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At school: the 5 latest locker trends

Without thievery, schools had significantly more space and far less complex processes. Unfortunately, lockers in secondary schools are not an unnecessary luxury. Let the lockers get to the core first before discussing the latest trends.

11/8/2021
5 locker trends

Definition lockers

Lockers simply consist of:

  • Steel
  • Locks are physical or electronic
  • Keys from physical to card or app
  • Locker management software

These ensure that students can study carefree and safely.

Now the definition is in place, we would like to say with regard to the Dutch market for lockers, that only a limited number of parties operate. We will omit the names for a moment, but note that the selection of a partner for locker management is a long-term choice. Lockers have a minimum technical lifespan from 10 to 15 years.

Locker developments

Most innovation in recent years has been in software and the electronic lock. Yet we still speak to (often smaller) schools that prefer physical locks & keys. Chewing gum in the locks, lost keys and the ultimate solution, breaking open locks, take them for granted. If we understand them correctly, the occasional use of the crowbar by the janitor is one of his standard duties. The load is perceived as low and the lockers are under the watchful eye of the concierge, which means that chewing gum is less likely to be put in the locks. The long service life also plays a role, the steel stands and converting from physical to electronic lock is expensive.

What are the latest trends that we observe?

Trend 1: Replace or renew

The buzz word in government procurement is circular. With lockers, this translates into the need to leave the steel structure standing. It is then necessary to see whether locks can be renewed (digitized) and whether the doors may need to be replaced.

Trend 2: Composite to prevent vandalism

The locker door is like a blank canvas to students. Pupils decorate the canvas with texts or scratch it with keys. The school management, no doubt with visitors, is not charmed by this vandalism. The solution that is often chosen in the market is to apply a layer of composite so that the lockers continue to look good.

Trend 3: Simplifying IT, facility and accounting processes

The automatic collection of the annual rent, the return of the deposit and the allocation of the lockers are the dream of many a school administration, head of facility management and concierge. A school recently called to ask if it was possible to secure return pins for the locker. Slim thought it was not possible because the payments were initially made in cash…

Trend 4: Migration to the cloud

This cloud no longer drifts over in lockerland either. Locker management should also move to the cloud and dynamic links with other administrative packages and educational information systems are a must.

Trend 5: Flexibility

The latter trend is especially true for educational institutions with a less static need for lockers than secondary schools. Not every pupil or student can be found within the walls of the education building so often. Can some of the lockers not be dynamically allocated? Particularly for higher education, higher vocational education, and intermediate vocational education qualifications, periodic rental of the locker is the standard.

We want to conclude with an unavoidable development, the Covid-19 virus. This accelerates the process to purchase or renewal. After all, it is unclear how often students are still at school. It is therefore expected that the virus will contribute to further flexibilization of the lockers in a school building. Pay per use could also become the new normal here.

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