The 14-member team was led by Nitin Vaze, CEO of Sleek Boards Marketing Services LLP for exposure and education for the ASEAN door industry.

The fifth educational trip from ASEAN area, having door manufacturers from India, Indonesia and Philippines visited the Sauerland factory in Gotha Germany. The following days they toured the massive factory and witnessed the fire test of all 100 per cent engineered material door which exceeded 60 minutes. It showed the most economical way to make the fire rated doors, lighter in weight with no additives or inorganic fillers. Later they visited two leading door factories where they saw that none of the door manufacturers use any flat pressed board as infill or filler board in door manufacture due to its swelling in thickness property which can be a great disaster in life, durability and finishing of the door.

Sauerland started supplying in fill or the tubular filler boards to the ASEAN door industry in 2007 and has deeply impacted on the use of timber use and has grown in its use in internal doors and main doors. Although the product is in use for over 65 years globally and exported to over 78 countries with around 100,000 doors being made daily somewhere in the World the ASEAN area is yet decades behind in the specifications with timber infill whilst rest of the world is already manufacturing the modern and eco-friendly door.

Key improved properties in doors with tubular in fill are:
• Sound insulation: Extruded tubular and solid boards offer a wide range of sound insulation results for light-weight construction as well as high end solutions.
• Fire resistance: The board being produced by extrusion method the particle direction is predominantly vertical to surface which in case of exposure to fire provide a low rate of burning. Sauerland offers full support for safe fire door constructions.
• Construction: The density in solid areas i.e. walls of board is high 500 kgs/m3 minimum. Further the arch principle as in case of construction of dams or bridges give high impact resistance.
• Thickness tolerance: Critical thickness tolerance of (±) 0.1mm in the board gives rid of telegraphing as the board calibrated board gives a beautiful surface finish and a good bond between the skin and the board.
• Weight reduction: Tubular boards as an engineered product ideally suits light weight strategy, value feeling in handling the door and high technical performance.
• Low emission: All Sauerland products are E1 norm for formaldehyde emission. Lower levels are also possible against special production runs.
• Straightness: The tubular structure also helps the door to maintain straightness under climatic variations.
• PEFC/FSC Certified: Save the tree for reducing climate change. All Sauerland products are certified with PEFC. They can also cater FSC requirements.
• Swelling in thickness: Almost zero thickness swelling in Sauerland board compared to flat pressed board/timber infill ensures long life for door.

A wonderful experience!
The 14-member team was led by Nitin Vaze, CEO of Sleek Boards Marketing Services LLP for exposure and education for the ASEAN door industry. The visit was of great learning and education for the several door manufacturers. Commenting on the same, Serafin Chan of LATIMCO Philippines said, “The trip Sauerland had prepared for its factory and other door producing factory is very educational and the trip was excellent. Hemant Pandit, Vice President Doors Division of Talin Modular Office Furniture Systems Pvt Ltd adds, “It was a great experience for us, understanding firsthand how the tubular core is produced and understanding its properties especially the fire and acoustic properties of the core. The visit to the two door factories further reinforced our knowledge of what we learnt at the Sauerland factory.

Hemant Pandit extended a special vote of thanks to Dr. Steffen whose valuable insights on the use of Sauerland cores in door making were invaluable. “The fire test demonstration at the factory by Dr. Steffen’s team was very informative,” he acknowledges.

“It was good to see your operations in Gotha, it gives us more in depth understanding about your company and operation which help us to understand to sell your products forward,” Bhakti Sadeli of PT. KayuPermata Indonesia mentioned.

Visit to Sauerland factory actually really make me more convincing to promote more doors, observed Vipul Parekh and Nilesh Parekh of Shreeji Woodcraft Pvt Ltd. Mumbai. The stated, “The test of fire door was excellent and provided answers to all our queries. We were very impressed with the factory and the fire test organised for our benefit. The technical information shared to us was also very informative and we have a better understanding of the Sauerland hollow core door core and its application. We hope to put some of this to good use in the near future.”

Mahendra Gala of Timex, Mumbai who was also a part of this trip, concludes by saying, “The tubular core presentation was very informative particularly on fire protection, sound/acoustic insulation. Also stressed was the importance of thickness precision to avoid telegraphing and ofcourse how extrusion method provides impact resistance. Equally enlightening is the actual production in our tour at door factories.”