In a fast-changing, Omni channel distribution environment where delivery times are crucial the reliability of doors, especially at the loading bay, becomes critical because door downtime, whatever the reason, can delay goods despatch, not to mention other problems like heat loss, pest control, and uncomfortable working conditions. There may also be another problem at peak activity times which involves taking on large numbers of temporary staff, for whom English may not be their first language, especially to cope with manic oneday online sales promotions. Unless the temporary staff are adequately inducted on all safety issues then accident rates with doors and elsewhere will rise. Door manufacturers constantly strive to improve the safety of their doors but whatever they may have done in the past the fact remains that forklifts still crash into doors, and doors will often break down at the most awkward times because sod’s law never sleeps.
Door failures, then, at awkward times emphasise the need to choose a supplier whose after-sales service is A1 but how to go about it? Product quality among the leading equipment suppliers varies little, though some, like Efaflex, who concentrate only on fast-acting doors, can be less accident prone and more productive because they achieve opening speeds of up to 4 mt/sec, compared with the industry standard of up to 2 mt/sec. Buyers need to be careful, however, when ordering from smaller, foreign-based suppliers because spares availability can be patchy, leading to overly long down-time. Another point to watch and ask about if one has a variety of industrial door makes on site is to see if your service supplier can service other makes and if so does the service level vary for them. If service procurers have the time they should ask potential suppliers for a list of some of their clients so that they can visit them to ask about the reliability of different door makers’ after-sales service.
For their part, buyers can partly insure themselves against unscheduled or long downtime by having a robust, after-sales maintenance contract in place that guarantees same-day callouts and penalties for those who fail your own laid-down service requirements. Many businesses still do not bother with maintenance contracts.
Additionally, where traffic rates are high a door crash-out facility should be considered. An alternative to fastacting doors that removes the collision risk is air curtains that can also cut energy loss by over 80% in a situation where it is felt doors must be left open longer and more frequently. According to Ambirad, doors can remain open all day with very little effect on the heating system’s energy consumption and relatively little detriment to internal comfort conditions. Another preventative measure could be forklift speed limiters in critical loading bay areas. Beware also of choosing the cheapest door if it is significantly lower than all the competitive quotes, which can vary by as much as 50%. Cheap price often equates with poor quality and therefore earlier and more frequent door failures. If warehouses are located in windy areas with doors facing the prevailing winds then those with the highest wind resistance should be considered.
The Energy Act of 2011 comes into force in 2018 so many warehouse operators should consult the leading door suppliers about the energy losses through their doors and what effective means they can take to improve the situation for legislative compliance. Such audits are usually free and can even be downloaded
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