The Life Cycle of a Door

Here at ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems, we really love doors. In fact, we love them so much we tend to personify them. That’s why this month we are highlighting the life cycle of a door.

From design to production to installation, our doors are made with layers of care and excellence.

Stage 1: Research and Design

Here, a door begins as an idea. At ASSA ABLOY, the design phase starts with the voice of our customers (VOC). The input of our customers helps us develop entrance solutions that fit their needs.

As the design advances, it is refined through site visits and meetings with customers to gather their feedback. Trial doors are built, and our engineers put them through three stages of testing: longevity, safety, and abuse.

Fun fact: our team used a projectile cannon to test our SL500 Forced Entry Resistant sliding doors!

Stage 2: Architectural Specification

Before our doors can be physically crafted, they must be specified. Think of specification as a recipe of sorts; a set of requirements and instructions that are needed to make the door a fully functioning reality.

A member of our Architectural team will meet with our customers and ask a series of questions, such as “What is the type of facility?” and “What is the size of the door opening?” These questions are aimed to lead the customer to the door that will suit them and their project best.

Once the ideal automatic door solution has been identified, our team will help develop a 3-part specification, which lists the necessary equipment, the details and specifics of the project, and instructions for our production and installation teams.

Stage 3: Manufacturing

Once the specification is complete and the door is purchased, the order is sent to production. First, the order runs through a configurator. This tool reads the spec and creates a ‘job’, compiling the dimensions and part numbers that are required for the door.

Next, the job is released to the floor to be cut, assembled, and packed. In this way, every ASSA ABLOY door is custom. There is standardization in the parts and door types, but every door is uniquely specified and made accordingly.

Along the way, inspections are performed to ensure each part of the customized door package is correct. Finally, it is shipped to the site of the installation.

Stage 4: Installation

The installation stage is where the door truly comes to life. More than just inserting a door into an empty space, installation requires careful planning, site preparation, manpower, and technical know-how.

The exact process will depend on whether the installation site is new construction or a retrofit. Either way, our installation managers and technicians work closely with general contractors and building owners to schedule the installation and make sure everything runs smoothly.

Once they have coordinated everything - from planning around weather conditions to production scheduling to site readiness - our certified AAADM technicians put the door into place and make it come alive.

Stage 5: Service

Put simply, service extends the life cycle of a door, like a doctor extends the life of a patient. If our customers experience an issue with their automatic door, our service technicians are on call 24/7 – even if the door is not made by ASSA ABLOY.

And we do more than fix doors. We offer advice and go the extra mile to provide honest feedback, often helping customers avoid unnecessary service calls.

Back to the Beginning

We never call it quits. Our research and design team are often refining our products, both old and new. With input from our customers, sales teams, installers and service technicians, our engineers are continually making improvements.   

Ultimately, the life cycle of our automatic doors personifies the levels of support our customers can expect to receive at every stage of door ownership.