:Schindler Group

{{Short description|Swiss manufacturer of escalators and elevators}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Schindler Holding Ltd.

| native_name = {{plainlist|

{{langx|de|Schindler Holding AG}}
French and Italian: {{lang|fr|Schindler Holding S.A.}}}}

| logo = Logo-schindler.png

| logo_size = 200px

| image = SchindlerTestTowerHeadOfficeEbikon.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| image_caption = Schindler Test Tower at the Head Office in Ebikon, Switzerland

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{plainlist|

{{SWX|SCHN}}
{{SWX|SCHP}}
SMI MID components}}

| industry = Vertical transportation

| genre =

| foundation = {{start date and age|1874}}

| founders = {{ubl|Robert Schindler|Eduard Villiger}}

| location_city = Ebikon, Canton of Lucerne

| area_served = Worldwide (Except Japan and Russia, Belarus because of the Minato Ward 2006 elevator accident and the Boycott of Russia and Belarus)

| key_people = Silvio Napoli (Chairman & CEO)

| products = Elevators, Escalators, Moving walkways

| revenue = {{increase}} {{CHF|11.49 billion|link=yes}} (2023){{cite web|title= Schindler Holding Ltd. Annual Report & Financial Statements (2021, English) |url= https://reports.schindler.com/en/2023}}

| operating_income = {{increase}} {{CHF|1.19 billion}} (2023)

| net_income = {{increase}} {{CHF|0.94 billion}} (2023)

| assets = {{nowrap|{{decrease}} {{CHF|11.30 billion}} (2023)}}

| equity = {{increase}} {{CHF|4.70 billion}} (2023)

| num_employees = 70,406 (December 2023)

| parent =

| subsid = Atlas Schindler Brasil, Villarta Brasil {{ubl|Schindler Elevator Ltd.{{efn|{{langx|de|Schindler Aufzüge AG}}, {{langx|fr|Ascenseur Schindler SA}}}}|Schindler Elevator Corporation}}

| location_country = Switzerland

| homepage = {{URL|https://group.schindler.com/}}

}}

Schindler Holding Ltd.[https://www.schindler.com/com/internet/en/investor-relations/share-information/share-prices-rs.html Official English name listed on its stock price page] is a Swiss multinational company which manufactures escalators, moving walkways, and elevators worldwide, founded in Switzerland in 1874. Schindler produces, installs, maintains and modernizes lifts and escalators in many types of buildings including residential, commercial and high-rise buildings.

The company is present in over 140 countries and employs more than 66,000 people worldwide.{{cite web|date=2014-02-14|title=Group Fact Sheet|url=http://www.schindler.com/content/com/internet/en/investor-relations/reports/_jcr_content/rightPar/downloadlist_9f3b/downloadList/59_1345709659270.download.asset.59_1345709659270/Schindler_IR_factsheet2014.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226175938/http://www.schindler.com/content/com/internet/en/investor-relations/reports/_jcr_content/rightPar/downloadlist_9f3b/downloadList/59_1345709659270.download.asset.59_1345709659270/Schindler_IR_factsheet2014.pdf|archive-date=February 26, 2014|access-date=2014-02-20|publisher=Schindler.com}} The production facilities are located in Brazil, China, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, India and the United States.{{cite web|url=http://www.schindler.com/content/com/internet/en/about-schindler/_jcr_content/rightPar/downloadlist_b136/downloadList/49_1389609114863.download.asset.49_1389609114863/Schindler-Company-Facts.pdf|title=About Schindler Company Facts|publisher=Schindler.com|date=2014-01-13|access-date=2014-01-16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116211556/http://www.schindler.com/content/com/internet/en/about-schindler/_jcr_content/rightPar/downloadlist_b136/downloadList/49_1389609114863.download.asset.49_1389609114863/Schindler-Company-Facts.pdf|archive-date=2014-01-16}} All operations and subsidiaries of Schindler Group are organised into Schindler Holding Ltd. ({{langx|de|Schindler Holding AG}}, {{langx|fr|Schindler Holding S.A.}}), which is publicly traded on SIX Swiss Exchange.

History

The company was founded in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1874,{{HDS|41936|Schindler}} by Robert Schindler and Eduard Villiger, who established the collective joint partnership Schindler & Villiger.[http://www.schindler.com/group_index/group_kg/group_kg_comp/group_kg_comp_his.htm?showtab=30] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060712224301/http://www.schindler.com/group_index/group_kg/group_kg_comp/group_kg_comp_his.htm?showtab=30|date=July 12, 2006}} Shortly thereafter, a mechanical engineering workshop was built on an island in the river Reuss in Lucerne for the production of lifting equipment and machines of all types. Starting as an agricultural machinery manufacturer, it began to manufacture elevators at the end of the 19th century.

