Can you imagine a lift without ropes and pulleys? One of the world’s largest elevator companies is stepping up trials of the first system to operate without cables at a testing site in southwestern Germany. ThyssenKrupp AG's futuristic lift defies the conventional design of lifts that are attached to ropes and pulleys.

The German engineering company is all set to be a step ahead of its rivals with the first commercial deployment of the maglev elevator called Multi planned for 2020 in a building in Berlin. Currently, it is ranked fourth in the world by sales after Otis, Kone Oyj and Schindler Holdings AG.

While Kone is focusing on making cables lighter for ultra-tall buildings like Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower and Otis, owned by United Technologies Corp., has developed high-speed lifts, ThyssenKrupp's Multi elevator will be in a category of its own, technologically.

According to ThyssenKrupp, the Multi will make ferrying people around buildings more efficient, unlike traditionally-designed systems. For instance, more than one of the elevator cabins can use the same shaft, zipping up and down and even moving horizontally to get out of the way of another cabin in its path. This flexibility could allow greater architectural leeway and ultimately change city skylines. The new elevators could run on the outside of buildings, or move sideways between parking lots and concierge desks.