Bi-fold door manufacturers: How Origin fabricate bi-fold doors
Alexandra works in the marketing department, and in 2014, bought her first house, which turned out to be somewhat of a ‘project’. Since then, the whole house has needed renovating, which has helped her gain a knowledge of basic DIY, decorating and making the best of a small space.
When choosing to specify or install bi-fold doors for your customers, it’s important to understand more about the manufacturer you choose and how this can have an impact on the quality of the door you supply.
Knowing how the folding doors are designed, manufactured, and engineered will provide you and your customers with peace of mind that the bi-fold doors you supply will be a long-lasting solution and will function correctly.
In this guide:
Learn more about Origin and how we started.
Find out more about the process our Bi-fold Doors go through to ensure the highest quality for your customers.
Learn more about our research and development team and how this helps us create industry-leading bi-folding doors.
Find out more about the benefits of supplying Origin Bi-fold Doors.
About Origin
Origin is now the UK’s leading, award-winning manufacturer of aluminium bi-fold doors and windows.
Origin’s history began in 2001 as a family company dedicated to the design, creation and manufacture of the UK’s best quality bi-folding doors, backed by uncompromising levels of service. We also manufacture other glass doors including our sliding doors, French and front doors and windows.
How did Origin start?
Origin was established when cousins, Neil Ginger and Victoria Brocklesby, struggled to find exceptional suppliers of aluminium glazing systems. Addressing common frustrations of undelivered products, time wasted waiting for quotes to come in and inconsistent product quality, Origin was created, and was set up as the easiest supplier to deal with.
The first product to be developed was the bi-fold door and Ginger and Brocklesby worked tirelessly to perfect the design and functionality whilst creating and maintaining a highly respected reputation of quality of product and service. Our range of aluminium products now includes sliding doors, French doors and windows.
When you become an Origin trade supplier, you also benefit from the foundations of family ethos, pride and ownership in all stages of production which are still firmly in place.
How are Origin Bi-fold Doors designed and manufactured?
At Origin, we have a dedicated team of experts who are responsible for tailor making bi-fold doors to meet the needs of your customers and projects. Our team oversee every aspect of the manufacture of aluminium bi-folding doors from raw materials through to delivery to you.
All of our bi-fold doors are designed, developed and engineered within our state-of-the-art Buckinghamshire factory. By manufacturing the doors ourselves, we have a full view of the entire process which means we can ensure that each and every bi-folding door leaves us on time and to the highest possible quality.
This process means that you can be assured that the greatest care is taken from the moment you order bi-fold doors for your customer, through to the delivery. We undertake quality checks at every stage of the process, giving you the confidence that the product will perform for your customer and reducing the likelihood of having to return to site.
Materials
At Origin, all of the products we manufacture are made from aluminium which is extruded by the world leaders in aluminium supply.
An aluminium door frame provides excellent strength to our folding doors which allows us to form bi-fold doors with a very slim frame to provide customers with the maximum amount of natural light in their homes and to provide the best views.
Aluminium conducts heat which means the heat or cold can be transferred from the outside to the inside. To solve this problem, all of our doors are fitted with a thermal break to ensure better thermal performance of our doors. This will allow you to provide your customer’s with doors that will help to improve the thermal performance of their home.
The glazing you choose to specify will also have an effect on the thermal efficiency of the doors. Our bi-fold doors offer both double glazing and triple glazing options. To make things easier, we have technical documents where it specifies what tests have been run with different glass times that will enable you to see what U-Value has been achieved with what. When specifying a patio door for your customers which is made up of huge panes of glass, thermal performance is an important factor to consider and this comes as standard with our high-quality folding doors.
The manufacturing process
Each and every one of our bi-fold doors is completely bespoke and made to fit your customer’s specifications in our dedicated factory.
Step 1: Aluminium is extruded into bar lengths of 5m and 6m which will form the frame of the door. The aluminium is then powder coated. We hold the most popular colours in stock, so this allows us to offer such short lead times.
