IDA Expo 2008 Wrap-Up

This year, the sparkling city of Las Vegas hosted the annual expo, where there were plenty of opportunities for dealers to enhance their businesses through education and networking.

Many exhibitors were surprised at the healthy turnout, as most anticipated a slow show due to the slow economy. But the trade show floor was abuzz with industry news and the hot products for 2008 and beyond.

If you missed out this year – or didn’t get a chance to visit all the booths – here is an array of expo highlights:

Wayne-Dalton

A stop at the impressive Wayne-Dalton booth included a look at the brand-new Firestar Rolling Steel Door. “It’s the industry’s first fully integrated auto-reset fire door,” said Mark Hedquist, director of commercial products for the Mount Hope, Ohio-based manufacturer. “You do not have to reset it yourself, and that’s a huge timesaver.” Forty-five minutes to 15 seconds — we'd say that's a timesaver!

Dave Osso, coroporate marketing manager, explained Partner Connect, the new Web-based administrative program. “There’s no software to download – you can do order entry, get real-time quotes, updates and enter customer info right into the program,” he said. “This eliminates faxes, reduces the chances for mistakes, and you can access it 24/7.” Partner Connect, along with the manufacturer’s easy-to-use Web-based Garage Door Design Center, are examples of Wayne-Dalton’s efforts to look out for every aspect of a dealer's garage door business.

Skylink Group

Sales Manager Paul Carpe was eager to show us the new openers from Ontario, Canada-based Skylink. Both the EQ and IQ series of openers feature ultra-quiet DC motors with soft-start and soft-stop, and safety beam and rolling code technology.

The 1Q1523 and 1Q1743 also feature an intelligent wall console with backlit LCD screen and clock, and a programming interface that eliminates the need to climb a ladder to program the system.

C.H.I. Overhead Doors

The spacious booth at C.H.I. allowed Sales and Marketing Manager Brian Beachy to show off several new doors from the Arthur, Ill.-based company, including the 3290 full-view aluminum door, pictured here. Beachy also outlined the 5134 door that offers a builder-friendly price with a carriage-house look. “It’s our in-between line that is above the stamped steel but below our upper line of carriage house doors,” Beachy explained. If the high-end door is what your customer is after, the 5510 fiberglass carriage-house door is durable and features wrought iron and double-paned, arched window options.

Janus
At the Janus International booth, they were busy showing off samples from their new Rolling Steel Division, which will manufacture a new line of rolling steel doors to the commercial and industrial markets.

“The division occupies a brand new 252,000-square foot facility, and will manufacture a full line of slat doors — including medium-duty service doors, full-duty service doors, insulated doors, fire doors, fire shutters and counter shutters,” said Amy Fuhlman, marketing manager for the Tempe, Ga.-based door company. Meanwhile, the company is planning expansions in Arizona and Texas.

Chamberlain

The Elmhurst, Ill.-based manufacturer showcased the LiftMaster Universal Remote Control (Model 375LM) and LiftMaster Universal Wireless Keyless Entry (Model 387LM), both designed to operate virtually any manufacturer’s garage door opener.

Both products offer key advantages to professional dealers such as the opportunity to reduce inventories by eliminating the need to carry multiple manufacturers’ remotes and keypads in the warehouse or installer vehicle, as well as the ability to better meet the demands of customers who require a compatible replacement remote or keypad.

“These products are the ideal solution for consumers who may have broken or lost a remote control, or have more than one garage door opener installed in their home,” said Dan Nixa, director of marketing.

Linear

At the busy Linear booth, visitors were introduced to the brand new operators, such as the LC075 and LDCO800. The LC075  features a motor comparable to ¾ HP (capable of handling today’s heavier residential doors as well as light commercial door installations), and is designed to work with 7-, 8- and 10-foot doors for residential applications and 12- and 14-foot doors for commercial applications.
 

Here, Linear's premium residential opener, the LSO50, which features one-half horsepower motor.

The LDCO800 features an ultra-quiet DC motor and includes advanced features such as accurate speed and position control and a soft-stop/soft-start. It’s housed in compact, easy-to-install package, and is compatible with the Carlsbad, Calif.-based manufacturer of residential, commercial and industrial gate operators’ standard or I-beam converted 7-, 8- and 10-foot belt and chain drive rails.
“At this year’s show, we not only demonstrate Linear’s comprehensive line of door operators and products,” said Larry Foisie, vice president of sales, “but we will show the industry  that Linear gives installers more installation options while reducing the hidden cost of doing business.”

Iowa Spring

The Iowa Spring booth was looking good! The Adel, Iowa-based company was promoting its Quick Ship Program (which was recently renamed from Same Day Spring) and the one-year anniversary of the opening of Southern Atlantic Spring, a manufacturing and full-service division based in North Carolina that serves the entire eastern U.S. with next-day service.These guys have you covered!

1st United Door Technologies

At the Tempe, Ariz.-based Ist United Door Technologies booth, President of Marketing Earl Rivard showed off the new SteeLite line of gel-stained, all-steel doors. The doors feature a carriage-house style for the price-conscious customer. “Right now with the economy the way it is, it’s all about price,” Rivard explained. First United also displayed their cornerstone line, Steelhouse, which offers doors at half the cost and half the weight of traditional all-wood carriage house doors, and is virtually maintenance-free.

Advanced Plastic Corp.

