When Greek mathematician Archimedes put together the first elevator, it was a basic contraption with a wooden crate. While the early methods of elevator construction evolved with innovative technology, the design of elevator interiors remained in the past. As it was more crucial to improve the elevator’s safety as well as its convenience and efficiency, styling its interior was considered more of a luxury. Fast forward to a time when skyscrapers dot the skylines of cities worldwide, the simple metal box now blends its core functionality with the aesthetic appeal of a building. Today, building owners, architects, and property managers seek beautifully designed elevator systems with artistic cab interiors to enhance the overall appearance of their high-rise. However, building a customized cab interior has its own complexities and requires special attention. The elevator marketplace has long been saddled with older technologies, and most
elevator manufacturing companies are not equipped with the right cutting-edge tools or the specialized knowledge needed to build customized, state-of-the-art cab interiors. Subsequently, the installations take longer while they inadvertently use expensive materials that go over budget constraints. The need of the hour for these firms is a specialized manufacturer that can help them grasp the intricacies of cab design to ensure that the product echoes the customer’s design needs and is built with reduced lead times.

Providing the missing piece to their puzzle is QCAB, a custom elevator manufacturing company taking the industry by storm, offering the latest in cab interior refinishing, elevator modernization projects, and new cab installations. “We strive for excellence, as we constantly innovate to make our product easier, lighter, and faster to install,” says Jim Maton, owner of QCAB. With panels made of laminate, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), or a high finished glossier laminate, QCAB expertly manufactures its elevator cabins with materials built to last. The company offers a vast selection of custom wall panels for cab interiors—ranging from the budget-friendly Q7 and the very popular horizontal paneled Q12 to the modern vertical paneled Q14 and, lastly, the unique Q36 that combines both vertical and horizontal lines. Moreover, the lightweight nature of the panels does not affect the operation of the elevator. “Weight is never an issue with QCAB’s standard designs as our cabs are extremely lightweight,” says Maton.

Realizing the Vision

In the years preceding QCAB’s origin, Maton was already gaining expertise in the world of manufacturing as he worked as an industrial manufacturing engineer. Later, his career trajectory as the general manager of a cab manufacturer led him to see the bigger picture in the elevator industry. Following that company’s dissolution, Maton launched QCAB with the foresight that the industry needed an efficient and uncomplicated solution for manufacturing and replacing cab interiors.

At the onset, QCAB knuckled down with its engineering team to make the product easy to install. “Our goal was to refine the cab building process to make it easier not just for ourselves but for potential partners in the long run by facilitating easier cab installations and refurbishments, thereby helping them monetize the cab refurbishment business with QCAB as a supplier,” explains Maton. That’s how the story of QCAB commenced, with a vision that the company continues to spearhead today.

In line with their goal to reduce the lead time and employ correct installation procedures to avoid long elevator downtime, the company, from the get-go, guides its customers in understanding the services from top to bottom along with their delivery time before initiating any projects. As a result, QCAB can focus on their product line, enabling them to deliver in a two- to three-week lead-time, well below the industry standard. Ultimately, even the installation time for QCAB panels spans only a maximum of four hours.

Above all, one of the most attractive features of QCAB’s services is the 3D Cab Builder that demonstrates a 3D view of the elevator, allowing customers to design an interior of choice by using the company’s existing cab designs, including multiple color selections and features such as handrails, ceilings, and more. QCAB’s Cab Builder is particularly beneficial for elevator design in condominiums, where manufacturers need to take into account over 150 different resident opinions. Moreover, to allow customers to choose from more color combinations, the company plans to add all of the Wilsonart and Formica colors into their system.

At the Leading Edge of Innovation

As QCAB continues to hold true to its commitment to making the entire installation a breeze for its customers, the company advocates the use of quality materials that fall within the customers’ budget over high-end materials that would be extremely expensive to replace if they happen to be damaged down the road. On that note, Maton speaks of the time when Hotel Lancaster Marriott in Pennsylvania was in the middle of a renovation project. As the project architect’s plans involved the use of glass and bronze cladding in the hotel’s architectural design, including the cabs, the budget amounted to around $500,000. When they zeroed in on QCAB because of its impressive lead times, the team not only valueengineered the project but, instead of glass, administered two different shades of glossy laminate and refinished the bronze with the less expensive US10B finish, cutting the costs in half. QCAB knocked the whole thing out of the park in about six weeks with the end product mirroring exactly what the architect had pictured. Down the road, if ever the customer had the need to replace anything in their QCAB elevator, they could do so easily.

"We strive for excellence, as we constantly innovate to make our product easier, lighter, and faster to instal"

This brings the focus to the inevitability that elevator interiors undergo unavoidable damage over time because of equipment failures and frequent usage. As a solution, QCAB designs its product in its trademarked framing system that allows customers, in the event of damages, to order a panel from them at a minimal cost instead of replacing an entire wall. Moreover, because of QCAB’s easy installation, replacing a cab interior in case of any damage takes only about 10 minutes.

Going forward on the innovation front, QCAB plans to add more color selections and materials to the Cab Builder and incorporate its installation videos as well. When QCAB trains customers on the cab installation process, the company also probes them for feedback on making the process easier, from product packaging to the tools they supply for installation. Taking one of their customer suggestions into account, QCAB now ships hardware in separate packages, facilitating their products’ ease of installation in the field. Additionally, QCAB shares full access to the company website and its catalogs with business partners, enabling them to offer turnkey installations to their customers.

“Our focus is always on finding ways to make life easier for elevator companies to get their product on time to help them make their customers happy,” concludes Maton.