Thank you for Subscribing to Construction Business Review Weekly Brief
Jason Messinger, President and CEOLocated in Gurnee, Illinois, Marantec America is the North American subsidiary of Germany-based Marantec Company Group (MCG), a family-owned business founded in 1989 that provides comprehensive and intelligent drive and automation systems. Marantec America’s motors and electronic parts are designed, built, and engineered in Germany. “We have established ourselves as a trusted provider of residential and commercial garage door operators, security gates, accessories, and other products across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America,” mentions Jeff Van De Linde, VP of Sales at Marantec America Corporation.
Marantec America’s unique devices are engineered and designed to cater to various residential and commercial garage doors. Whether to automate sectional, one-piece doors or high-speed doors, the company has the right opener for every garage door. “Our products are reliable, durable, and of high quality with German technology at the core, which gives more credibility and validity to our product manufacturing process,” says Jason Messinger, President and CEO at Marantec America Corporation.
The idea to form Marantec America stemmed from MCG’s vision of offering the safest and most innovative garage door opener systems to the North American market. Although it was a challenging feat to achieve for a German-based company with little brand recognition in the U.S., MCG overcame multiple obstacles and logistical and competitive challenges to establish Marantec America in 1997—marking its entry to the North American market. In 2006, right before the U.S. housing bubble, Marantec America built a new 65,000 square foot manufacturing facility to support its growth focused on the residential operators (garage door openers.) Last year, the company realigned its residential product line and included an expanded line of commercial operators in its strategic plan.
Apart from the small, lightweight, and easy-to-install residential and commercial garage door openers, Marantec America offers a wide range of accessories, replacement parts, and upgrades, from lights and remotes to battery backup, wireless keyless entry systems, and more. The company’s main facility includes a fully operable lab for thoroughly testing operators, controls, and accessories. “Our network comprises 26 partners and eight production facilities across the world, handling everything from mechanical to electrical product development and production, to Artificial Intelligence, and other software capabilities. With a combination of our acquisitions and strategic partnerships, we have rapidly broadened our overall product line worldwide over the last 24 months,” comments Messinger.
VTA; Setting a Benchmark in Commercial Door Drives
Marantec America’s innovative garage door operators are renowned for unparalleled safety and extremely quiet operation with a steadfast commitment to quality.On the commercial side, despite being heavy-duty equipment, garage doors need to ensure performance and longevity as they play an essential role in improving a business’s safety and productivity. “The traditional practice of leveraging alternating current (A.C.) with garage doors requires costly repairs, which often adversely impact the sustainability and value of the door. Besides, A.C. motors are larger, heavier, and louder, and they cannot be modified.
Our network comprises 26 partners and eight production facilities across the world, handling everything from mechanical to electrical product development and production, to Artificial Intelligence, and other software capabilities.
To today’s ever-increasing requirements of battery backups and automation technology,” explains David Haslam, Director of Sales at Marantec America Corporation.
To this end, Marantec America offers its VTA series— the first model of a new generation of high-quality commercial door drives with direct current (D.C.) These drives enable garage door dealers to provide their customers with a D.C.-powered opener that is safe, functional, and easy to use.
The VTA model can be installed easily without having to perform any additional modifications.
As a UL 325 commercial listed door drive, the VTA series worm gear drives are ideally designed for spring-balanced sectional doors, wherein the ultra-quiet and dependable D.C. motor is mounted on the torsion shaft.
As a UL 325 commercial listed door drive, the VTA series worm gear drives are ideally designed for spring-balanced sectional doors, wherein the ultra-quiet and dependable D.C. motor is mounted on the torsion shaft.
These drives can accommodate doors up to 17 feet and come with an integrated control board. With a soft start and soft stop feature, the VTA enables the door to open at a slower speed, gradually increases the pace, and then slows down for the door to stop. This low-wear smooth operation protects the door and reduces mechanical fatigue and repair costs, eliminating the need for frequency converters. Besides, the built-in instant reverse opens the door in case of any contact. The drive also offers variable speed levels with extremely high duty cycles of up to 20 cycles per hour and allows clients to program the speed into the opener.
“We provide clients with a very robust heavy duty gearing system that drives the opener, and there’s no other product that compares to it in the marketplace,” says Haslam. Being a compact (four inches wide) and lightweight (18 pounds) model, it can fit into a tight space. Additionally, the VTA model can be equipped with an optional battery backup system, making it highly reliable and easy to program, install, and service.
Built to Last, Next-Generation Operators
Innovative features, including integrated LED lighting, battery backup system, wall controls, and timer-to-close options, coupled with the industry’s best product warranty, make Marantec America’s operators highly distinguished in the industry. “We have pre-defined systems that are standard products across the board, filling in the depth and breadth of the product line.
We can also customize those systems as per customer needs and provide them with alternative accessories and settings within.
-
We have established ourselves as a trusted provider of residential and commercial garage door operators, security gates, accessories, and other products across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America
the system,” states Messinger.
Being a small company, Marantec America is quite agile in calibrating its solutions per unique product and accessories’ requirements, be it for aesthetics or functionality.
“We have multiple customers that rely on us for a full private label capability, from the product line to packaging, marketing assistance, and training for dealers and their franchises across North America,” Messinger says.
In one instance, Marantec America helped a private label company understand the true value of putting their name on the product. They can now differentiate and market their products to the consumer, which has empowered the company to grow, establish higher pricing, increase their margins, and set themselves apart from competitors. The client has been witnessing substantial growth over the years with Marantec America.
Where Experience Meets Innovation
Marantec has over 500 employees worldwide, with domestic sales and internal production teams in North America and engineering design and marketing teams in Europe. The company aims to include an expanded line of additional commercial operators in its product offerings by the first quarter of next year.
Marantec America is keenly focused on industry research and knowledge. The company relays it to its expert engineers, technicians, and partners to develop and acquire the right products to expand its portfolio. “We haven’t witnessed a lot of innovation in the commercial side of the business for over 20 years, but we are changing this narrative with our premium commercial operators. We’re counting on our partners in Germany to expand not only our commercial operator lineup but also add gate operators and access products,” remarks Linde.
Currently, Marantec America is ramping up demand for its commercial products through its distributors, wholesalers, and core dealer base. The company is also working on providing in-depth training to its dealers via webinars and videos to make it easier to understand the product and improve accessibility. To help troubleshoot any installation issues, Marantec America envisions extending its support to clients digitally. With its sales team spanning from the West Coast to the East Coast, Marantec America covers diverse markets across the country.
“We have been adopting proactive measures to ensure that today’s unprecedented shipping delays, cost surges, and logistics challenges don’t impact us in the near future. Our aim is to continue providing excellent products and outstanding customer service,” notes Messinger.
