Tailored Excellence for All Door Types
In door manufacturing, one size does not fit all. Whether you custom-build metal garage doors, milled wood entry or interior doors, glass doors for commercial and residential construction or shower and bath enclosures, manufacturers face the complexity of varying dimensions, colors, hardware, and configurations for each order. This is where Frontier’s parametric configurator proves invaluable. Our door manufacturing software enables your company to adapt to customers’ demands while communicating crucial order details to the production line.
Frontier ERP caters to a vast array of door types, empowering manufacturers to craft everything from traditional wooden doors to doors on machinery. Whether your specialization lies in metal safety doors, car doors, cabinet doors for kitchens, bathrooms or closets, or doors for custom furniture for home, retail, or office spaces, Frontier ensures that your manufacturing processes are optimized for each specific product. This flexibility positions make-to-order manufacturers to serve a broad market and stay ahead of the curve.
Seamless Dealer Collaboration
Working closely with dealers is often a norm for door manufacturers. Frontier ERP understands the intricacies of the dealer channel, providing features that facilitate smooth collaboration and accuracy. Through its built-in Configure, Price, Quote tool, Frontier ERP streamlines the quoting process, allowing dealers to provide quick and accurate quotes to their clientele. This increases customer satisfaction and speeds the sales process.
Material Optimization for Cost Efficiency
In a make-to-order environment, material optimization is paramount. Frontier addresses this need by offering tools for the efficient use of cut-to-size materials like extrusions and glass. Maximizing yield and driving down material costs are critical components of staying competitive, and Frontier’s capabilities ensure that door manufacturers can achieve optimal efficiency in material usage.Frontier ERP Provides a Comprehensive Solution
Frontier ERP goes beyond the basics in door manufacturing software:- Parametric Configuration: Customize products to meet unique specifications.
- 3D Product Engineering: Visualize and perfect designs in a virtual environment.
- Modeling and Rendering: Create realistic representations for accurate previews.
- Web Access for Dealers: Empower dealers with online tools for quotations and orders.
- Dynamic Scheduling: Adapt to changing demands with user-defined scheduling capabilities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of door manufacturers does Frontier serve?
Frontier serves manufacturers across the full range of door types — custom wood doors, metal safety and commercial doors, glass and shower enclosures, cabinet doors, architectural doors, and industrial equipment doors. The common thread is that these are manufacturers building to customer specifications rather than from a fixed catalog of standard products. Frontier’s parametric configurator handles the dimensional flexibility and option complexity that door manufacturing requires — whether that’s a residential wood door with dozens of panel, glass, and hardware options, or a commercial metal door with specific fire rating and frame requirements.
How does Frontier’s configurator handle the dimensional variation typical in door manufacturing?
Door dimensions are rarely standard — width, height, thickness, and opening direction vary by job. Frontier’s parametric configurator treats dimensions as calculated inputs rather than fixed option lists. When an order is configured, the system applies the engineering rules for that product line to the specific dimensions entered — validating that they’re within acceptable ranges, calculating material quantities and cut dimensions automatically, and generating the BOM and routing for that exact specification. This means every door order gets accurate materials and production instructions without manual calculation or engineering review for standard configurations.
How does Frontier support dealer quoting for door manufacturers who sell through a dealer or architect network?
Frontier’s eQuote Dealer tool gives dealers, architects, and sales representatives the ability to configure door products, generate accurate quotes, and submit orders directly into the manufacturer’s system from any web browser. Dealers can apply their own markup for end customers while working from the manufacturer’s pricing structure. For door manufacturers whose dealers are frequently in competitive bidding situations — particularly in commercial and architectural markets — the ability to generate fast, accurate quotes without calling into the manufacturer’s customer service team is a meaningful competitive advantage. Orders placed through eQuote feed directly into production scheduling without re-entry.
How does Frontier handle material optimization for cut-to-size door components?
Door manufacturing involves significant cut-to-size material — glass, extrusions, panels, wood components — where yield optimization directly affects material cost. Frontier’s production planning tools manage material requirements at the job level, with cut sheet generation via the AME shop floor system grouping cuts across multiple orders to maximize yield. For glass and glazing components, the system tracks the specific dimensions required per order against available material, helping minimize offcuts and remnant accumulation. Material costs are tracked at the job level, giving manufacturers accurate visibility into material cost per door type and configuration.
Does Frontier handle service and warranty management for door manufacturers?
Yes. Frontier includes return authorization (RMA) and service and warranty management as part of the sales order management suite. For door manufacturers who provide installation services or warranty coverage on custom products, warranty claims can be tracked against the original order and configuration — giving service teams visibility into what was built, what options were specified, and what the production record shows. This is particularly relevant for commercial door manufacturers where warranty claims on fire-rated or security doors may have compliance implications.
What does implementation look like for a door manufacturer switching to Frontier?
Implementation follows Friedman’s COMPASS methodology — a structured process developed specifically for custom manufacturers that covers data migration, configurator setup, integration configuration, and role-based training. The configurator setup phase is the most critical and involves encoding the manufacturer’s product engineering rules into Frontier’s PCM knowledge base — dimensions, options, constraints, pricing logic, and BOM structures. This is done in collaboration with the manufacturer’s product and engineering team. Once configured, the system validates orders automatically rather than relying on individual expertise. Friedman’s team has extensive experience implementing Frontier for door manufacturers specifically, which accelerates the process relative to a generic ERP implementation.
