Knowledge will determine the future of the lift industry

The future of the lift industry will be determined not only by technology, but also by how effectively companies preserve, share and develop knowledge.

BY MARTINA AND ALEXANDER KOCH

Photo: © LIFTjournal/Bernd Lorenz

With experienced technicians retiring and a shortage of skilled workers continuing to grow across Europe, many companies are facing a critical challenge. Valuable know-how is often stored in individuals' minds rather than being made systematically accessible to the organisation.

At the same time, modern elevator systems are becoming increasingly complex, making continuous learning and structured knowledge transfer more important than ever.

“The employees in GAT member companies are highly competent. We want to leverage and expand this knowledge advantage within the community. At the same time, we strengthen and support leaders by reducing their workload.” 
Kevin Rieke, GAT CEO

This is why knowledge management must become a strategic priority for elevator companies. Practical expertise, troubleshooting experience, safety procedures and technical understanding must be documented, organised and made easily accessible.

German GAT Academy especially for SMEs

Photo: © LIFTjournal/Bernd Lorenz

The German GAT Academy was founded to support field technicians, office staff, warehouse teams, supervisors and future leaders. When knowledge is shared rather than kept isolated, companies become more resilient, onboarding speeds up and collaboration improves significantly. Accessible learning systems can reduce dependency on individual experts and help secure long-term operational stability, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The German GAT Academy was created to support this exact transformation. Its goal is to provide training and foster a culture of continuous learning, leadership development and sustainable knowledge sharing across the elevator industry.

By bringing together technical learning, mandatory safety training, leadership development and organisational learning on one accessible platform, companies can preserve valuable experience while preparing the next generation of professionals. In an era of demographic change and mounting pressure on the industry, investing in people and knowledge could be one of the most important sources of competitive advantage.

Martina Koch is a knowledge manager, and Alexander Koch is a systemic business coach specialising in organisational development.