This Lincolnwood, Ill.-based manufacturer of plastic extrusions and weatherseals had a busy booth as they showed off their new reverse seal. Robert Ellefsen, director of sales and marketing, explained how the company worked closely with a San Diego-based garage door dealer – including following him to jobsites – to design some of the best products on the market. And their weatherseals are now available direct to the East and West Coasts.

Blue Giant
At the Blue Giant booth, visitors were able to see and operate a broad range of products including two models of door seals, hydraulic dock levelers, edge-of-dock levelers, dock lifts, and conversion kits.  

“Attendance and interest in the booth is up significantly from last year,” reported Steve Greco, director of sales and marketing for the Ontario-based manufacturer of dock equipment and safety systems. “Especially international dealers from Latin America and the Middle East. New dealers everywhere are seeing the profit potential, and existing dealers are expanding their product and sales.”

HandiSolutions

At the Elk Grove, Ill.-based HandiSolutions booth, the new product was a line of cabinet storage with a locking mechanism and wall-mountable feature. To round out the complete garage storage and organizational system, HandiWall PVC slat wall system features several hook and bracket pieces for any storage need.

Goff’s Enterprises

“Even the big, bad wolf can’t blow these doors out!” Goff’s high-speed Draw-Tite doors with 70 mph wind-load capacity are usually the highlight of this Pewaukee, Wis.-based company’s product lines. But at the expo, the star of the booth was the brand new HarshGuard fast-acting vinyl door. All components of the Harshguard door are made with non-corrosive stainless steel, PVC or aluminum and, of course, carry the same wind-load ratings their other doors are known for. All this for a price dealers can live with. “We have the most unique doors that feature the same functionality of doors priced at two or three times as much,” Tony Goff pointed out. He cited their doors' unique aircraft cable tensioning system for its ability to hold up in severe weather.

Fehr Bros. Industries Inc.

Boasting one of the largest product inventories of any exhibitor, Saugerties, NY based Fehr Bros. had plenty to show off at IDA ’08. Bob Miller noted the decorative exterior mouldings offered through their Royal Mouldings product line, and was eager to show off the new ZAP models of commercial openers. “These openers only weigh 16 pounds – most openers with their same capacity weigh 110-120 pounds — and can be used on doors up to 350 square feet.” The openers also feature ultra-quiet DC motors and can be installed by one person.

Penn Central Spring/ Alto Garage Door

Barry Pagliaro of Middletown, Penn.-based Penn Central Spring/Alto Garage Door proudly showed off his company’s brand-new, custom, aluminum, fiberglass-insulated carriage-house door. “It’s maintenance-free as it won’t rust like steel, the extrusions are extra deep to give the look of real wood and it’s a very clean look on the inside of the door with built-in struts,” he explained.

Overhead Door Corp.

The big news at the Overhead booth was their purchase of Ankmar’s CladPanel Division. The line has been rebranded as DuraGreen for Genie, and it features door panels that are made from resin-bonded wood composites, finished with tough resin overlays specifically formulated to resist moisture. The doors are also made from more than 85 percent recovered and recycled content. “The design selection includes 50 styles and window combinations,” reported Beth Somplatsky-Matori, director of marketing, Access Systems Division for the Lewisville, Texas-based company. The hot new opener this year is the Genie ChainLift, which fills the need for an easy-to-install, long-lasting operator. The ChainLift also features a quiet, DC motor with soft-start and soft-stop ability. “We have received very good feedback on this operator from dealers,” said Somplatsky-Matori. “It’s more compact and has been tested for 60,000 cycles and is still going.”

Hormann Flexon/Hormann Gadco

This company can boast that every steel door in its product line is pinch-resistant. That includes Montgomery, Ill.-based Hormann Gadco's Phoenix Series of custom carriage-house doors, which feature 2-inch thick galvanized, finished-painted, laminated steel sections and an R-value of 6.9.

On the commercial side, Leetsdale, Penn.-based Hormann Flexon's Speed-Commander 1400 is an interior/exterior door that offers just what its name implies: speed, safety and a convenient break-away feature. With a higher and faster opening speed (8 feet per second), this state-of-the-art door also features soft-stop and soft-start, self-repair and SoftEdge Technology for added safety. The Speed-Guardian 2000 is a new rigid-panel exterior door with spring tensioning. The Spiral Guide Technology allows for a super-fast opening and ultra-quiet operation.

ASN Safety Solutions

The new Finger Reader fingerprint access system was Rockaway, NY-based ASN’s hot product at the trade show this year. The company also offers plenty of safety edges for high-speed doors, including the X Profile edge for unique, side-swing doors (pictured). The manufacturer had plenty to show off, with its large range of safety products for the door, gate and transportation industries.

FrenchPorte

“Why does anything have to be ugly?” That’s the motto of FrenchPorte’s Ken Maher. The Rockville, Md.-based manufacturer and distributor’s unique take on the residential garage door has proved so popular that the company has launched a commercial version of the French-door style of overhead doors.

Plus, the products are pinch-resistant with seamless extrusions. The one-of-a-kind style was dreamed up by FrenchPorte founder Jennifer Maher, and caught on through her husband’s direct selling and installing. Now dealers can order the Jennifer, Kendra and Madeline doors, along with the brand-new Italian-style Christina door for customers looking to have the most distinctive door on the block.