Bi-parting Doors vs Roll-up Doors

This is a common question we get from people looking at purchasing a new high-speed door.

Roll-up and Bi-Parting Doors are the two door types most commonly used in food processing, logistics and warehousing facilities due to their functional and hygienic characteristics. Both types of doors have a range of similar features and benefits:

• They can be rust and dust-proof
• Not made of absorbent materials
• Easy to inspect and clean
• Can be knock out and self-repair
• Effectively sealed to prevent microbial hazards caused by condensation
• Able to withstand harsh environments and cleaning acids.

Vertical Roll-up Doors

Vertical roll-up high-speed doors are single flexible panel doors that move only in the vertical plane. Vertical opening roll-up doors are fast at a speed of about 2m/s, and some are designed to survive impact with a forklift.

Maintenance and cleanliness are important on rapid roll-up doors, because contaminants like bacteria and dirt can be picked up from the ground by the door’s bottom seal. Then, when the door is open, it may drip down onto product passing underneath if the seal is not cleaned and is not well maintained. This causes concern for food processing areas, as food may be unknowingly contaminated.

In facilities where forklifts are significantly taller for reaching high racking, no matter how fast the rapid-rise door may be, the forklift driver still has to pause until the door opens enough to allow the full height of the forklift to pass through, and it also increases the chance for more door impacts as forklift drivers get impatient. In this case, a bi-parting door could be more efficient.

Bi-parting Doors

Bi-parting doors on the other hand, consist of a pair of door panels on a doorway that part in the middle and away from each other to separate and open. It can be surface mounted on the wall or installed in pockets in the walls (surface mounted is preferred for ease of servicing and maintenance of the door panels and equipment).

Let’s talk about the speed advantage.

A bi-parting door has two panels. Each moves at the speed of a vertical roll-up door, but instead of opening upward, it opens sideways – so for starters, it is already twice as fast as a roll-up door.

A high mast forklift going through a doorway is advantaged if it goes through a bi-parting door, because the two panels only have to open the width of the forklift, which is usually only 1.7m, so each panel only has to move about 90cm for the forklift to be able to move through the door.

Now if this was a roll-up door, the panel has to rise the full height of the forklift mast, which can be up to 5m high! So all in all you can save up to 5 seconds each time you go through the door, by using a bi-parting door.

The other factor is that using a bi-parting door means there is no chance of bacterial being carried from the floor and above the product, and potentially dropping and contaminating it.

However, bi-parting doors may not be as impact friendly as some roll-up doors, as you can impact them from one side and the panels will just swing out, but when you impact them from the side from which they are mounted, they have nowhere to go and can bend and flex out of shape. Remember though, the chance of impact is lessened due to faster opening times.

Here are some of the most popular Bi-Parting and Roll-up Doors:

So which door is best for you? Each environment is unique, so we’ll help you weigh up the options.

Just give us a call on 0800 807 753 or email us on support@ultigroup.co.nz and we’ll help you out.