Smart Locker and Parcel Locker Enclosure Fabrication

A locker bank is a large number of doors doing the same thing, and it is judged by the worst of them. One door that rubs, one lock that mis-engages or one compartment that lets water in will define the customer's impression of the whole installation. Fabricating a locker bank well is therefore a question of tolerance discipline across a large assembly.

What a Locker Bank Has to Do

The dominant risk in a locker bank is variation between doors, so the manufacturing plan should be built around repeatability.

Modular Design and Configuration

• Define a module width and height so that different compartment sizes come from the same family.
• Keep the door datum common across all modules, so a mixed bank still aligns.
• Provide joining features so that modules can be assembled into a bank without field-drilling.
• Allow for a control module containing the screen, the card reader and the electronics.
• Provide service access to the control module without opening every door.
• Consider future expansion, since locker banks are frequently extended.

Locker Doors: Construction and Alignment

• Stiffen the door, because a large door in thin sheet will twist and will not sit in its aperture.
• Produce the hinge and lock features from a jig, so that position does not vary between doors.
• Control the gap through the door size and the frame rather than through adjustment.
• Provide a defined aperture for the lock or latch, and reinforce the area it loads.
• Where the door carries a display or a keypad, provide the aperture and the mounting features and keep the door stiff enough to carry the device.
• Use a door stop or a limiting hinge so that an opened door does not damage the one beside it.

Locks, Hinges and the Electronic Interface

• Take the lock interface from the lock drawing, not from the visible door aperture.
• Reinforce the door where the lock or latch applies its load.
• Choose hinges that suit the door mass and the expected number of cycles.
• Provide a concealed or protected hinge where the door is exposed to abuse.
• Provide a cable or wiring route to the lock where the lock is electronic, with a service loop.
• Where a door is powered, provide strain relief and protection at the hinge.

Structure, Levelling and Installation

• Provide a frame that stays square under the mass of a full bank.
• Include a levelling system: adjustable feet, a levelling frame or a plinth.
• Provide joining and baying features so that modules assemble into one rigid bank.
• Provide floor fixing points where the installation requires them.
• Design for transport and handling, with lifting points and protection for the doors in transit.
• Where the bank is outdoors, add a roof, a base and drainage, and seal the door perimeters.

Finish, Numbering and Branding

• Powder coating in the brand colour, with a texture that does not show handling marks.
• Numbering or lettering applied per compartment, positioned so that it remains legible after years of use.
• Branding on the control module, and where the design allows on the door fronts.
• Wear protection at the points the public touches, particularly around the handle or the keypad.
• Keep the finish consistent across modules, which means coating them together rather than in separate batches.

Screens, Printers and Power

• Provide a control module with the screen, the reader and the printer apertures cut to the module drawings.
• Provide thermal provision for the control electronics, which is usually the hottest part of the bank.
• Provide power distribution access inside the bank, with a defined route from the supply entry.
• Provide network and peripheral routing, separated from power where the specification requires it.
• Allow service access that does not require the whole bank to be opened.

First-Article Checks

Our Approach to Locker Fabrication

• We fabricate locker frames, doors, control modules, plinths and joining features in steel, aluminium and stainless.
• We produce the door and lock features from jigs and dimension them from a common datum, so that alignment is a property of the design rather than of the assembler.
• We will say when a requested compartment configuration or lock interface cannot be produced consistently with the proposed construction.
• We do not supply the locks, the screens, the card readers, the printers or the control electronics, and we do not certify the payment or access control functions of the system.
• Every quotation states which operations are completed in our plant.

Send the compartment configuration, the lock and module drawings and the installation conditions, and the locker bank can be built so that every door in it behaves the same way.

Frequently Asked Questions