The radio-activated DorMag Pro will roll off production lines this summer at Dorking-based Broanmain Plastics.
DorMag Pro is designed to hold fire doors open to improve access and building ventilation, yet close automatically when a fire or intruder alarm is activated. It is located behind the door rather than in front. The concept has moved from 3D printed prototypes to a milled CNC tool, to the design and manufacturing of seven component tools.
Fireco’s supply chain & production manager Mark Challacombe said: “Knowing that the unit needed to be plastically moulded, we commenced a comprehensive supplier review. Broanmain came out on top of our supplier matrix.”
Cost and scalability were considerations for Fireco. Injection moulding the seven components that make up the DorMag Pro housing was deemed the most viable way to manufacture the volumes.
Fireco engineer Matt Ball said: “Given our market expertise and the reaction at several events earlier this year, we anticipate incrementally increasing production and refining the build process as sales scale up. The market potential for this product range is huge, especially when combined with another acoustically rather than radio activated fire alarm innovation we are looking to release around the same time, DorMag SmartSound.”
Part of the door release design is a metallic-looking silver band wrapping around the device’s wall-mounted housing. However, as a radio-activated device, this strip needed to be in a non-metallic material. However, as a radio-activated device, this strip needed to be in a non-metallic material. To meet Fireco’s design, Broanmain pulled in decorative partner Oldbury-based Applied Coating Technologies.
All of the unit’s seven components are moulded on two-cavity mould tools using a standard ABS material. The lid and base is the only component modified to ABS PC to withstand the BS EN 1155 durability test cycles and the impact of the fire door being smacked back into the unit.
As well as mass-moulding the seven components, Broanmain will undertake some of the specialist finishing tasks, including heat staking a metal clip onto the battery carrier and overseeing the paint finish. Fireco will assemble all the internal components, including fitting magnets and the PCBs in-house. Every element must be moulded with absolute precision to meet the tight tolerances.
“From the sleeve within the main lid to the outer channels, there’s no room for production variables. It’s why we opted for injection moulding. It’s a process that delivers absolute precision at the best price,” continued Ball.
