Learn More at ASSA ABLOY Academy
On the Nov. 11 session of Wayne Winton’s Locksmith Live video series, ASSA ABLOY Academy lead trainer Guy T. Robinson gave an overview of the hands-on training opportunities available to locksmiths through ASSA ABLOY Academy.
According to Robinson, the ASSA ABLOY Academy was started to serve the needs of locksmiths and quickly advanced as new electronic technology came on the scene.
“In the last 15 or 20 years, there have been monumental changes in the industry – power over ethernet locks, networked access control, locks that pull down an IP address, wireless locks, intelligent cylinders and keys. So we have all of this new technology coming on the market fast and furious … and we said wait a minute. Whenever you push products on the market fast and furious, you kind of leave a glitch in the marketplace. Who knows how to work on it? Who knows how to service it? Who knows how to install it?”
ASSA ABLOY Academy was started to teach about the new products. Then, the company saw the need to offer training for many more locksmith tasks – anything that deals with the security of an opening.
The first location was the Ontario, California, training facility, set up to teach “everything that deals with the security of an opening,” Robinson said. Texas and Connecticut locations have been added, with more to come.
Classes are small and hands-on, with six hours of instruction each day for optimal learning, spread out over multiple days. State-of-the-art tools are provided.
The Locksmith Academy was created based on demands from locksmith companies in need of new employees. There are three levels: apprentice, journeyman and master.
The longest course, Apprentice, is designed to take someone with zero experience to a level of apprenticeship in 10 days.
Curriculum includes keying, masterkeying, key labeling and system generation, basic architectural hardware, installing deadbolts and cylindrical locks, a full day of Adams Rite servicing, how to pick and impression cylinders and cutting keys with code machines.
On the last day, Robinson gives them a three-level masterkey system to design, along with the plans for a combined school/church/office. They are to label it, cut keys, key up the cylinders using a multiplex system, either Accentra, Sargent or Corbin Russwin. That’s the final exam, and Robinson says they typically do a great job.
The Networked Access Control Class teaches the technicians how to install integrated Wiegand products. Students learn how to install the mortise lock, levers and the reader. They also core the door, route out for the hinge to make all the connections for the transfer hinge and then run the wires.
To learn access control or basic wiring, students need to understand the names and function of every component. Repetition and step by step practice are essential. “With access control, you’re creating a circuit. If the circuit is not created, things don’t work. It’s as plain as that,” Robinson noted.
The access control wall, Robinson’s creation, features six stations, each with one board for series wiring, one board for parallel wiring. Like a real-life situation, there are LEDS, timers and switches connected, with power supplies mounted above.
“When I give them different scenarios -- wiring up different keypads, wiring up different switches, wiring timers into it, hooking everything up in the power supply -- I want them to feel like it’s a real-life situation,” Robinson said. “By the third day, I’m just shouting out scenarios and they’re just going right through it.”
Watch the full video for details on Winton’s experiences, visiting the Ontario training facility and taking the Hollow Metal Doors and Frames class.
Potential students should go to www.assaabloyacademy.com and enroll for free to see the class schedule. Multi-day classes are offered across the country and specialty classes can be scheduled on request. Most classes are free, except for the hollow metal door and frame course. The 10-day Locksmithing Academy is $295, including food and tools.
Take A Quiz on Automatic Doors
If you own, manage or service a building with automatic doors, you’re likely aware that the ANSI standards cover requirements for their safe operation and required signage. The American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers (AAADM) has a dedicated certification program to ensure industry inspectors and technicians are up to date on the latest standards.
AAADM’s Certification Committee recently created a quiz to accompany this year’s changes to the ANSI/BHMA standards for automatic doors, and now that quiz is available to the public. AAADM is inviting facility owners, managers, and operators to learn the subtle changes in the standards and then take the quick, seven-question quiz. These updates, along with the quiz, were already sent to all AAADM Certified Inspectors to keep them informed.
Take the quiz at https://testmoz.com/q/13989380.
Changes to the standard are minor, mostly to add clarity to a few definitions and some performance requirements, and improve some of the illustrations in the appendix.
In Section 1.5, Tolerances, linear dimension tolerance has increased from +/- 1/16th in. to +/- 1/8th in. In Section 6, Guide Rails, the “exceptions” for guide rails have been revised and moved to the end of the swing section to provide a smoother flow of the section and include a better description for when longer rails are required. Sections covering door-mounted presence sensors for swing doors have updated the maximum inactive zone from the face of the door, changed from 5 inches to 8 inches.
