PDI History

Founded in 1936, and originally known as Firecraft Door Company, the company manufactured elevator, fire and industrial doors and hardware. During World War II, Firecraft Door Company supported the defense effort and manufactured ammunition cans and related products, but thereafter the special purpose door product line was assigned to the Firebar Door Division for product concentration to control special environmental conditions. In 1955, the company was reorganized and renamed Rysdon Products Company. The trade name Sonicbar was adopted to identify the entire special purpose door line.

In 1966, Rysdon Products was sold and renamed Protective Door Industries (PDI) by the new ownership. This acquisition included the door division along with the Adhaco Hardware product line. Standard Adhaco hardware, as well as specially engineered devices, was manufactured for its own use and available for purchase by other door manufacturers who specialized in custom door units. Late in 1976, a new line of concealed architecturally acceptable hardware was developed to provide a contemporary substitute for the 'barn door' type (surface-mounted) hardware. This newly designed heavy duty mortise "SH" Sonicbar Hardware series was quickly accepted and soon became the industry standard.

R-W (Richards Wilcox Manufacturing Co.) acquired PDI in 1981 where it continued to grow and improve its competitive position. Coburn Steel, located in the south side of Chicago purchased PDI in 1992 from the next owner, Auth-Florence Corporation (a previous owner of Chicago Bullet Proof Equip. Co.), and retained the Protective Door Industries name. In December, 2001, L.B. Steel, LLC assumed title of the PDI and Coburn divisions, relocated to Harvey, Illinois, and now under the umbrella of L.B. Metals LLC group. L.B. Steel/Coburn Steel is no stranger to the industry since its expertise had been utilized for specialized sub-contract door fabrication and machining work since the early 1960's. L.B. Metal's 450,000 sq.ft. plant with ten bays, twenty overhead cranes, large and heavy-duty welding tables, and an in-house specialized machine shop serve to complement and enhance the PDI product line.

While there have been several corporate changes over the past 60 years, Protective Doors has continuously retained key personnel. PDI prides itself on the technical skills and abilities of our Sales, Engineering, Quality Control and Manufacturing staff that have extensive experience in the special purpose door industry. In addition to our permanent Engineering team, outside Professional Engineers are consulted as required.

Protective Door Industries is fully prepared to service your project requirements into the 21st century!