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About Richards-Wilcox


1912 to 1960's

In the 1800's, the first North American branch of The Richards Manufacturing Company and The Wilcox Manufacturing Company were headquartered in Aurora, Illinois. Richards-Wilcox was later incorporated in 1912 and expanded its North American operations by establishing a Manufacturing presence in London, Ontario, Canada. In the subsequent years, factory owned dealerships were established in all the major cities across Canada. The 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's saw the introduction of many door and door related products by Richards-Wilcox. From sectional overhead doors and electric operators for both the industrial and residential markets to very specialized door systems such as Blast resistant doors, multi-blade doors, aircraft hangar doors, rolling steel doors, sliding fire doors and almost any other specialty applications.


1970's to 1980

In the 1970's after decades of establishing a strong distributor network and diverse product line, Richards-Wilcox introduced a full line of commercial Steel sectional insulated and non-insulated doors.

The 1980's were a period of growth for Richards-Wilcox having moved our manufacturing plants to the Toronto area and introducing Canada's first continuous polyurethane insulated steel door manufacturing line. It was one of only three production lines of its kind in North America capable of manufacturing polyurethane steel two side sectional overhead doors.


1990's

In 1992, with well-developed product, Richards-Wilcox began exporting sectional doors to other countries and set up our first U.S. distributor. 1993 brings an introduction to the Bulk Thermatite Management System (BTMS) and we began to specialize in supplying bulk sections and components. Later that decade, Richards-Wilcox introduced a new generation of sectional hardware and export sales exceeded those of Canadian. In 1999 Raynor Worldwide, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of Residential and Commercial Sectional and Rolling Steel door products, acquired Richards-Wilcox


2000 to Present

The year 2000 brought new opportunities to Richards-Wilcox as we applied our commercial technology and expertise into a Residential polyurethane insulated sectional door product. With this also introducing the world's first polyurethane Residential Semi-Bulk program, available from a manufacturer who produces both the hardware and the sections supported by the BTMS business software program. The year 2002 saw Richards-Wilcox celebrating it's 90th year, making it one of the worlds oldest sectional door manufacturers. In 2002, Richards-Wilcox 

completed combining offices and plants. Still located in Mississauga, Ontario the plants are close to Pearson International Airport and are within minutes of the continent's great network of highways providing access to the U.S. and eastbound to Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Sales, Engineering, Production, Shipping and Receiving are all now tightly grouped, giving Richards-Wilcox greater control over quality and costs as part of our continuing effort to stay in front of the industry, where we have held the pride of the place for more than eighty years.

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