Pre-Hanging Simplified: How CTI Customizations Speed Up Your Shop

Pre-hanging is where efficiency is either gained or lost. Every extra cut, adjustment, or correction made in the shop adds time, labor, and variability. Over time, those small inefficiencies compound into slower production and inconsistent output.

The Apex Door System™ is designed to simplify this process by giving door shops more control over how and where customization happens. With integrated, customizable door frame components, pre-hangers can choose to have components prepared at CTI’s facility or complete certain steps in-house, creating a flexible model that adapts to each shop’s workflow.

Where Shops Lose Time in the Pre-Hanging Process

Most inefficiencies don’t come from major issues. They come from repeat tasks performed on every unit.

Common time drains include:

• Measuring and cutting door frame jambs to size

• Performing hinge and strike prep manually

• Notching and fitting sills

• Drilling for alignment and hardware placement

• Adjusting components that don’t fit correctly

  
  

These steps take time, require skilled labor, and often create bottlenecks, especially as volume increases.

A Flexible Approach to Customization

One of the biggest advantages of the Apex Door System™ is flexibility.

Pre-hangers are not locked into a single process. Instead, they can decide how much customization is handled by CTI and how much is completed in their own shop.

This allows teams to:

• Offload labor-intensive machining to CTI

• Keep select processes in-house where it makes sense

• Adjust workflows based on capacity, labor availability, or project needs

  
  

By balancing customization between CTI and the shop, operations can stay efficient without sacrificing control.

How This Impacts Production Efficiency

By simplifying prep work and reducing repetitive tasks, shops can operate more efficiently without increasing complexity.

Key Benefits

• Faster assembly times – Less prep work means more doors completed per shift

• Improved labor allocation – Teams focus on assembly instead of machining

• Greater consistency – Prepped components reduce variation across builds

• Reduced rework – Better fit from the start minimizes corrections

  
  

This system makes it easier to manage higher volumes while maintaining quality standards.

Supporting Larger Volume and Diverse Projects

As project demands grow, shops often face increasing complexity, such as different door sizes, specifications, and requirements across orders. The Apex Door System™ is designed to handle that variability.

By standardizing key components while allowing for customization, shops can:

• Manage larger order volumes

• Handle a wider range of project specifications

• Maintain consistency across different builds

  
  

This is especially valuable when coordinating multiple door components, stop applied jambs, crowns, and other products within a single order. 

A More Efficient Way to Scale

Growth often creates pressure on labor, equipment, and workflow.

The Apex Door System™ allows shops to scale without adding unnecessary complexity. Simplifying prep work and offering flexible customization options creates a more efficient path to increased production.