Articles from Auriga Magasinet No. 3, November 2005
Good potential for Skamol’s fire doors
The factory in Chartierville on the US-Canadian border manufactures fire door cores based on calcium silicate.
The core material used in Skamol’s fire door project is calcium silicate. From the factory in Branden in northern Jutland, Denmark, the calcium silicate boards are transported by ship to Montreal and then by truck to Chartierville, about a three hours’ drive east of Montreal close to the US border. Here, the calcium silicate boards are used to manufacture cores for fire doors.
The factory in Chartierville was originally a sawmill, and both the then owner and Skamol were interested in developing new fire doors. Skamol therefore took over the factory in November 2001 to further develop its fire door project.
By using calcium silicate as a core material, door manufacturers are able to produce fire doors that are significantly lighter than other fire doors on the market where the core is usually made of plaster. The lower weight is a clear advantage for both the door manufacturers and for customers, as it avoids the need to modify door frames, hinges etc. when fitting the doors. In brief, it makes the doors far simpler to handle throughout the entire production process and after they leave the factory,” says Technical Manager Thorkil Krag from Skamol.
Fire door cores are subject to strict tests to obtain the necessary approvals. Here, the
test involves extinguishing a fire with water from a fire hose in which the core needs
to withstand the force of water and remain sitting in the door frame.
Approved fire doors
To produce fire doors, it is necessary to obtain various approvals, which are issued following a number of very strict tests. This is a very time-consuming procedure.
“We now have these important approvals. It is not just the fire door core that has to be tested – the approval also covers the finished fire door, and therefore we have started working with two or three door manufacturers in Canada and the USA. This collaboration has given us an opening into the fire door market, where approx. 600,000 doors are sold each year in North America,” says Thorkil Krag.
In 2004, Sales Manager Bill Bowdren started working at Skamol. He had spent eight years working for the biggest door manufacturer in the US, which means that Skamol has a sales manager who is totally committed to the fire door project.
“The fire doors are typically used in office buildings, schools, institutions, hotels and hospitals. In recent years there has been considerable focus on fire protection, particularly after 9/11. Therefore, it has been crucial for Skamol to obtain the important approvals so production of the fire doors could start,” says Bill Bowdren.
Stable production
The factory in Chartierville features the latest production equipment, enabling 100 fire door cores to be produced daily by ten employees.
“We have a team of reliable and loyal employees who, thanks to the history of the works, have a lot of experience with the finished product. We must supply high-quality and competitively priced products, and provide a good service to our customers at all levels. We therefore set great store by quality control so the door manufacturers can produce finished fire doors to the required dimensions,” says Thorkil Krag, who works closely with Factory Manager Hélène Labonté.
After several years of preparatory work, the fire door project looks very promising for Skamol, which is also seeing satisfactory sales of the company’s other products.
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