Door Systems Engineering, Application and Education
George A. Shrokman, Jr. - The Industrial Door Geek - "The Door Man's Door Man"
My website is your go-to resource for proven tools and insights in the Industrial Door Industry
For over 50 years in the Industrial Door and Controls field, I’ve compiled a wealth of knowledge, from sales strategies to technical expertise, all specifically tailored to help technicians and business owners excel. These carefully curated documents have been applied successfully in some of the largest industrial complexes worldwide. Whether you're looking to enhance your operations or stay ahead in this traditionally slow-moving industry, my site offers tested, reliable solutions to give you a competitive edge.
Bridging the frustrating technology gap between your Door Supplier and your Process Control Engineers.
Billions of dollars are spent yearly on facility and production control systems integrating just about everything from the manufacturing floor to air conditioners.
Are the key doors involved with your manufacturing process included in your system? Does your production department know if the shipping door is going to open so you can get your product out?
We engineer and build control systems that overlay the standard door operator controls and directly interface with your manufacturing control systems.
Successful and effective application requires a through understanding of the needs of both industries
Understanding the Door Industry
This is for the Production Equipment Electrical Engineer
The Door Industry is a very competitive industry. The market dictates the least expensive control components be used. Unlike production machinery most doors are not cycled very often. High quality control components are not required. Machine tool type electrical standards are seldom followed. So it is very hard for your control system engineer to even understand the system. Standard wire color codes and numbering are not followed, as well as standard common connections for coils to name a few. Most of the door industry manufactures don't even know these standards exist. Door industry technicians thoroughly understand the methods and practices used in their industry. So they have a very easy time understanding how the door electrical systems work. PLC's are usually used as switches by the door industry, NOT logic controllers. I have yet to see a door manufacturer run each switch, button or sensor to an individual input for logic control. This makes it very hard for integration and monitoring. Doors don't work the way most electrical engineers think they do. I have seen two designs in name brand PLC manuals that just won't work on doors. They work in theory, but from experience we know that the way they tell you to do it in the book will destroy the door! They just don't understand how a door works. We do. And that creates a lot of headaches when Process Control Engineers try building controls for doors. The machine (door) does not operate they way they think it does!
Understanding the Building Automation Systems and Process Electrical Systems
This is for the door Industry members
Process Controls, Building Automation Systems (BAS) and Conveyor Controls are built to published electrical standards.
All of the standards are basically the same. So once a technician understands the basics, they can troubleshoot just about any control system on any piece of equipment.
Control panel layouts, wire colors, button colors, wire numbers, label formats, pilot light colors (to name a few) are all spelled out in what most people call code books. Depending on the facility you may have a different standard to follow.
When your technician complains about opening up a control panel and seeing all red or blue wires you know the system is built per an electrical standard.
Basic US/Canadian control panel wire colors
Red wires are AC power below 160 volts.
White wires are "Common" wires.
Blue wires are +DC power below 160 volts.
Blue with a white stripe are -DC "Common" wires.
Green is ALWAYS ground.
The high voltage wire colors are per voltage, and can be found in the Technical Data section of this website.
On PLC and Computer Systems, every pushbutton, limit switch, sensor or other device is wired to an input. Each input is continually monitored through the program. Diagnostics are done through a computer program designed to monitor all the input and output opening and closing results.
The monitoring systems can be miles away from the door itself. When a problem is detected, maintenance can be dispatched to check out the problem. With many of our systems, we can detect a problem with the door BEFORE anyone tries to open or close it. A well designed control system can tell the technician what the problem is so they know what to look for when they get to the door.
Interface Systems are Designed to give you
the data needed for your monitoring process.
It is important to know what data is needed for your control system.
What does your system need to know?
Is the door is open or closed?
Is the door actually moving when you give it a command?
Do you need to know how far the door is open so you can monitor the amount of air coming into the building for your HVAC System.
Do you need to know the condition of the limit switches?
Is the brake operating properly?
Is the motor working too hard? Does the door need adjusting?
All of this information and more is available. You just need to know what is needed before the design process starts.
Interface Systems are built using the components that easily integrate into your system.
Your facilities group has already has a list of control components used throughout the facility. Those components are designed into the interface system for easy integration.
Call us to discuss how Door Integration can save you money!
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Feel free to call me at any time.
George A. Shrokman, Jr.
615-826-5559
George A. Shrokman Jr. started Shrokman Door Systems & Technologies Company in 1992. Today in 2025, Jr is retired but still offers Controls Engineering and Educational services, as well as Consulting services to Heavy Industries.
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