No more traditional lock and key

Accuride’s Senseon Secure Access system uses cards, fobs to seamlessly open locked drawers, cabinet doors

By Scott W. Angus

Traditional locks and keys have been around for 150 years, and not much has changed in that time in how people and businesses secured their valuables.

It could be time for a transformation. Accuride® International – an industry leader in drawer slides and other movement solutions – believes it has the system to make it happen.

Accuride launched the Senseon™ Secure Access system this fall, which it says will forever change how some businesses and people protect and manage their valuable content.

With Senseon, retail stores, hospitals, banks, hotels and other commercial establishments, as well as homeowners, can avoid the limitations of old-fashioned cabinet locks and keys, the company says.

Instead, key cards and fobs use radio-frequency identification (RFID) to communicate with hidden readers to automatically open cabinet drawers and doors. One reader can control up to 15 drawers or doors.

Cabinet designers and manufacturers and retailers no longer have to contend with unwieldy and often unreliable locks and keys. Custom-home designers and builders also can integrate Senseon into built-ins to protect jewelry and other valuable items.

 “Senseon sets a new standard for cabinet-level access control,” Accuride CEO Scott Jordan said. “It offers a simple, better way to reduce theft, streamline operations, ease employees’ jobs and improve the customer experience.”

Solutions Marketing Director Greg Rewers stressed the simplicity of Senseon both in installation and use.

“Ease of use was of paramount importance as we designed and created the system,” Rewers said. “It’s very easy to use. It’s very easy to program, and from a woodworker, cabinetmaker or installer’s point of view, it’s very easy to install.

“Yet, it’s a commercial grade system that offers a high degree of security.”

Senseon is unlike anything else on the market, Rewers said, because it’s a complete system for an entire cabinet connected to one reader, and the lock is integrated into the drawer slide.

“It’s a marriage of access control, security and cabinet hardware function altogether in one solution. That makes it unique,” he said.

Rewers said Senseon is the right solution for many businesses. He cited health care as an example. Hospitals and other health care facilities are required to keep medications, medical supplies and patient records in locked cabinets and drawers, and Senseon and its autolock feature improve the security level.

“With Senseon’s autolock feature, as soon as doors or drawers are closed, it automatically relocks all of the doors that are part of the system,” Rewers noted.

Accuride works with clients to fashion systems that work best for them and that’s why they don’t quote standard costs for Senseon. Rewers, however, said the savings for health care companies that can be fined for unsecured medications are a good example of how the system is cost-effective.

Senseon cuts down on theft in many environments, including retail, where the system also enhances the customer experience, leading to more sales, Rewers said.

“In retail today, it’s all about improving the customer experience,” he said. “With Senseon, the sales person can spend more time with the customers. They can have that fob or card to access the Senseon system with them at all times and in a very fluid manner be working with the customer, open up the drawer and demonstrate the product. There is no fumbling with locks and keys.”

Senseon also allows an owner or administrator to quickly and easily delete a card that has been lost or stolen, and the system – which “fails secure”– has a manual override to allow access to contents in a power outage, Rewers said.

Bespoke Design and Consulting of Juno Beach, Fla., is convinced that the Senseon system is a breakthrough. Bespoke specializes in high-end residential construction and had a client that wanted secure his-and-her closets – his for a watch collection, hers for jewelry.

Every option but Senseon involved a lock and key, which is not only unsightly but also a giveaway that valuables are inside, said Jerry Wilson, Bespoke’s president.

“We really liked the Senseon option, and the client loves it, as well,” he said. “The nice sleek look of the closet is maintained – you don’t have to see that key hole – and it secures everything seamlessly. It was great.”

Wilson said the system was easy to install, calling it “basically a plug-and-play system.”

“I’ll definitely use it again.”

According to Accuride International, Senseon Secure Access offers:

• Easy installation, programming and use: Comprising several modular components, Senseon requires no electrical or wiring knowledge and no keys or key rings. Keyless, electronic locks are integrated into drawer slides.

• Premium user experience: Drawers close softly, open by touch and automatically open when unlocked. Senseon standalone locks pair with Senseon slides for a complete solution.

• Strength and reliability: Senseon e-locks can withstand up to 250 pounds of break force, versus 65 pounds for a typical lock, and locks keep contents protected during a power outage.

• Patented technology from a trusted source: Senseon is an innovation of Accuride International, a leading global designer and trusted manufacturer of world-class movement solutions for businesses for more than 50 years.

• Flexibility: Senseon components blend seamlessly with cabinets of any design, size or shape; complement other access control systems; and work well in all kinds of environments.
• Single system: Senseon provides one unified solution that can control as many as 15 cabinet drawers or doors.
• Enhanced customer experience: Senseon lets designers, manufacturers and establishments provide more attractive and efficient showrooms and other commercial settings, accelerating the transaction process.

Solutions Marketing Director
Greg Rewers