Boon Edam Inc. has announced that a new production line for its Lifeline Optical Turnstiles is now operational at the company’s Lillington, N.C. factory. These are the first turnstiles of the Lifeline Series now officially made in the USA. Until now, the Lifeline Series has been built exclusively in Holland. Orders for Lifeline turnstiles now can be filled directly from the U.S. factory for customers in the Americas.
“When the Lifeline Series was originally launched in 2014, the demand in the Americas was strong,” says Mark Borto, president and CEO of commercial operations at Boon Edam Inc., a subsidiary of the company. “We had so many inquiries back then it was hard to manage delivery expectations. One of the hardest factors was the long lead time because they were made and shipped from Holland. We knew early on that we needed to build a production line at our U.S. factory to deliver the product within our customer’s timeframe. Other benefits include being able to directly manage product quality and respond quickly to any need for spare parts.”
Planning and design for a Lifeline turnstile production line started in the summer of 2016. One of each type of the Lifeline turnstiles was ordered from Holland to enable local engineers in Lillington to analyze the construction. Boon Edam’s Supply Chain management was involved in sourcing local materials and vendors to stock inventory and determine which components would be manufactured in-house.
There are three distinct types of Lifeline optical turnstile: Open (barrier-free and smallest footprint), Slide, and Swing. All three models will be built in the U.S., with some exceptions for custom painted parts. The Lifeline Series is known in the marketplace for its aesthetic design and LED cueing feature when users approach for entry. Special lighting indicates where users should hold their RFID card for authorization and running lights indicate the correct lane to pass through.
“We are experiencing demand for these turnstiles for Class A office buildings in large cities and the headquarters buildings of Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S. and around the world,” says Borto. “Having them roll off the production line in Lillington is a step in fulfilling demand and delivery expectations for our Lifeline Optical Turnstiles.”