An innovative door design for a baggage handling requirement at Heathrow Terminal 5 has been adapted by HDS to deliver a bespoke solution for a new manufacturing process about to be introduced in a major North East manufacturing facility.

Technical director at HDS, Nick Hart, says the client company required a unique door for a new production unit with a factory. "In brief the doors to be supplied needed to give 60-minute fire resistance and be capable of completing up to 400,000 open/close cycles a year.

Further the doors needed to meet strict air leakage criteria and be able to withstand sudden air-pressure increases," explains Nick. "The doors also had to interface with third party equipment such as conveyor belt controls and fire alarms and each required an LCD display control panel that provided a quick and easy diagnosis of what each door was doing.

"So it was a technical challenge. Using an already proven design solution which we created for the baggage handling system in Heathrow's Terminal 5, we adapted the product to suit this new requirement. This has been an interesting project as all are when invention and rigorous testing are needed. We continue to demonstrate exceptional skill levels and we are delighted to have created such an outstanding solution,” adds Nick. Nearly 50 doors have been supplied as a result of HDS' success.