METRICATION AT OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY

摘要

It seems that I am expected to answer the question: When did Otis convert to metric? Taking the question literally, the answer would be "it did not and it never will" because Otis Elevator Company, as most companies that I helped metricate, did not convert in the usual sense of the term. Instead, Otis phased in globally prevalent (engineering) standards and practices. That was happening some two decades ago. I trust many on the USMA forum appreciate that metrication of an established manufacturing company is not a "switchover" event. Otis, in particular, may not yet be considered metric by some and may continue not to be so for another century or two--until the last building with a 19th century Otis elevator still in service is torn down and all the elevator equipment discarded.