Not much is known on who invented the locker, but studies suggest that the use of lockers can be traced as far back as ancient Greece, around 2,500 years ago. Even more interesting, the first lock to be operated by a key was discovered to have been used over 4,000 years in Egypt. What makes all this fascinating is that these innovations are still being used today, with the locker industry expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2024, according to Nuesmart.
Lockers have been utilised at schools, colleges, universities, gyms, sports grounds, factories, mines, and many other facilities which, by today’s standards, seems to be the norm in basic security of personal belongings.
But can this relatively simple concept be brought into the twenty first century? It has. The quality of mechanical locks has significantly improved over time, but where the biggest innovation lies is in master key management. These locking systems now allow for a number of modern features, such as programmable keys with wireless capabilities, capturing and maintaining audit trails, granting flexible access rights, and more!
Here’s just one potential application for a modern approach to locker security:
Schools or colleges may experience problems with students leaving their locker keys at home, or even losing them altogether, which could lead to inconvenience and disruption trying access the locker. Implementing a Master Keying System for a school with 500 lockers (for example) could work as follows:
- All padlocks and keys would be stamped from 1 to 500, which enables you to marry each key to the appropriate padlock.
- Each padlock comes with 2 keys, one for the student, and one spare in case of lost keys.
- The system also comes ‘Master Keyed’, so if a student leaves his/her key at home or loses it, one of the Master Keys, that is part of the system, will be able to open any of the 500 padlocks.
- If keys need to be replaced, all that is required is the number stamped on the padlock for a key to be cut by your security provider.
