Alejandro and Marcelo Graziuso, CEO’s at Ascensores Graziuso, an elevator maintenance company created in 1985, is traditionally located in the Buenos Aires downtown area near the most important part of their clients. In this article, we will learn more about their history and presence in the elevator industry.
Both brothers came to Argentina from Uruguay, where they were born and have trained in their father’s, Domingo Graziuso, company, who in turn learned the trade in the pioneering company Ascensores Adámoli.
Revista del Ascensor: – Years ago you were located on 25 de Mayo Street, right?
Marcelo Graziuso: – Yes, we had an office there, and a few years ago we moved here, to Corrientes 753, Of. 74.
A large part of our clients is in this area, they made us decide to have the office in downtown to improve the service. Here we have the administration and the technical operations base, with a stock of spare parts that we need to have on hand and the spot where our employees are trained in security issues, to achieve a service suitable to our client’s needs. The workshop provides technical training and all mechanical and metalwork, and we also stock machines, spare parts, guides, and wires. In Lanus, the company has a repair workshop and spare parts stock.
R del A.: – Who are your clients?
M.G.: – We serve many hotels, universities, and private schools in Buenos Aires, both the capital city and province, the Capital and province of Buenos Aires, where we have also installed many elevators. Other provinces where we have carried out installations are: Mendoza, Misiones, Jujuy, Neuquén, Salta, Tucumán, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, and Bahía Blanca City.
Alejandro Graziuso: – We have recycled several emblematic buildings such as those in Av. de Mayo; we have changed the machines and controls to provide these elevators with more modern technologies. They are situated in the block between San José and Sáenz Peña streets. They are buildings with domes that look at Congress. It was a significant work, so to be considered as a very important news in the main Argentina journals.
R del A.: – You have important training that allows you to carry out this task. When did you start this activity?
A.G.: – I came to Argentina from my native Uruguay in 1984. I am the oldest brother.
R del A.: – Were you the first in your family to take up this activity?
A.G.: – Our father started in Uruguay in the 1950s. He started working at Adámoli, a well-known Uruguayan elevator company. In 1981 he founded his own company, TEA. I worked with him for a while, but when I was eighteen, I came to Buenos Aires. Marcelo was still a child and stayed in Uruguay.
R del A.: – How did you start in Argentina?
A.G.: – I worked briefly in a small company and then I joined Guillemí- MAE where I worked for many years until 1995 when we founded Ascensores Graziuso SRL.
M.G.: – We started working together at the S.R.L in 1995.
R del A.:- How are things now in the business?
A.G.:- Today we are practically not doing any modernizations, one is supported by the back that one has from so many years of work.
R del A.:- Do you have many subscriptions?
M.G.:- We have about 700 lifts in maintenance. However, we have some buildings where lifts are stopped. A motor burns out, or a variable-speed drive breaks and their owners don’t fix it.
These jobs are worth millions of pesos and the owners need to gather the money for them, to be done. In addition, do not think that happens in poor neighborhoods, we are talking about the Recoleta neighborhood.
R del A.: – Can you tell me how much you charge for the subscription?
A.G.: – We are at 130,000 pesos and, nevertheless, we have lost very few machines. Working out the losses and the gains, the balance is positive. We dedicate ourselves 100% to the elevator. What people pay for is the record of accomplishment; nobody pays much for a new maintenance worker.
R del A.: – Why do you think you are keeping your validity and that large number of machines?
A.G.: – The service we provide has earned us a good reputation. We think we have to approach our job as businesspersons, not as merchants, pushing ourselves for subscriptions, buying at 10, and selling at 11. We are businesspersons; it is about working well, professionally speaking. I suppose we are among the companies that charge the most.
M.G.:- We work well, to ensure the elevators do not have faults and that there will not be complaints. We often fix equipment belonging to third parties. The way we work, we do it even with the simplest elevator so that the difference is noticeable. In addition, we have a team of very well prepared people. Some of those who handle complaints have been with us for 30 years. Other companies have tempted them to hire them but have not succeeded. They are excellent, handling all types of elevators, and electronic equipment. Even the janitors, if a new building manager tries to change us for another company, defend us and say: Look, the people at Graziuso know. They realize it because other technicians come and start to doubt, they do not know how to solve the problems. There may be better maintenance workers than we are, but the secret is dedication. If we have to lose, we lose, but we always respond. You cannot fail a client’s trust, because once you do it, you have lost them forever.
