ATA and FirmaDoor used to be owned by the Leivenzon family and both companies have been sold. The information concerning ATA and FirmaDoor is of a historical nature only and Smart Openers is in no way affiliated with ATA and FirmaDoor.

I was born in April 1964. To me everything was a blur. I was still in nappies but my father and his brother Steve were already well established in business. They arrived from Europe in 1956 with nothing more than the clothes on their back and a little amount of luggage. No friends, no family, very little money, unable to speak the language, but with a hope for a new beginning - a new start.

Z&S Products was already well established by 1964 and was operating in the laundry in the back of their parent's home. My father and his brother Steve were manufacturing wrought iron products and steel furniture. I remember Dad saying that they started with a loan from the ANZ bank of 200 pounds. One thing led to another and as history showed the success of their business was due to hard work and innovation.

It was about 1975 that I started to take an interest in my father's business. I was still at school but none the less eager to find out what all the hard work was about. During school holidays, in fact every school holiday, I joined my father at work pottering around the factory. I think I was more of a hindrance back then, but Dad was always there to teach me, to help and encourage me. I do remember it was exciting, it was dynamic, the business was alive and growing like a human does. He taught me everything I know about business.

I am not sure the exact reason, I know Dad told me but for the life of me I cannot remember, but for some reason they started to manufacture steel door jambs. They invented the mitre joint and were pressing door frames in a small factory in Caulfield, Victoria. The mitre joint itself was a revolution in door frame assembly. Business was brisk but production was slow and manual so they looked at a different way to mass-produce steel door jambs on a grander scale.

It wasn't long before they invented, designed and produced a roll-forming machine in their own engineering workshop which they created, designed and manufactured from scratch. I remember the machine was brilliant it was fast and top secret. It was always covered so people entering the factory would not be able to see it. I will talk about it in more detail later but I remember it was called the Luigi machine and the sausage machine, Luigi because he was the man operating the machine, sausage because it was spitting frames out like a butcher shops spits out sausages. It was revolutionary.

Not to rest on their laurels they started looking for another product line based around steel products and roll forming. They contacted Lysaght, their steel supplier at the time to find out which industries and what products use the most steel coils. Lysaght told them that roll up door manufacturers where high users of steel. After an investigation into the market, they decided to make doors but to do it differently. They looked into designing a new type of door, different to what was available, one that was also quick and simple to manufacture.

By this time, they had a true engineering workshop with milling machines, lathes, cutting machines, etc. and a staff of about ten plus toolists and engineers, etc. It was about 1976 -77 when they designed and invented the now famous square look section and the new centre lift lock. While everyone else had a rounded section and flat face plate lock the Firmadoor door was a revolution. The square section was a massive improvement over the rounded section and the new centre lift lock was brilliant. A totally new concept in garage doors that took the competition by surprise. They built a roll forming machine dedicated to producing this product in mass quantities. And while the competition were still pressing their panels my father and Steve were rolling theirs. All with a machine designed and built from scratch in their factory in Cheltenham, Victoria.

I remember at their first home show in Sydney approximately 1977-78 Dad exhibited the Roll Up Door for the first time, square look section with centre lift lock in all its blazing glory. Byrne and Davidson Doors still had the standard run of the mill roll up door on display with a sign: "Square Look Section Available Soon”. I remember Dad going out to a sign writer and getting a sign made: "Available Now”. The new door was a revolution, but even more of a revolution was the plant set up to manufacture this product. It was unbelievable. I seriously don't think a machine like this will ever be made again.

I remember Dad having a lot of trouble getting it right. While the panel was coming out good enough, they still had some oil canning problems, some marks and they were really struggling to get it perfect. It took them years and they nearly gave up. I remember Dad saying it was sending them broke and that they had to solve it fast or scrap the project. So they called Byrne and Davidson Doors in, showed them the machine and said do you want to buy it, we want to get out of it. It was cheap and it still was a fantastic engineering feat but B&D said no, not interested. Dad persisted and soon after finally got it right. The machine was an engineering marvel. Flying cut offs so the machine was always rolling panel even while cutting to size so the machine never stopped. It had a very low number of stations, solid shafts, solid table, magnificent roll set, full bearings etc. etc. it really was a marvel. I don't think anywhere else in the world such a machine existed and to this day I don’t think they know how to build them like that.

