The Challenge
A large port side industrial site in Newcastle covering hundreds of hectares and operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The site covers hundreds of hectares and has 20 operational areas. There were several issues at this site with their previous master key systems including the decades old master key system installed comprising of various inline systems, and many unaccounted-for master keys in circulation meaning site security was compromised. Being a waterside site, the obvious additional problems faced are mainly environmental such as salt and dust binding up locks which in turn then required service. The site is high security and as such required a maximum-security master key system. The system needed to be highly resistant to the sites environmental factors plus can create a highly complex master key hierarchy to cope with the specific access needs of the 160 various key holders. With this all-in mind the keys also needed to be smooth to insert and effortless to operate.
The Solution
Newcastle Locksmiths & Security recommended EVVA 3KS Plus system as the preferred master key system for the project. The two main factors influencing the decision were those around the physical environment and the ability of the system to create a highly complex master key hierarchy to avoid the issuing of many master keys. The 3KS Plus system has design features that make the system highly resistant to environmental factors. The internal sliders (pins) are Teflon coated. This mean that there was no need for lubrication of the cylinders. The lubricant would only act as an additional attractant for dust and salt. Whilst, the springless design reduces wear on keys consequently reducing the impact of the environmental factors as the key actively places the sliders into place. Since the initial installation by Newcastle Locksmiths & Security, there has been more than 600 3KS Plus cylinders installed at the site. During this time there has been one or two jammed locks which is a large reduction from the previous system, the cause of the jammed lock was put down to shackle failure and not cylinder issues. In summary, customer described the 3KS Plus system as “extremely versatile, hardy and easy to use”. One key cost saving feature was the ability to retrofit existing padlocks with the 3KS Plus system.
