Opening doors to new markets Royal Boon Edam

OPENING DOORS TO NEW MARKETS

Netherlands-based Royal Boon Edam is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of revolving door systems and access technologies. With an emphasis on constant innovation, to remain ahead of its competitors, the company has also been further expanding its global presence.

Royal Boon Edam was founded in 1873 as a small carpentry shop in Amsterdam. Over the years, it prospered, and in 1970 the family business moved its headquarters to larger premises in Edam. In 2004 it was granted the right to use the title ‘Royal’ Boon Edam, after more than 130 years of business and over 100 years of revolving door production. Today it employs over 900 people and has a network of subsidiaries and distributors in over 60 countries worldwide. It has also expanded its manufacturing capabilities considerably since its small beginnings: it now has plants in the Netherlands, the USA and China.

Today the company’s core business is focused on door systems, security access and advanced door care. Within these areas it can offer clients a broad portfolio of products and services to meet all their needs. It is continuously developing and improving upon its technologies, with the stated belief that ‘innovation must be a continuous process’.

Range of products

Boon Edam’s door systems include manual revolving doors, automatic revolving doors and special-purpose doors for unusual or difficult applications, such as curved sliding doors or its Flowside line which combines revolving and sliding door technologies to allow two streams of people to pass through a junction point without merging. Its range of security access products includes security doors and portals, turnstiles, pedestrian security lanes and access gates. Finally, its advanced door care service encompasses service and maintenance, retrofits and upgrades – all carried out by its teams of professional engineers.

In February last year, Boon Edam unveiled its latest product – the Energy Generating Revolving Door. The NRG+2 Tourniket combines revolving door technology with an energy generating concept which has enabled the company to create the ultimate ‘green’ entrance – a product that not only saves energy but can also actually generate it. The first model in this line was introduced in 2008, but this latest upgrade features a new energy generating system with up to 50 per cent higher power output, progressive speed control, improved feedback indicators, flexibility in design and the ability to also connect solar power.

At Passenger Terminal Expo, the leading international airport terminal conference and exhibition, Boon Edam took the opportunity to introduce its latest innovations in self-boarding technologies.

These included facial recognition, passport reading, NFC (near field communication) technology, and 2D barcode reading.

The company has also been involved in some fairly high-profile projects over the past couple of years. For example, in November 2011 it completed the installation of a 10m revolving door at Solna Shopping Centre in Stockholm. The door, which is based on Boon Edam’s Tournex High Capacity Revolving Door, is noteworthy for being the tallest revolving door installed to date. The Tournex revolving door is capable of handling a huge number of visitors passing through each day. Moreover, the ‘always open, always closed’ principle of the door saves energy on heating or cooling.

As can be seen from the above, the environmental concerns play an important part in the company’s product development and overall activities. There are many examples of how they put their core values into practice and this can also be seen in the products,s that are emerging from the company, such as their zirconium-coated revolving doors. This hightech coating is so environmentally friendly that any waste products can be disposed of after simple pH testing.

Expanding global presence

Future growth for Boon Edam is likely to be organic. Already well-established in Europe, the company is also continuing to strengthen its presence further afield.

In August 2011 it announced the expansion of its subsidiary network to include a sales and service subsidiary based in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, to cover the entire South East Asian region.

Lourens Beijer, Boon Edam’s chief commercial officer, commented at the time on the reasoning behind this development: “South East Asia is an important region for Boon Edam with a growing security market and strong economy, offering truly great potential. Boon Edam South East Asia is our 16th sales subsidiary company and represents an important step forward in our plans for organic growth.”

In addition to this region, the company is also seeking to broaden its customer base in South America. It took a step further in this direction in June last year when it announced the launch of a new website for Latin America – www.boonedam.com/LatinAmerica. This new Spanish language website is aimed at the up-and-coming markets in Latin America.

The latest stage in Boon Edam’s expansion strategy has seen it take steps to grow its presence in the Russian market. The company has been present in Russia since 2007 but in November last year it moved to a new larger premises to meet growing demand from this market. n