After 1901, Schindler's nephew, Alfred Schindler, expanded the company and founded the first foreign subsidiary in Berlin in 1906. Schindler produced ammunition during World War I. The company's first escalator was installed in 1936, and in 1937 it established a branch in Brazil. Following World War II Schindler became a global group and diversified its operations, manufacturing construction cranes, engines, pumps and railroad cars. In 1980 it became the first Western company to establish a joint venture with a state-owned enterprise of the People's Republic of China. With the takeover of Atlas in Brazil in 1999, Schindler became a major market player in South America.

Schindler entered the North American elevator market with the purchase of Toledo-based Haughton Elevator Company in 1979—briefly branding their products as Schindler-Haughton. In 1989, the company dramatically increased its presence in the United States after acquiring the Elevator/Escalator division of Westinghouse, one of the largest producers of elevators and escalators at the time. Currently, Schindler Elevator Corporation, the United States operations of Schindler Group, is based in Morristown, New Jersey.[http://www.theelevatormuseum.org/h/schindler.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923003248/http://www.theelevatormuseum.org/h/schindler.htm|date=September 23, 2006}}

In February 2007, Schindler, along with competitors Otis Elevator Co., ThyssenKrupp, Kone, and Mitsubishi Elevator Europe were fined by the European Union for a price-fixing cartel. Schindler was fined 144 million euros, or about $189.3 million US dollars.{{cite news|title=Europeans slap $1.3 billion price-fixing fine on 5 elevator makers|url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-02-21-eu-elevators_x.htm|work=USA Today|access-date=13 June 2012|first=Constant|last=Brand|date=2007-02-21}}

Since 2011, Schindler have sponsored Solar Impulse, a solar-powered aircraft.{{cite web|title=Main partner in Forbes|url=http://www.solarimpulse.com/timeline/view/6722|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120231912/http://www.solarimpulse.com/timeline/view/6722|archive-date= January 20, 2013|access-date=2014-02-16|publisher=Solarimpulse.com}}

Incidents

On November 29, 2004, a Schindler elevator in Nagoya descended while the door was still open. Nobody was injured in this incident. A later investigation found that the elevator's firmware "TV60 v1.1" had a bug that opened the door when the elevator started moving.
On April 22, 2006, three passengers were trapped in an elevator in Hachioji, Tokyo after the elevator's door opened while it was ascending. The elevator had faulty "TV60 v1.0" firmware.
On June 3, 2006, a Schindler elevator in Minato, Tokyo, started ascending while the door was open. A 16-year-old boy was crushed to death while getting off the elevator with his bicycle. An investigation determined a faulty brake was to blame.Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. "Report on Elevator Accident at City Heights Takeshiba" [http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000048837.pdf "シティハイツ竹芝エレベーター事故調査報告書"], Tokyo, 8 September 2009. Retrieved on 1 November 2012. When the government investigation team requested Schindler to disclose the information about elevators installed, Schindler declined to comply with the request and investigation claiming that documents contained personal information.Livedoor News [http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/2074989/ シンドラー社が記者説明会] Retrieved 6 November 2012.
On June 10, 2006, a Schindler elevator in Urayasu started ascending while the door was open, passed the top floor, and finally stopped in the mechanical shaft. Two people were trapped in the car. The elevator had firmware "80TH v1.4" with faulty codes.
On October 16, 2007, a 9-year-old boy hit his head against the wall after getting his head stuck between the handrail of a Schindler escalator and an acrylic board in a Seiyu store (a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.) in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. He remained unconscious for three days before regaining consciousness. Later investigation found that escalators were not installed in accordance with the Japanese building code, despite the previous claim from Schindler, which was the maintenance contractor.張田　吉昭, 畑村　洋太郎 [http://www.sozogaku.com/fkd/cf/CZ0200806.html "平塚エスカレータ首はさまれ"], Retrieved on 1 November 2012.
On November 16, 2010, 18 students at the Kashiwa campus of the University of Tokyo fell from the ground floor to the basement floor in a Schindler elevator with the doors still open. One student incurred a minor injury while trying to escape. Schindler determined the cause to be loose brake wires.Publicity and Information Release, University of Tokyo [http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/public/public01_221116_01_j.html 東京大学柏キャンパス総合研究棟のシンドラー(株)製エレベーター事故の発生について]
On December 11, 2013, The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Department announced fines against Schindler for three "serious violations", after one of its elevator mechanics died in June while working on the Levi's Stadium.{{Cite web|title=State Finds "Serious Violations" at Schindler Elevator After Levi's Stadium Death|url=https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/state-finds-serious-violations-at-schindler-elevator-after-levis-stadium-death/2046020/|last=Fernandez|first=Lisa|date=2013-12-11|website=NBC Bay Area|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-23}}
In January 2020, two young people in their 20s were drowned to death in a flooded elevator in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was revealed by some pictures posted by local media that the elevator was made by Schindler.{{Cite web|title=An arcitle from November 20, 2020 about the aftermath of the incident on Israeli news website N12|url=https://www.mako.co.il/news-n12_magazine/2020_q4/Article-90930127621d571027.htm}}