The completion of the sliding door takes place in Venhorst

Tons of steel are processed in the Noord-Brabant village of Venhorst. When we turn into the parking lot at Andusta, we have a beautiful ride behind us, right through the beautiful landscape. Everything radiates tranquility in the area. All the greater the contrast when we enter the factory of steel interior door frames for revolving doors and (electric) sliding doors: people are working here, and hard too. My hosts Johan van Duijnhoven and Tom van de Camp take me through a world of steel, where love for the trade is written with a capital L.

Steel interior door frames as core business

"Andusta's core business is manufacturing steel interior door frames. We are known for our quality, flexibility and delivery reliability," Johan opens the conversation. "Over the years we have expanded our package in breadth. This is how the sliding door came into the program. We supply all the steel parts and technology around the sliding door. Every sliding door has a steel frame as its base, containing the drive and the suspension points for the door leaf. Andusta supplies both manually operated and electrically driven sliding doors. Our sliding door system is suitable for door leaves of 40 mm thick wood, up to a weight of 80 kg." 

Tom explains, "But we also supply manual or electrically operated sliding door frames for heavier doors or doors with very high intensity of use."

Sliding door systems find their way into countless projects. These can be offices, hospitals, residential care complexes or care homes. "The private market also knows us well by now," says Johan. "The great thing is that we can retrofit a manually operated sliding door into an electrically powered sliding door. Suppose someone becomes less able-bodied, that's a good solution."

The evolution of the electric sliding door

Andusta has developed a new drive system for its electric sliding door system. "Previously we used a motor and string drive. That in itself is fine, but maintenance-sensitive and audible. Our new drive is linear, the door is propelled by magnets and electro coils. Smooth, frictionless and quiet. This also makes the system less sensitive to maintenance and faults," Johan outlines. 

"With that, our electric sliding door is undergoing an evolution. The market is responding enthusiastically to it. Just recently we were allowed to supply the electric sliding door systems for AFAS' prestigious new building in Leusden, in the AFAS Experience Center. All forms of modern access control can be connected to our electric sliding doors. AFAS has opted for a combination of card/tag readers, proximity sensors (scans the presence of a hand at a distance) and motion sensors. Soon it will be possible to connect to home automation systems as well."

Customization pur sang

As standard, the Andusta sliding door system is supplied with anodized aluminum rails and plastic roller systems. The steel frame is powder coated in which all Ral colors, but also Sikkens or NCS colors are available. 

Johan: "We go far in our service. For example, we were once asked to supply the interior steel frames in Pantone colors for a hotel built under architecture. Every floor a different color and therefore not a color you find in a standard RAL range. We see that as a challenge and then we bite into the question until we have the solution. The result? So beautiful, you must have seen it with your own eyes."

Reliable and durable

The advantage of steel frames from Andusta is that they are always dead straight and highly resistant. "Moreover, steel is 100% recyclable," states Tom. "So very sustainable. Because the frames are so tremendously dimensionally stable and square, installation is also problem-free. There's a big cost savings there on the contractor's side. We also deliver to projects directly to the construction site with our own transport, which also saves him costs."

In conclusion, Johan says, "In 2 years we will be in the market for 50 years. That's a long time. We are looking forward to the next 50 years. Taking care of a range that continues to closely follow all new market developments will continue to occupy an important place at Andusta."