R-Plus Doors On-Board With US Navy Ships

R-Plus Doors has been selected as a strategic partner to design and construct custom bi-part electric sliding doors for nine ships in the T-AKE program, a new class of combat logistics force ships.

The T-AKE 1 is a dry cargo/ammunition ship. Designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea while providing underway replenishment services, the T-AKE will directly contribute to the ability of the Navy to maintain a forward presence. These ships will provide logistic lift from sources of supply either in port or at sea and will transfer cargo that includes ammunition, food, fuel, repair parts, and expendable supplies and material to station ships and other naval warfare forces at sea.

R-Plus Doors got involved very early on in the design of the door, demonstrating its ability to engineer a custom product exceeding very stringent requirements. “Through the quoting stage, we spent a lot of energy defining the right product for the application. Our commitment to serving the customer was key to R-Plus being awarded this contract,” says David Zell, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of R-Plus & Imperial Manufacturing. “Fitting thousands of components in a ship from a multitude of suppliers is a daunting task and our customer knew that we would be up for the challenge”.

Each ship is equipped with six 16’ wide by 8’ high stainless steel bi-part doors, electronically controlled and NEMA 4X rated. The development of the door started in 2003, based on our rugged ICC-3 door line. Many components have been sized up for the product to accept ship acceleration forces of up to 0.4G, 30 degree roll and 15 degree static heel. Functions were added, like a cane-bolt system with operator interlock allowing to keep the door leaf solidly anchored while the ship is in transit. A custom Programmable Logic Computer program was specifically written for the application.

To date, all 54 doors have been delivered on schedule. Three ships have already been commissioned and R-Plus actively participated in the final stages of the installation and testing for each ship. “Working on the shipyard has been a real interesting experience,” says Bart Maslowski, Production Manager and dedicated onsite engineer. “The shipyard crew has never installed this type of doors before. It took working very closely with the crew to train them and make sure that all was done right. We have forged a strong relationship and its always a pleasure to go back to the yard to commission another ship.”

“We learned a lot through the process and delighted our customer in our ability to promptly answer their questions and fulfill their needs. I once received a service call in the morning and found myself on the shipyard in the evening. When a problem arises, they know that they can count on us to fix it. This is one less thing that they have to worry about,” says Olivier Beillard, Project Manager. “I have no doubt that we will do more business together and that R-Plus Doors will be their #1 choice.”

R-Plus Doors is expecting to be awarded contracts for up to five more ships, to be delivered to the Navy through 2010.

With the strength of its experience with this high end application, R-Plus Doors is currently developing its fifth generation PLC controlled door. It promises to be extremely reliable and very easy to install. Stay tuned!