Door Industry Journal - Summer 2014

THE door industry journal summer 2014 garage doors Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 45 TECKENTRUP TEAM TAKES A TRIP TO GERMAN HQ A group of senior staff and customers from the UK depot of leading garage door manufacturer Teckentrup, recently got the chance to learn more about the exciting range of innovations currently being rolled out by the firm, after being invited to tour its flagship sectional door factory in Germany. MD Jim Rodger joined other Teckentrup UK executives and fourteen customers in witnessing first-hand the innovative new products Teckentrup is supplying, and what it has planned for the future. The group found out more about a firm that has been established for more than eighty years – having begun life in 1932 as a small engineering workshop - and is still in the hands of the Teckentrup family, with owner and CEO Kai Teckentrup on hand to show them around the firm’s factory in Verl, northwest Germany. Teckentrup’s entire worldwide output is manufactured here and at another facility in Großzöberitz, east Germany, using state-of-the-art engineering processes and CNC production systems. The Teckentrup UK group were impressed by the demonstration of the new Teckentrup colour matched frames, which will be immediately available with all new orders. This means the days of fitting glued on covers to match coloured doors are at an end thanks to the introduction of pre-coloured legs and headers. These will combine with a new adjustable 3D profile, as well as between the reveal and under the lintel fixing kits, complete with a new ‘twist and fit’ header bracket and strap. All this comes together to provide what Jim Rodger believes will be the best reveal-fix fitting option available in the UK. “These are small, perhaps even obvious changes, to the way things are currently done but they are going to make such a massive difference to our customers,” says Jim. “To be able to fit a coloured door without the hassle of matching it with trims from different suppliers will be a huge benefit and we are delighted to be introducing these new products to the UK market. As ever, our customers will benefit from our excellent post-sales support so, if any advice or assistance is needed, our team are on hand to help.” Also revealed was the new Teckentrup wood design unribbed/solid profile, a style that will prove very attractive to UK consumers. The group were particularly impressed by a presentation on the future of CE marking, as Jim explains: “CE Marking is potentially quite a dry subject so we perhaps approached this presentation with a degree of trepidation, but in fact it was fascinating. What we learnt, and the potential for the future regarding marking, impressed everyone and we were all talking about it over dinner that evening. There are certainly going to be some big changes coming through in that field and it’s just another indication of how Teckentrup are always looking to innovate and explore new ways of doing things. For me, it is this commitment to developing new technologies that sets Teckentrup apart from the rest.” Teckentrup’s policy of innovation and reputation for engineering excellence certainly seems to be paying dividends as the company continues to expand and prosper. Bucking the trend of a slow world economy, the last two years have been the most successful in Teckentrup’s long history and the company has put in place a major reinvestment programme to ensure future growth, recently completing a multi-million expansion programme at its east German facility and now investing heavily in the Verl factory. However, as Jim notes, not everything in Germany lives up to the country’s reputation for excellence and reliability: “I have to admit,” he says, “that I was secretly pleased when the train we caught back to Dusseldorf airport was forty minutes late!” For more information go to www.teckentrup.co.uk