarding the age of the equipment, I can tell you that in our experience, more than 60% of the parks that we have are candidates for partial modernization or total replacement of the equipment.
R del A.: – Are there many accidents in elevators in Mexico?
E.C.A.: – Lately on social networks, have increased notes about accidents, with a morbid intention. I believe that accidents have always occurred, what has changed is the speed of dissemination of the news today.
R del A.: – Enrique, to conclude, what are the plans of your company?
E.C.A.: – Among our plans for this year, there are:
- To obtain certification on the standards in force in the country.
- To inaugurate our new offices that are currently under construction.
- Consolidate ourselves as a supplier of new equipment.
I would like to talk about a particular project, which is the elevator for the Governor of Nuevo León’s office. As it is a sale to the State government, it has been accompanied by challenges, both in the sale, speed of manufacturing, import, as well as the installation of the equipment that is precisely delivered today, and all this in 3 months!.
On the other hand, once the certification is obtained, I would like to be able to tell you, in detail on another note everything related to our warehouse.
Contact
ASCENDO ELEVADORES ESCALES S.A. DE C.V.
Address: Dr. Julián Villarreal 1313 – A Norte, Col. Terminal,
64580 Monterrey, Nuevo León.
Telephones: (55) 818 – 372 – 3763 / (55) 811 – 911 – 7130
WhatsApp: (55) 811 – 693 – 9944
Mail: atencionaclientes@ascendo.mx
Web: www.ascendo.mx
Instagram: ascendo_elevadores
The photographs on this note are courtesy of Ascendo Elevadores y Escaleras S.A. of C.V.