It wasn't long before Firmadoor’s door was a brilliant success. Soon after came the new factory in Melbourne (150,000 sq ft +), in Sydney (100,000 Sq Ft +), Adelaide (50,000 sq Ft +) and in Brisbane (30,000 sq Ft +). I say plus because I don't recall the exact figures. Along with that came a staff of over 150 people and this was all in the early 80's. All this from two brothers’ dreams and creations. They had no letters to their names, no formal education, no university degrees, just an ambition built on pride and passion. I remember Dad used to say to me that we never made a lot of noise just had a lot of punch. While the competition made a lot of noise they packed no punch. This was probably Dad's greatest weapon, the element of being treated by the competition as no threat. Dad taught me to never, ever underestimate the competition, never!

The opening of the Sydney factory was a milestone in Dad’s eyes. The then premier of NSW, the Honorable Mr. Neville Wran, opened the factory. I was there along with the whole Leivenzon family taking video of the whole event. The images were a bit shaky as I had no tripod and wrestled with the camera trying to hold it straight thorough the speeches. It was a momentous day. I remember it like yesterday. Dad was so proud yet so humble.

Then there was the need for a garage door opener and along came the Firmatouch RC-1. Again designed and manufactured by Dad, Steve and the team at Firmadoor. To make this product Dad looked at a cheap manufacturing base offshore and after months of research chose Singapore. Can you imagine going to a foreign country with some language difficulties, it was so hot and humid, no help, no premises, no accountant, no solicitor, no one to help, but Dad did it. Despite all that he struggled so hard to set it up in the sweat and heat, and succeeded. He found premises, fitted them out, and set up a full electronics production plant and employed staff all without any help. A monumental effort to say the least.

I remember Dad visiting Productronica and Electronica in Europe in the early eighties. He came back from Europe excited about a new production technique called Surface Mount Technology. It was a system of placing miniature electronic components on a PCB substrate by numerically controlled robotic machines. This alleviates the need to place components by manual labour, therefore speeding up production time and efficiency by a massive amount. In fact he came home with a new machine ordered and ready for delivery within months. I remember the technology was so advanced components for this process were not available in Australia and were sourced from Asia. Dad led the industry again.

Dad's ambitions and drive was not only in Firmagroup Singapore. While Singapore was all happening he was also working on exhibiting in DODA (DOOR OPENER DEALERS ASSOCIATION) and IDA (INTERNATIONAL DOOR ASSOCIATION) in America. Not only was he a member but he exhibited in two shows in Las Vegas and visited a number of other shows in Florida and Vegas. All this in the early eighties. He was always ambitious always coming up with the best ideas. Even his competition at the time were not active in DODA and IDA. I doubt they even new about these organisations at the time but now some twenty years later Australian door manufacturers finally joined in on the act. A case of too little too late for those guys. They missed the boat while Dad sailed on full steam ahead.

Firmadoor was sold to Wormald in 1988 and what they sold was a solid business with fantastic manufacturing facilities. But Dad still had affection for door openers, electronics and mechanical design so he kept the opener department and formed a company called Automatic Technology Australia.

I joined Dad as co founder of ATA and we built on the one product line we had and began to design and produce panel door openers, gate openers, control boards, etc. Dad’s passion from 1988 when ATA was formed to the time it was sold to B&D never waned. It was full steam ahead with new designs, new innovations, new products. And most importantly new manufacturing equipment. Always the latest new pick and place machines, wave soldering machines, reflow ovens, testing jigs and a new and larger factory in Hong Kong. Again, set up by Dad in a strange country, hot, humid, no help from anyone except his loyal and dedicated staff. A truly remarkable feat. While I was running the Melbourne operation Dad traveled overseas on weekends late hours, long days in a strange country away from home. I know that while I was running Melbourne Dad was working extremely hard to make Hong Kong succeed and have the latest production techniques.

