National Door Industries has recently expanded their manufacturing facilities in Fort Worth (Texas, USA) with an investment of no less than $4 million. The renewal of the 150,000 sq. feet facility has allowed the company to keep up with ever-growing demand and supply the most advanced components to its customers.
A steady growth
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A family owned business, National Door Industries currently has 87 employees, many having been with the company for over 20 years – some as long as 40 years. |
The company was founded in Fort Worth, Texas, by Bob Barnard and a partner back in 1968 as Joba Inc. for the import and distribution of glass products. In two years, Bob started producing and supplying window trim for garage doors. In 20 years, the startup undergone several name changes and grew its facility from 2,000 to 69,000 sq. feet. New capabilities such as welding of plastic window frames for garage doors, as well as expansion of garage door components’ distribution and import enabled this impressive growth.
The final name change came in 1989. National Door Industries, owned since then by Mike and Britt Barnard, Bob’s children, employs a staff of almost 90 people at its 150,000 sq. feet facility. More than 33,000 SKU of various insert and window trim items are manufactured yearly and no less than 70 thousand parts for the garage door industry such as fasteners are stocked and supplied. National Door Industries is the supplier of over thirty manufacturers and 7.5 thousand distributors over the American continents and in the whole world.
The founder Bob Barnard used to say, “You can’t sell out of an empty wagon, so we are committed to keeping our wagon full.” And packed their wagon is.
Future-oriented investments
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The revitalization of the National Door facility in Fort Worth, Texas, with a capital expenditure of over 4 million dollars, has expanded their manufacturing facilities, added capabilities and increased efficiencies. |
The innovative technologies allowed National Door to survive through the often-capricious customer demands and to grow its business steadily. The production facility was longing for further expansion, as when the product demand peaked, Mike and Britt were constrained to look for reliable partners for production outsourcing. However, rare manufacturer could live up to the brothers’ expectations, and keeping up with the demand was difficult at times. Thus, their final decision was to renew the company’s production facility completely, acquiring extra equipment and increasing the capabilities of the plant. The revitalization started in early 2016.
Before all, the company’s warehouse was reconfigured in order to free extra floor space for manufacturing equipment. Then, an automated painting line, CNC milling/dispensing and injection molding machines, and a cooled water supply system were commissioned.
Over the course of the six-month facility renewal, no less than five IMMs by ENGEL for a clamping force of 400 to 1,000 tons, and an ENGEL viper robot were installed at the facility. The National Door’s existing and new injection molding equipment is used for window frame/inserts production for garage doors. The window inserts manufactured by the company include the popular designer series Styleline™ and Stylecraft™.
The extra capacity brought by the new ENGEL machines will enable National Door to follow the product lines’ expansion plan, as well as experiment with custom molding, creating new opportunities for the manufacturer.
Top innovations
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Five 400 to 1,000-ton injection molding machines by ENGEL and one ENGEL viper robot enabled the expansion of the production facility of National Door Industries. |
National Door Industries has been choosing ENGEL as partner with several reasons in mind. As Britt Barnard puts it, “We are both family owned companies. With reputations for high quality, reliable products and a corporate focus on growth and innovation, our companies share a philosophy.”
Injection molding machines from ENGEL support the goals set by National Door Industries. Namely, they provide for shorter cycle times and increased item quality, which, in turn, cuts down lead times, saves costs, decreases waste and lowers power consumption.
Another family-owned company sharing the same fundamental values worked closely on this project: this is the regional sales representative for ENGEL, ADAMS Engineers and Equipment Inc. Don Gruber, the technical sales engineer of ADAMS, worked side by side with both ENGEL’s and National Door’s staff on specifications for ENGEL machinery and auxiliaries.
“National Door has made a significant investment in technology to grow their business for the future. We appreciate their confidence in ENGEL, Don, and ADAMS Engineers. Both ENGEL and ADAMS are here to support them with training and technical expertise as they continue to develop and expand their business,” stated Cliff Adams, the president of ADAMS.
Looking into the future
“We anticipate additional major capital improvements to further advance our reputation as the leader and innovative manufacturer for our industry. We are also looking to diversify into other growth industries that will benefit from our core competencies and high quality production, and will look to ENGEL to support us down that path,” pointed out Mike Barnard.
