Build October 2016 NEW

Build Magazine 46 Manufacturing & Supply The ASSA ABLOY Door Group manufactures and distributes industry leading doors and frames with a reputation of innovation and high quality for commercial projects throughout the United States. The company’s products are intended for, but not limited to, healthcare, education, hospitality, government, military, and multifamily housing projects. he ASSA ABLOY Group consists of five American brands providing doors and frames primarily to the United States construction industry. Ceco Door and Curries provide steel doors and frames for a wide range of applications including high-performing specialty doors such as hurricane and tornado re-sistance, radio frequency (RF) shielding, bomb and ballistic resistance, and high level sound transmis-sion classification (STC). ASSA ABLOY Wood Doors offer industry leading flush wood doors, stile and rail doors, plastic laminate doors and wood frames targeting schools, healthcare and office buildings. The Frameworks brand manufactures aluminium doors, frames and windows primarily for interior of-fice space. Dominion Building Products provides assembled commercial doors, aluminium windows, canopies and related accessories to the pre-engineered building industry with mounting systems for simple, secure and efficient installation. All of these brands have their own unique history prior to being acquired by ASSA ABLOY, but the common thread is that all brands were already industry leaders within their respective markets. Ceco Door and Curries both began manufacturing steel doors as early as the 1950’s. The ASSA ABLOY Door Group was formed in 1996 when ASSA ABLOY acquired the US company ESSEX Industries, Inc. which included the Curries and Graham door brands. In 2001 Ceco Door and Dominion Building Products were brought in before Maiman (stile and rails wood doors) in 2009, Security Metal Products in 2010, and Frameworks in 2012. The Graham and Maiman brands have recently been combined to form ASSA ABLOY Wood Doors and Security Metal Products are now offered as part of the Ceco and Curries product portfolios. “To supplement these brands, ASSA ABLOY has eight regional service centres strategically located across the United States that bring our top quality doors and frames closer to distributors and local A Family of Innovation T job sites. These modern, fully equipped facilities represent the largest and most responsive delivery sys-tem in the industry. All of the service centres stock standard products from the various ASSA ABLOY Door Group brands, and certain locations also stock ASSA ABLOY hardware and have frame manufac-turing capabilities as well. Expanding our manufacturing footprint and making our products more readi-ly available has been an extremely valuable strategy for the ASSA ABLOY Door Group as we are able to get our products on site and installed faster than if they were ordered directly from the manufacturing plant.” This expanded footprint coupled with the large breadth of products manufactured creates a distinc-tion between the ASSA ABLOY Door Group and the rest of the industry. It provides customers access to all of their door and frame needs from a single source. This not only makes ordering product easier, but managing the project schedule, delivery, installation and changes become easier as well. This add-ed value is not only appreciated by the distributor of ASSA ABLOY door and hardware products, but by the architect, general contractor and end user as well. The door industry has changed immensely over the last 20 years. The complexity of the projects has been the most significant change. As security needs progress, the technology of door hardware con-tinues to develop as well. This creates seemingly endless options, with specific combinations of prod-ucts required for each specific door opening. “The result for our manufacturing plants is that the or-ders we are fulfilling for each project are gaining complexity, and a project that would have been con-sidered custom twenty years ago is now the standard. ASSA ABLOY Door Group engineers and plant managers had to think innovatively to react to this shift and set up our manufacturing lines so products are still able to flow through the process smoothly and keep our lead times down.” Innovation is a key component to the success of the ASSA ABLOY Door Group. Employees are encour-aged to share innovative ideas through company contests and designated time to brainstorm in groups. This contributes to the culture of the ASSA ABLOY Door Group, where an employee can make their mark no matter where they are in the company. We believe in the power of the individual and the strength of the combined team, so we reward enthusiasm and initiative while seeking out ways to collaborate and learn from each other. Another example of innovation in the manufacturing process is utilizing advanced technologies, such as robotics. This can provide a huge boost in efficiency while ensuring consistency. A pragmatic ap-proach to technology is employed where the aim is not to replace employees, but to utilize these ad-vancements to make employees more effective in their job. Product development is clearly an area where innovation drives us forward. Whether it is finding a quicker, better way to build an existing product or designing a completely new product that the mar- ket needs, teams are constantly looking at the latest technology and materials for new ideas. The Group invests heavily in product development in support of innovation. “We may be looking for a lighter weight material to reduce shipping costs and increase the life span of our products, or trying to find an alternate way to insulate doors that increases the energy efficiency of the opening.” Energy efficiency and sustainability play a pivotal role in the ASSA ABLOY Door Group’s product devel- opment. This is another area where the industry has and will continue to change. Architects and end users are requiring sustainable products be used in the construction of their buildings. Programs such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and The Living Building Challenge closely track the products installed in building projects. The Group has been an early adopter of these pro-grams which help them to be transparent with their customers. “We have led the industry with the first Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), Health Product Dec- laration (HPD), and Declare Label for commercial door products. These declarations take into account