Total Door

A hospital recommission project in Indiana is proving that Total Door Systems can withstand the test of time. Inspectors found that 40-year-old Total Doors were still completely functional when they assessed the North Clark Community Hospital in Charlestown, Ind. In a rare move, the hospital is being put back into service in August after a nine-year layoff to meet the needs of a growing local population.

The hospital was one of the first projects for Total Door when it was built in 1976. In fact, engineers noticed that one of the fire labels on a door was #003, meaning it was among the earliest projects the company ever completed. They found that the hospital used 400 Total Doors for every single passageway, staircase and entrance in the entire structure and these doors are still completely intact.

Randy Heller, a Total Door distributor for almost 30 years and project engineer for Modern Door, is working to bring 85 of the hospital’s 400 doors into compliance with modern building, life safety, and A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act) codes. He said the doors were in great shape and only needed minor modifications, such as modern labels and a review of their design specifications, to meet today’s standards.

North Clark Community Hospital has quite a history in the Charlestown area. It provided medical care for the entire area until new medical facilities made it obsolete in 2008. But explosive local population growth caused the hospital to be recommissioned this year. So it must undergo a complete inspection to meet all existing building rules and regulations before the grand reopening planned for this year.

As Total Door’s Controller, Jeanne Kitchen is one of the leaders driving the company’s quest for product speed and continuous improvement. Recently, she discussed her roles at the company and what excites her about the future.

Q: What projects excite you for the future?

I’m responsible for all the computer systems that make the business run, such as parts ordering and inventory control; and I head financial metrics and human resources.

A project that I’m particularly excited about is what we internally call “the Configurator.”

It will provide more ease and visibility to pricing and quoting future projects. It will be a fantastic resource for distributors to quickly and easily quote projects; and for end users to see how budget friendly our integrated door systems are for a wide variety of projects.

The second one would be our new preventative maintenance software. This is backstage software that is a part of our continuous improvement initiatives. It makes sure that any maintenance issues are addressed completely and on time. Our maintenance team is notified about planned maintenance immediately and receives reminders until the issue is resolved.

The system then automatically schedules the next maintenance issue after it is completed.

Q: How do these projects work to help distributors succeed?

The Configurator will allow distributors to put a Total Door into any frame from anywhere in the field. All they need is internet access and the configurator will make sure the hardware and software work together to create a door that will fit any opening.

Our focus on preventative maintenance concerns the speed and quality of our products. When we maintain our equipment, we don’t experience unexpected downtime. We can get quality orders to customers in the time we expect every time.

It’s exciting to work towards goals when everyone on the team is pulling together towards excellence.

We’re proud of our plant, and the lean operation we built from the ground up. We successfully adopted single-piece part flow when we moved into a new building in 2010, and have continuously improved our operations to respond to customers as quickly as possible. Read the complete piece here:

http://www.thefabricator.com/article/shopmanagement/a-case-study-in-lean-manufacturing-opening-the-door-to-single-piece-flow

Last year, we made a commitment to you: To make a product that you could represent with pride; to listen to your insights and ensure communication is a two-way street; and to have your back without fail. This year, we are proud to introduce the Total Door Advisory Council. Inaugural members of the council are René Bouchard, Smoot Associates; Jeff Addis, Mayo Associates; Mark Sorrenti, Connection Network Agencies; and Gary Deter, Architectural Door Consultants. They will be contacting various sales reps across North America to get feedback on how Total Door Systems can support their efforts – anything from product improvements to new sales techniques to helpful technology. Total Door will convene the company’s first advisory council meeting in June in Detroit.

The move is part of Total Door Systems’ broader commitment to customer and sales representative satisfaction.

The Council gives sales reps insider access to the continuous improvement efforts of Total Door, and gives the company direct insights that drive that process forward.

We look forward to continuing the conversation. Please feel free to send your thoughts and insights to us at sales@totaldoor.com. We have your back.

Gary Ray sees every door as a combination of science and art. As Product Improvement, Design and Testing Engineer for Total Door, Gary works to ensure that every door system meets sets of rigorous standards as well as the exacting requirements of the architect’s vision.

Each and every Total Door system can be customized and crafted for any opening or installation, sometimes in as few as 10 days. Yet, they have to be designed to use the same standardized parts as every other door.

That’s a challenge Gary likes taking on – it’s one of the things that make his job at Total Door enjoyable, he said. More than that, he knows that he gets to work with an expert team that creates a sense of family in the office and the factory. He likes the fact that everyone is committed to building great doors that bring the customer’s vision to life – including helping him drive product improvements through every step of the manufacturing process and setup rigorous testing procedures that ensure Total Door Systems meet or exceed stringent regulatory requirements.

Gary is deeply engaged with the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association, the sole organization accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop and maintain performance standards for architectural hardware, to stay up to date with the industry and new trends.

Gary, an inventor in his own right with a list of patents to his name, is now working on a next-generation door that will do for high-end architectural projects what it did for the local grocery store. It’s all part of his and the company’s drive to give customers the best experience possible.

We’re used to being the only one of our kind. That’s why we’ve provided a visual tool for you to show customers precisely how our doors provide unmatched security, design flexibility and lifecycle value. Whether embedded in a presentation, or used as a standalone piece on a tablet or smartphone – it lays out why Total Door Systems are simply the best hold-open option available.

We’re ready for our close up, Mr. DeMille.