1 Jul 2004
Interconnect for future success
A new technology is ready for the market. It allows different electromechanical units in a door to communicate with each other, or with a central control point. It was developed by joint forces in the Group, all in line with ASSA ABLOY’s two-year program for Leverage and Growth.
Interconnectivity – developed jointly by Group companies effeff, Solid, Abloy, JPM and Assa – is a new technology that allows intercommunication between all electromechanical units in a door.
Magnus Jonsson, Interconnectivity expert at ASSA ABLOY, says, “It is based on the CAN (Controller Area Network) technology developed in the mid-1980s. Today CAN is used throughout the car industry and also in ships, trains, aircraft, industrial machinery and medical equipment, but this is its first application for doors. The standards and protocols are governed by the international users’ and manufacturers’ organization CiA (CAN in Automation).”
Interconnectivity requires very simple cabling in the door and frame, but allows great flexibility in linking locks, evacuation systems and alarms. Identification can also be achieved for a much lower cost per door. The communication system can warn of malfunctions or detect the need for preventive servicing of items such as motorized locks by sending an e-mail or text message to the administrator.
“THE DOOR ENVIRONMENT is standardized, allowing any control system from any supplier to be used,” Magnus says. “There is no need to change locking hardware or even card readers when changing security system suppliers. Communication between the door units and the control system can go over the Internet protocol TCP/IP. Changed relations between components in the door environment can easily be accommodated by programming from a PC without physically changing the configuration.”
Interconnectivity will require using ASSA ABLOY’s leverage as a provider of all the different electromechanical products in the door environment and translating this into sales efforts – selling solutions rather than just components. This will stimulate growth and help the company capture a larger part of sales of each door environment.
THE INTERCONNECTIVITY concept has been thoroughly tested for the market. A Problem- Detection Study was conducted among integrators and consultants in the US, the UK and France. Seventy-five percent said that they saw a ‘big’ or ‘quite big’ market potential for a ‘plug and play’ system of this kind.
“Locksmiths in the UK, Germany and Sweden were interviewed and all agreed that electromechanical lock installations are a profitable business,” Magnus says. “The most attractive features are that the locks are easy to wire and simple to change and expand. Even a price increase of 10 percent seemed acceptable.”
THE INTERNATIONAL research company Opticom asked major end-customers (including the armed forces, public services and companies in the pharmaceutical/biotech, IT and telecommunication industries) about their views on the concept. Over 60 percent named event management and authorization as the strengths of electromechanical door systems. The main weakness (25 percent) is their dependence on electricity.
During the first half of 2004 the interconnectivity concept is being beta-tested in Sweden and Finland – countries that offer the toughest climate. The concept is expected to be rolled out in Scandinavia in the fourth quarter.