I remember the first pick and place machine we bought it was a Mamiya Flex with a speed of 1,000 components per hour. The second machine was a Yamaha with a placement speed of 6,000 components per hour but the third machine that we purchased as ATA was the best a Juki 750 placing 12,000 components per hour. The commissioning of this machine was a proud moment. Scrolling across the page on the right hand side is a picture of Dad and I next to the new Juki pick and place machine. It had just been delivered and commissioned in the Hong Kong factory. We were so proud about our new machine the excitement was obvious. A pick and place machine with such capability was a true reflection of success. At $250,000 per machine it was no toy. It was not long before our demand required a second, a third, and then a fourth machine. Looking at those four machines operating in series was an unbelievable sight.

The designs and product innovations were truly world class and it was all due to Dad’s drive and ambition, patents, registered designs and an engineering team which were, and still are the best in the world. Even the American manufacturers were lagging behind and I remember Dad used to say to me “The Americans can fly to the moon but they have no clue how to design openers." This is still the case today although now they are catching up. We never subscribed to the theory if you are the biggest you must be the best. The people who believed in that are only damaging themselves and the company they work for.

In the meantime Wormald was struggling with the old Firmadoor business and what was left of it was subsequently sold to B&D Doors. Coincidentally, what they bought was nothing compared to what was sold to Wormald some years earlier. They could have bought it cheaper and in a much better state years earlier and save themselves all those years of competition. By the time B&D got there hands on it the company was a shadow of its former self.

ATA was going full steam ahead. New designs, new ideas and new production techniques were keeping us at the forefront of door and gate automation products. The company was evolving as a major player in the market and it was not long before B&D Doors bought us out again, both the Hong Kong manufacturing and the Australian design and distribution operation.

Dad's last major projects were probably the group's most important projects, the products to take us to the next decade. These three projects were the new roll up door opener called the GD0-6, the new industrial panel door opener and the new industrial roller shutter motor. In fact when we sold ATA these projects were finished ready for testing, tooling and the start of production. The GD0-6 was already prototyped. If you view the ATA video, at the end section you can see the hand made prototype ready for testing. The GDO-6 was a truly brilliant product. It was without doubt ATA's best product. It was sad that Dad sold ATA and was not around to see its success but he knew from the get-go that the GD0-6 was something revolutionary and bound to cement ATA ‘s success in the future. That's why he spent such a large effort in designing, developing and tooling up for it. The GDO-6 was indeed something very special.

The GD0-6 nearly never made it to the market. Dad's baby very nearly got scrapped. All that innovative brilliance, something you could never value in monetary terms to be killed off.

I was required to stay on after the sale. I tried so hard to express how important it was for ATA. The opener was a revolution and was sure to capture a lot of the market by gaining new customers for ATA.

Machinery, the most critical element of ATA's success. I needed to buy a new Juki pick and place machine soon after the take-over. Unfortunately I was hindered from buying this machine due to the significant amount of reports required to gain an approval for such a purchase. Why do I tell you all this? Because Dad would have made the decision to buy this machine at the click of a finger. In fact, he probably would have purchased another two or three Juki machines, new infrared reflow ovens and nitrogen wave soldering machines with larger tunnel lengths to cater for the increasing demand. Always leading and looking for the best most modern manufacturing equipment to make ATA the best.

I suppose that's why he made huge efforts to travel to Europe, to Productronica and Electronica to see the latest equipment. Looking back now, and hindsight is such a wonderful thing; but I am thinking, I sat back in my little comfort zone at ATA in Melbourne. Dealing with what seemed to be significant issues which really were not that stressful while Dad was traveling overseas, contending with long days, time zones, international currencies, appointments, hot climate, strange countries and hard, hard work running around to achieve his goals.

Dad started a series of companies only to be bought out on two occasions so he must have been doing something very very right. It's easy to buy a successful company but to make it successful from scratch is another matter. Dad did it on two occasions, not one but two.

My father was a legend in his field, he left a legacy which is going to be impossible to emulate. I certainly cannot reproduce or replicate his achievements. I know what Dad achieved and I don't think anyone can ever achieve that. All I am left with is the memories and there are lots and lots of those. Some of these memories are enshrined in the company profiles and photos appearing in this website a small snippet of his achievements, success and hard work.

Dad I will miss you very much. I will miss your drive, your leadership, your business abilities, your innovative ambitions and drive and your shoulder to rest on for advice but most importantly I will miss your love to me, mum, my brother and sister and the six grandchildren you loved and adored so much.

To the world you were my father to me you were my world.