There have also been changes to sections covering Knowing Act Devices, specifically non-contact wave plates, breakout requirements for emergencies, and changes to appropriate signage.
For more information about AAADM, visit https://www.aaadm.com/.
ASSA ABLOY Acquires Lawrence Doors
ASSA ABLOY has acquired Lawrence Doors, a U.S. manufacturer of coiling steel doors, grilles and counter shutters.
"I am very pleased to welcome Lawrence Doors into the ASSA ABLOY Group. This acquisition delivers on our strategy to strengthen our position in mature markets through adding complementary products and solutions to our core business,” says Nico Delvaux, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY.
"With the acquisition of Lawrence Doors, we are set to enter the rapidly growing coiling steel market and establish a strong presence on the U.S. West Coast," says Massimo Grassi, Executive Vice President of ASSA ABLOY and Head of Entrance Systems Division. "This acquisition will also equip us with the expertise and product portfolio needed to better serve our dealers and customers.”
Lawrence Doors was founded in 1925 and has some 120 employees. The main office and factory are located in Baldwin Park, California. Lawrence Doors will be part of the Business Segment Residential within the Entrance Systems Division.
Sales for 2023 amounted to about $31 million with a strong EBIT margin.
AMAG Technology has appointed Chris Meiter as AMAG Technology's Vice President of Global Business Development for Video Solutions. This new role underscores the organization’s continued expansion support to its entire technology suite. Meiter comes from Salient Systems, a strategic video partner of AMAG Technology.
AMAG Technology’s President, David Sullivan said, “This new role highlights our commitment to growth and to securing top-tier leadership. With Chris on board, we are not only expanding our leadership team but also investing in a program that prioritizes customer needs and emphasizes the value we bring with Symmetry CompleteView. This focus will ensure that our customers feel supported, heard, and confident in AMAG’s capabilities as a video and security solution provider.”
Meiter will work closely with commercial leaders to develop training programs, empowering the global sales team to demonstrate AMAG Technology’s Symmetry CompleteView Video Management System.
SILVER SPRING, Md. – The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named 24 recipients for this year’s SIA RISE Scholarship, a program that supports the education and career development goals of young industry talent and emerging leaders.
Through this scholarship program – open to SIA student members and RISE members who are employees at SIA member companies – each awardee will receive a $3,000 scholarship to use toward continuing education and professional development courses, SIA program offerings and/or other academic or education programs.
“SIA congratulates this year’s class of RISE Scholarship awardees – an impressive, diverse array of security professionals and rising stars who are making their mark on our industry,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “We are proud to present scholarships to more recipients this year than ever before and honored to support these inspiring young leaders as they pursue their educational and career development goals.”
The winners for this year’s RISE Scholarship are:
- Zachary Allen, account executive, Convergint Technologies
- Brianna Bonfondeo, account manager, Traka, ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions
- Joi Brown, control center specialist, Rapid Response Monitoring Services
- Brenda Constantin, account executive, 3Sixty Integrated, a Division of the Cook & Boardman Group
- Jonathan Crabtree, channel sales specialist, Genetec
- Taylor Davenport, HR business partner, i-PRO Americas
- Mason Fanning, end user specialist, ASSA ABLOY
- Natalie Fetsko, customer success manager, dormakaba
- Aishwarya Gandhe, senior channel marketing coordinator, North America, Genetec
- Anish Chandra Jalla, software developer II, Genetec
- Kajaanei Kajenthiran, security guard, City of Toronto, Canada
- Will Knehr, senior manager of information assurance and data privacy, i-PRO Americas
- Ryan Knoll, account executive, Pro-Tec Design
- Chandni Lalwani, DevOps engineer, HID Global
- Vincent Malenfer-Henard, security analyst, Genetec
- Josh Martin, mechanical engineer II, dormakaba
- Bryn Menzel, director of strategic accounts and marketing, 3millID Corporation
- Gabriella Moraniec, contracts manager, GSA Schedules
- Taylor Nevells, digital marketing and content specialist, Wavelynx
- Juan Pelayo, technical support supervisor, i-PRO Americas
- Itzel Portillo, marketing specialist, Allegion
- Joel Searle, program manager, ZBeta
- Maria Sturges, project coordinator and administrator, Northland Controls
- Julie Trinh, SDK specialist, Genetec