Antonella Graziuso, who was present at the meeting, pointed out that the guard is on 24-hour duty, to respond to any eventuality.
R del A.: – If the elevator is to be closed, how do you proceed?
M.G.: – When it is not urgent, you have to notify the consortium in advance, so they can prepare for an important repair, such as changing the wires cables and turning the pulleys, for example. These issues have to be dealt with in advance.
R del A.: – Do you install?
M.G.: – Our strength is maintenance and modernization. Nevertheless, we have installed them all over the country. Recently we came from Bahía Blanca where we installed elevators and mount money machines for Banco Macro, and we have done it in Neuquén for them.
A.G.: – We have 30-story towers and buildings in Puerto Madero.
R del A.: – Do you plan to work under standards?
A.G.: – We do not think all that is very reliable. Sometimes it is done for marketing, but it has to be renewed every year and I do not know who renews it. All the actions taken under Resolution 897E to test the safety components at INTI are stopped because of disagreements between the City Government and IRAM.
M.G.: – There exists elevator equipment manufactured under originally European headquarters standards, which is not accurately installed. Some architects also do not know about the subject. They call us to correct new installations. There are things done badly, like putting cables on the outside, or door frames not properly installed. When you get inside the shaft, they look badly installed. In addition, if they are badly installed, they can stop because of door issues.
A.G.: -Now concerning the installation or maintenance standards, it would be good if the municipality governments of the Buenos Aires province, at least, unified criteria on the cabins dimensions of the cabins and the hoist, to ease the work of installers and architects.
R del A.: – It is the first time in all the years that someone tells us in an interview about elevators inaccurately installed.
M.G.: – Multinational companies install well, but there are national companies that throw them into the shafts.
R del A.: – What do you think about elevator safety?
A.G.: – In recent years, safety has increased. In addition, the company visits the building at least twice a month, or three, because the engineer goes, but the oiler also goes and a monthly inspection is done, which results in greater safety.
R del A.: – What do you think about remote control of elevators?
M.G.: – Remote elevator control was very usual in large buildings from the beginning as they were installed by the multinational elevator companies, which are the ones that manage them. We do not use it because the consortiums do not invest in it. In the 80s, more or less good buildings had telephones in the elevator cabins. They were landline telephones. Companies such as Acelco and Guillemí had them. Today that would be impossible in our country, while in Europe is mandatory.
A.G.: – I miss the times when maintainers helped each other; now it seems that each one is playing his own game; technology has separate us..
R del A.: – You have been in the profession for 40 years, Alejandro.
A.G.: – Yes, I say 40 because I used to accompany my father on guard duty, as a young operator. But Ascensores Graziuso, has been operating for 30 years up to today.
R del A.: – How do you imagine your company’s future?
M.G.: – I have two daughters. Antonella works with us and I have my nephew, my sister’s son, who works as an operator.
A.G.:- I do not see the future enough, especially regarding the maintenance job. They are going to make up something similar to the Uber system for elevators, where the same operator can attend to elevators from different companies. I suppose it could be a solution to the problem of the shortage of good, suitable, and well-trained personnel. I do not know how that will continue.
R del A.:- How is that?
M.G.:– It already happens in Europe, the same technician works for 4 or 5 companies. Employees can work for several companies at the same time. Nowadays, guards are often subcontracted, and company employees generally earn very little, compared to what they earned many years ago.
A.G.:- I remember that with the first two salaries at Guillemi, I rented a summerhouse to my parents in Atlántida.
R del A.: – Did you ever long to return to Uruguay?
A.G.: – The only terrible moment was 2001, after that, we got away with it. And today we feel Argentine.
The service we provide brought us a good reputation. We believe this job should be approached as businesspersons…
R del A.: – You were part of an elevator chamber and then became a member of C.E.C.A.F. ¿What was the reason for the change?
A.G.: Although we are installers, our strength is maintenance, and upgrading, and we are not manufacturers. C.E.C.A.F. supports us as a sector.
R del A.: – You participated in the “summit” meeting of June 1 of this year convened by Conservadores Unidos, what conclusions did you draw?
M.G.: – We generally agree that maintaining the quality of service is a priority. Therefore, to make it happen, we must charge what corresponds to it. We all want the competition to be better; unfortunately, today this tends to go down and we aspire to go up. We are professionals in maintenance, not merchants in the field.
