The Super Independent 

What is an Independent Elevator Company?

There are basically 2 kinds of elevator companies in our industry--  Majors and Independents.

Majors are the large, multi-national elevator manufacturers such as Otis, KONE, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp.  They typically have elevator manufacturing facilities in several countries and branch operations in all the larger cities of the world. Their branches report up a chain of command structure to a central headquarters. Service calls are typically routed to and dispatched from a large call center located in another state somewhere and you are known only by your account number when you call. The call center operator has no personal knowledge of who you are, your elevator, or even what the weather is like in your city.   

Independents by contrast are local, many times family-owned companies.  They generally operate out of one or two locations & serve a more limited geographical area.  By their very nature you get more personalized service- you're known by name and long-time stable account relationships are common. 

As an Independent grows, so does their ability to provide a wide variety of products and services over a greater area more like a Major, still however, keeping service quality higher and the advantages of local ownership and responsiveness.  If you have a problem or suggestion, you can take it up with the owner directly and get it resolved or implemented quickly. 

Additionally, most Independents today sell non-proprietary, easy-to-service elevators instead of the highly specialized, patented, in-house designs provided by most Majors.  Don't get trapped into service by only one company, make sure you are buying industry-standard non-proprietary elevator equipment that can be serviced by any good quality firm.