Step 2: Firstly, we cut the bar lengths of aluminium to the exact length required for bi-fold doors.
Step 3: The bar lengths are passed to the CNC machine team. We have three CNC machines; for the track, lock and sash, allowing for quick cycle times as all three machines work in parellel with each other to maximise the output of our products.
Step 4: Bespoke orders are loaded from our CNC console which processes all orders and instructs our operators on the correct profile to place and in the right orientation.
Step 5: The cleats of the door are inserted, and the doors are crimped in each corner.
Step 6: A quality check is performed to ensure the required standards are being met before the door moves through to the next stage of the process.
Step 7: The assembly process is started in which the e-gasket is inserted, along with the hinges. Our team check the alignment of the hinges to make adjustment easier on-site.
Step 8: The next step is the slave gearbox and handle preparation during which the key locking system and handle heights are checked to ensure building requirements are met.
Step 9: The barrel and locks are then tested and screwed into place
Step 10: Our final pre-delivery checks are undertaken and then one final inspection is completed after the protection tape is removed, before the doors are sent for delivery.
Quality control
We use a combination of precision machine-based manufacturing and hand crafting by our extensively trained production team. Quality control checks are in place at every point – even before goods get into production. Upon arrival of stock, the good are quality checked, and then as the doors work their way down the line, our team check each other’s work at every station. Once the aluminium bi-fold door is complete, it is then checked again for everything to ensure it is of the highest quality when it reaches you.
Delivery
When the manufacturing of the bi-folding doors is complete, they go into pre-delivery checks and loaded by our own loading team. We then use our own vehicles deliver them to you on site or to your premises. This allows us to stay in control of the delivery process and ensure your doors are delivered safely and on time.
This means you can be assured that there will be no delays to your project and your customers will be happy with the quality of the products you supply to them.
Continuous improvement
At Origin, we are committed to a culture of continuous improvement, from our service levels, products, processes and even sustainability.
As a result, we have achieved ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 45001 (Health and Safety Management) so you can specify Origin Bi-fold Doors with confidence.
All of the above factors mean that you can be confident that you are partnering with a manufacturer who is at the forefront of the industry and dedicated to the production of the highest quality products and who is dedicated to your success.
The complete control we have over our product’s design and manufacture means that we can implement changes, updates and improvements quickly.
Research and development
At Origin, our dedicated, in-house R&D department work continuously to engineer and improve our bi-fold doors so that you can offer only the best to your customers. This is what makes our bi-fold doors industry-leading.
During the design of our bi-fold doors, we prioritise:
- Performance
- Aesthetics
- Security
- Ease of install
Some factors here will help the doors perform better and be easier to sell, and the ease of install design consideration will help you increase your project turnover.
We work closely with our partners and take your feedback seriously, which is fed into the design cycle. This feedback can then be implemented quickly as we are in control of our products from design through to delivery. The update does not need to filtered through x amount of fabricators. As we are the exclusive manufacturer, it means we can do things quickly.
Why supply Origin Bi-fold Doors?
When you become an Origin Bi-fold Door supplier, not only do you have access to the highest quality aluminium bi-fold doors, but you also gain access to our full training and support. From the day you join us, we provide you with everything you need to confidently specify our bi-folding doors and install them properly.
Product and sales training, on-site installation training for your team and training to use our online quoting and ordering system is available. In addition, we will help you on a design front to show how our doors could be included in your own showroom. If you don’t have your own showroom, you will have access to our showroom in Buckinghamshire so you can show your customers the bi-folding doors they’re looking for.
Our quoting and ordering process makes it easy to specify doors for your customer’s needs and so you can easily create a quote in minutes. Read our guide to find out more about quoting and ordering bi-fold doors with Origin.
Read our guide to find out more about the training and support you will be provided with when you become an Origin trade partner.
If you’d like to find out more about being an Origin bi-fold door supplier, please contact our team today.