135,000 pizzas, seven rapid-opening doors, and 3,360 opening cycles

Image © Efaflex

Image © Efaflex

Image © Efaflex

Image © Efaflex

Image © Efaflex

In front of the building, it smells like your favorite Italian restaurant. When Alexander Zimin presses the switch of the gate and quickly opens the driveway into the building, he is surrounded by the aromas of basil, oregano, various vegetables, and sun-ripened tomatoes. However, these fresh basic ingredients alone do not guarantee a Gustavo Gusto pizza. For that, clever ideas, diligent, committed employees, and the rapid-action doors from EFAFLEX are also essential, which essentially separate the prosciutto from the tuna.

Alexander Zimin is the Technical Director of the plant. During a tour of the pizza manufacturing facility, he speaks quite seriously about the fast industrial doors from EFAFLEX for production: “We have a total of seven doors, one for the hall closure and six in production. Two of them were already there when I took over responsibility as Technical Director. These doors are still reliable in their function today, so we decided once again for rapid-action doors from EFAFLEX.” The robustness of the systems is a crucial selection criterion in Gustavo Gusto's production. Because 135,000 pizzas leave the plant in Geretsried, Bavaria, every day. “This means that the doors are in operation at many points in production 24 hours a day. And with opening cycles of three to five minutes,” explains Alexander Zimin.

TÜV Certification for Emergency Exit Safety

Four of the new EFA-SRT-FR® (FR stands for Escape and Rescue Route) doors are intended, in addition to closing off the various production areas, to serve as escape routes for employees in case of danger. This rapid-action rolling door type with electro-mechanical high-performance drive is designed for industrial continuous operation. The door system has TÜV certification, which, when the door system is installed in escape and rescue routes, must be presented to the relevant building authority. In the escape direction, the four doors at Gustavo Gusto are equipped with radar sensors. In “powerless mode,” the escape route doors automatically open and can also be opened manually via emergency release. For this, as well as for the counterbalance of the door leaf, a special tension spring mechanism is integrated into the side door frames. This keeps the door leaf under constant tension when closing. This durable and extremely maintenance-friendly counterbalance device is mandatory by regulation.

The standard door leaf made of 2-millimeter-thick PVC is guided laterally and wound onto a horizontally mounted shaft. Colored covers are also readily available for EFAFLEX roller doors.

The side curtain guides are additionally designed to ensure flawless unwinding and winding even under wind load, drafts, and air pressure differences.

Installation in Tight Spaces

The installation of the new rapid-action doors was smooth despite the very confined conditions in the production area. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have significantly increased our production,” says Alexander Zimin. This brought changes in the arrangement of the production and a certain shortage of space, as all important hygiene and distancing rules had to be observed here as well. “So, we had little space for assembly, and masonry had to be built beforehand on the sides. However, the technicians from EFAFLEX did a great job respecting these requirements and solved all problems.”