Congratulations to DORMA on a double summer celebration

This summer sees a double celebration for DORMA. The UK company is celebrating 30 years since its formation, and 2008 also marks the centenary of the parent company’s foundation in Germany.

Alan Blower, CEO of DORMA UK and Ireland comments: “The last 100 years have seen incredible growth for DORMA. Now, in 2008, the organisation worldwide has almost 6,500 employees in 45 countries around the world and sales exceeding €838 million. Above all though, the company remains true to its values of leading by example and works exceptionally hard in its product development programme to meet and exceed the increasingly stringent demands set by industry requirements, including the DDA and CERTIFIRE”.

The company began back in 1908, when two young German entrepreneurs, Wilhelm Dörken and his brother-in-law Rudolf Mankel, started a small forge operation in the town of Ennepetal in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. They manufactured high quality double-action hinges for the German market and eventually developed a serious export side to the business.

In 1946 DORMA was one of the first companies in the region to receive permission from the occupying powers to resume production, but it was not until 1950 that DORMA moved into the sector for which it is now world famous and a leader in its field – the door closer business. During the 1960s a whole raft of developments took place. The famous crown logo was used for the first time; automatic operators were introduced to the market and many product innovations such as the TS 66 aluminium door closer with a rack and pinion mechanism were launched.

In 1973 the TS 73 door closer proved to be an outstanding product innovation for preventative fire protection applications – selling in millions of units – and two years later the acquisition of a stake in ELDOR marked the start of automatic door production. Glass door hardware and accessories were added to the range in 1976 and in the next few years DORMA began to expand into international markets – including the UK in 1978.

Twelve months later DORMA Door Controls (UK & Ireland) came into being and growth in the domestic markets began to gather pace. The unique cam-action door closer, the TS93, with its acclaimed low resistance action was first introduced in 1988, complemented just a couple of years later by the TS92 cam-action slide channel door closer. In 1991 DORMA Entrance Systems Ltd was established (later to become the Automatics Division), followed the next year by the formation of the service company – Access Control & Maintenance Engineering.

Increasingly market demand was for more aesthetic design styling and this resulted in the ITS96 concealed door closer being introduced in 1994. During the early 1990’s there was a growing global trend towards disability regulation and when the influential ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ came into effect in 1992, it led to the development of the ED800 low energy door operator, launched in the UK in 1995 specifically for people with disabilities.

In 1997, introduction of the MANET glass fitting system dramatically enhanced the DORMA product offering, and this was raised to new levels again in 2000 with the acquisition of the complementary RODAN structural glazing tie system. Also during millennium year, an automatic Compact Slide door operator was introduced to meet the demand for more discreet entrance door operators.

Further major product range diversification, and a whole new area of expertise came about with the simultaneous acquisition of Huppe Movable Walls (Germany) and Modernfold Inc. (USA) which resulted in the creation of a fifth division, “Movable Walls” – and immediately established DORMA as world market leader in this sector.

From a corporate viewpoint 2004 was a particularly significant year – DORMA UK moving its head office functions into a bespoke new 7,500m2 three-storey headquarters at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, which for the first time allowed DORMA to consolidate all of its main operating divisions. The move also provided the opportunity to cleverly integrate a host of DORMA products into a ‘showcase’ working environment.

In recent years the company has continued to bring ingenious and revolutionary new developments to market. In 2006 the DORMA MOVEO® system offered an unprecedented lightweight movable wall solution, and the takeover of MAME Türendesign GmbH in the same year resulted in specialised glass design capabilities that included colour, sandblasting, LED lighting and engraving.

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Picture download:
	DORMA MANAGEMENT GERMANY 2008 download view picture
	TS52 DOOR CLOSER download view picture
	DORMA UK HEADQUARTERS download view picture