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UK manufacturing excellence at Ceildoor

At Ceildoor Products we manufacture all our Access Panels in-house within our sheet metal fabrication unit in the West Midlands. With nearly 30 years’ experience in the industry, our team is highly knowledgeable about the manufacture of high performance Access Panels which possess the unique patented features of a Ceildoor product. In addition, our in-house design and manufacturing means we can produce bespoke Access Panels for specific jobs that require something a little bit different.

In this blog we discuss our manufacturing process, from raw material to finished product.

Fabrication

If you break down a Ceildoor Access Panel it consists of a door, a frame of four parts and the channels which house the lock and hinges.

Our frames are manufactured out of zintec steel, a cold rolled mild steel that is electrolytically coated with a thin layer of zinc which means it doesn’t rust easily. The versatile steel sheet starts its journey as a flat sheet of metal in a matt grey colour which is then fabricated and painted to create the finished Ceildoor Access Panel.

Our Access Panel manufacturing process begins by punching the desired end profile into the frame using CNC pneumatic press machines. Two further slots, which are required for the lock mechanism for either a metal or plaster faced door, are punched into the frame; and the ends of the frame punched for the lock and hinge mechanisms.

Using a CNC press brake machine, the frame ends are bent to the desired angle, the channels for the lock & hinges are bent to the required angles and the door holes are cut using a press machine.

The rail is welded into place and locks & hinges are installed into the rail and welded. At Ceildoor, we weld along all edges and on the top of the joint to help ensure rigidity.

Quality every step of the way

At Ceildoor our manufacturing process is undertaken in batches of 25 and we rigorously quality check the first one of each batch to ensure both the frame and the door fit within the 1.5mm maximum parameters to meet UK fire regulations. By checking the first panel in each batch, we minimise incorrectly sized products and reduce wastage or rework.

Powder coating

The newly built Access Panel is cleaned of any white dust residue that may be left on the metal panel from welding and is attached to a rotating conveyor system ready for powder coating to the customer’s desired colour.

Our Access Panels are painted using powder-coated white RAL 9010 as standard, which is the same coating normally recommended for general exterior situations where good weathering is required against high levels of atmospheric moisture or in particularly aggressive atmospheres. If white is not for you, a range of RAL colours are available to match your required room aesthetics.

The door and the frame of the panels are painted, inside and out, within a purpose built booth. The hanging Access Panels dry in an oven at 180 degrees and any paint drops are collected via ducts which run into a spent powder vat for recycling.

Assembly & despatch

Once the paint is fully dried and the product is quality checked, the Access Panels are assembled with the required door inserts either for stock or packaged for customer orders with staff working to a real-time electronic despatch dashboard. Due to the huge stock of standard Access Panels that we carry, we can despatch same day for Next Day Delivery to any UK mainland site.

We have been manufacturing Access Panels in the UK for nearly 30 years and the importance of quality is paramount throughout our process.

To find out more about our range of Access Panels click here or speak to one of the Team on 01902 733645.