Maintenance key to controlling door costs
March 1st 2009

While most companies view as vital the maintenance of the machinery on their production lines, BID Group believes many overlook the maintenance of their industrial doors

The strains on today's industrial doors are higher than ever due to commercial demands and increased traffic on site.

Soaring maintenance costs are not solely a result of emergency call outs, routine repairs or impacted doors, but the added cost in terms of downtime and loss in production.

As with any other piece of machinery a door that is not regularly serviced is more likely to break down incurring high repair costs. Routine checks help identify problems before they become costly. All industrial doors should be serviced periodically. The amount of times a door is serviced per year will depend on use and environment.

A service should comprise a visual inspection to check overall condition, as well as routine checks to assess for damaged or loose part problems at an early stage. Each company requiring a service contract from BID is recommended a level to suit their business operation; this is designed to ensure that the operation runs smoothly, with a minimum of disruption. BID comments that having a door serviced and maintained regularly by a competent engineer and recording detailed written reports, ensures companies comply with current legislation.

A door that repeatedly is impacted or repaired often signifies increased use or unsuitability for the opening. At BID, doors are designed to suit their environment and user. A suitable security door for minimal use would be a roller shutter or sectional industrial door; a door for high use, environmental controls and energy savings would be a high speed door such as the Klimate high speed door 'Ardent'.

The Ardent range has a single variable speed motor for customising door opening and closing times, as well as reducing door wear. Opening and closing speeds are adjustable to 2m/s depending on door size.

Doors are made of a heavy duty PVC curtain, which increases thermal insulation properties, resulting in minimal loss of warm air. BID says that, on average, an Ardent door can cut space-heating bills by up to 14%.

Such a door reduces contamination by preventing the entry of airborne pollution and ingress of vermin, optimises traffic flow and, due to its modular construction, can cut maintenance costs by as much as 15%.

Klimate engineers can train a customer's maintenance team so some maintenance can be undertaken in-house.

More articles from B I D Group Ltd: