Horton pioneered the first automatic sliding door in the United States.

While some remember the '60s as the era of social revolution, civil rights and anti-war movements, Corpus Christi, Texas, looks back on its history and is reminded of two people's technological breakthrough. Friends Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton worked for Horton Glass Co., where they repaired conventional hand-opened, push-pull doors at the time, according to the company.

These doors had a drawback: Corpus Christi's strong winds could slam them shut, shattering the glass. The two invented the first commercial automatic sliding doors, designed to withstand the windy conditions of Corpus Christi. In 1960, the development established a whole new company: Horton Automatics Inc.

The first automatic door sold in the United States was installed at the Driscoll Hotel's Torch Restaurant in south Texas, and is still in use today. The company also ventured into manufacturing sliding windows and revolving doors.

Horton Today
Today, Horton Automatics builds approximately 35,000 automatic doors and windows annually, serving markets that include restaurants, airports, hospitals, hotels, casinos, offices and convenience stores. The company has built for Fortune 500 firms such as McDonald's, American Airlines, IBM, AT&T, Marriott and Disney.

Aside from being the leader in the industry, Horton Automatics sets itself apart with its ability to custom design and manufacture doors and windows that meet its customers' needs. “Our products are well-designed, have long life and have high reliability,” Bill Liles, director of engineering, states.

“Sliding doors do well [in the market] because the wind doesn't influence them, it doesn't blow them away.” In addition, the company's products adhere to every major building code in the nation.

“Our doors meet or exceed the exit door requirements in the United States, as well as providing compliance for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),” Horton Automatics explains. “Every automatic entrance manufactured is treated as a special custom order while still providing the fastest delivery time in the market today.”

Staying Lean
“I think our key has always been [in] adapting our products to meet the customers' needs,” Liles says. But constant challenges have sometimes left the company searching for alternatives.

Vice President of Manufacturing J.J. Vlietstra says a current challenge is the continuous increase in aluminum prices. “Aluminum prices are volatile,” he notes. “There's a huge concern because it increased almost 60 percent last year.”

“We're dealing with trying to control the costs by looking for alternative sourcing and working on methods such as lean manufacturing and Six Sigma,” Liles adds. Vlietstra joined the company in 2004. Before he joined Horton Automatics, he worked at Weiserlock, a Black & Decker company and Masco Building Products.

“I was brought in [to Horton Automatics] to bring the manufacturing operations to the next level,” Vlietstra explains. “Lean manufacturing is the way of life now.” He states that while looking for alternative methods to help keep costs down, Horton Automatics considered moving its operations to Mexico.

“The first year that I was here, we thought the quickest way to lower costs is to cut back on labor costs,” Vlietstra says. “Wages in Mexico are a lot [cheaper] than over here.”

But Vlietstra soon realized that just implementing lean manufacturing and Six Sigma are enough to manage the company's costs. “We try to be a lean-thinking facility,” he notes. “We do lean and Six Sigma training and kaizen events, where we do intensive, rapid brainstorming with people on the manufacturing floor. We get ideas on how to improve product lines, processes, quality and assembly methods from our workers and associates.

“We use lean manufacturing to eliminate waste and thus improve lead time, manufacturing overhead and quality costs. Six Sigma is being used for specific projects to reduce variation within the process.”

Many Improvements
So far, improvements in Horton Automatics' operations since 2004 include:

• Reduced labor costs by 26 percent
• On-time delivery is up 85 to 98 percent
• Improved cycle time (delivery) from four weeks to two weeks
• Reduced inventory cost by 24 percent
• Reduced scrap cost by 30 percent

Horton Automatics states the company will keep looking at ways to improve its quality and service. “The market today is looking for more sophisticated products,” Liles notes, “and to [keep up] we need to keep our manufacturing quality by doing extensive testing of products, lifecycle analysis and modifying designs for longevity of our products.”

Industry 'Firsts'
To keep up with market trends, Horton Automatics manufactures a wide variety of windows and doors. Its products include:
• Commercial automatic sliding doors - Automatic sliding pedestrian door products include all-glass sliding entrance doors and steel sliding doors.

• Profiler ICU - These doors provide manual sliding performance, with instant-access swing-door capability. Its panels easily slide open and swing into the room, forming a full-width opening when needed. It is equipped with ball bearing wheels to help it glide easily on a nylon-covered track for quiet operation in hospitals.

• Automatic door and operators - Horton Automatics offers a full line of electromechanical and pneumatic door operators and entrances for automatic swing-door applications. Product lines include the EasySwing and HD-Swing LE doors, which both fulfill ADA requirements.

• Revolving doors - These doors allow free pedestrian traffic movement. They are available in round and segmented enclosure designs, aluminum anodized and painted finishes, and bronze and stainless steel cladding.

According to the company, revolving doors are good investments because they save money. “Revolving doors can offer a cost payback, due to energy savings,” it states.
• Industrial doors and operators - These door systems are available for sliding and swinging doors, both in electromechanical, pneumatic or explosion-proof transmissions.

• Automatic windows - Commonly used for drive-thru restaurants and pass-through windows, this line is manufactured with an automatic lock that secures and locks the window each time it closes. The company says it is proud to be an industry innovator. “[We] are the first to gain nationwide building code acceptance for the automatic sliding door,” Horton Automatics explains.

“[We] are the first to achieve patented sliding door emergency egress breakaway; first to market the automatic pass-through window; and first to include the door panels as an integral part of the automatic sliding door installation package,” it adds.

Supportive Back-Up
Horton Automatics is owned by Overhead Door Corp., a single-source manufacturer of integrated door and operator systems for the commercial, industrial and residential markets. Overhead Door manufactured the first upward-lifting garage in 1921, and the electric door opener in 1926.

With three operating divisions - Access Systems Division, Horton Automatics and TODCO - and 19 manufacturing facilities in the United States and United Kingdom, the company says it is the industry leader through innovation and craftsmanship.

“From product design and manufacturing through installation and service, we're certain our doors and openers can survive life's ups and downs because we've been building great products for over 80 years,” Overhead Door states. “Whether it is commercial and industrial door systems, or a garage door and opener for your home, the Overhead Door family is not much further than your driveway in most cases.”

Both companies are owned by Sanwa Shutter Corp., a Japan-based company known for engineering, production, marketing and distribution of steel building materials in Japan. Its products in the United States include automatic doors, garage doors and vehicle doors.

Safety Matters
Overhead Door and Sanwa Shutter say they are committed to offering products and services that provide safety, security and convenience that further contribute to the prosperity of society. “Our division and parent companies are very supportive,” Vlietstra notes.

“They support our lean initiatives by providing capital investments where needed,” he continues. “They also monitor our progress through the use of PDCA [Plan, Do, Control, Act] which is part of the corporation's lean culture.”     

©2006 Schofield Media Ltd.