Lean approaches to design and construction focus on eliminating wastes from each step of the construction process—from design to installation and use. These approaches help manufacturers and builders use less and create faster. They also help building designers use space more efficiently. As supply chain issues, material and labor shortages, and lingering shipping delays continue to plague the construction industry, many manufacturers have increased their focus on lean approaches.
While there is not one specific way to implement lean design principles, frequently repeated units can often be instrumental toward designs that are efficient to build and use. This applies to large scale applications like bathrooms all the way to the doors used throughout a building. By focusing on repeated features, design teams can develop systems that support lean construction at every level.
Single-source commercial sliding barn doors are one offering that can mitigate waste during installation. In addition, through their space-saving design, multifunctional capabilities and long-life cycle, commercial sliding barn doors can help promote efficiency in healthcare and hospitality settings long after the construction crews have left.
Single-source commercial sliding doors help building and design teams go lean
Optimization can happen at every phase of construction. As such, it is important to inspect a project from every angle to ensure each step reduces waste. Because single-source commercial sliding barn doors are designed as a complete package for quick and easy install, they save time and labor from administrative tasks like reviewing bids to the actual build.
Further, how these door systems are built helps promote a lean approach to construction. Traditionally, these doors require numerous pieces of hardware—from transoms and sidelites to handles and gasketing. If a builder or manufacturer sources these materials from several places, it could lead to unforeseen incompatibility, cost increases, shipping delays and on-site downtime. The waste from multiple-source hardware can be compounded exponentially in buildings like hotels because of the sheer number of doors used within.
Seeing these issues, AD Systems developed single-source systems ExamSlide and SuiteSlide. These commercial sliding barn doors not only help optimize both traditional and prefabricated construction methods but also contribute to lean design approaches overall with their ability to save space and improve ease of access.
How single-source commercial sliding barn doors drive design efficiencies
At the core of lean design is understanding a client’s needs. Doing so not only helps cut waste from design time but also reduces the cost of reworking and respecifying products during construction. Often this means recommending design elements. For example, hospitals need to provide a range of services, from emergency room care to primary care services. To accommodate this range in a single building, a designer needs to be able to maximize useable space.
Commercial sliding barn doors can save up to 30 ft2 compared to swing doors. Not only does this translate to more useable space in patient rooms, it can also mean less cluttered hallways, which improves accessibility. These doors also promote on-stage/off-stage design and room multifunctionality, all of which benefit commercial clients.
Single-source sliding doors also add to these benefits increased durability. Their components are designed to work together, resulting in superior quality across the entire system. Further, as a system, single-source commercial sliding barn doors can be easier and more efficient to install than their multi-source counterparts. This means less time is spent on installation, maintenance and up-keep over the lifecycle of these doors—a win for the client and win for the builder as well.
Ready to slide into lean construction?
While eliminating waste requires each step to serve the completion of a project, builders and specifiers can help contribute to a lean approach by looking for single-source manufacturers and products—like the ExamSlide or SuiteSlide systems. These commercial sliding barn doors ensure healthcare facilities and more can be efficient from the moment a project begins to the start of operations and beyond.
