A letter to the editor arrived recently from a gentleman in mid-life who was starting a new career as a locksmith. According to the letter he has a limited budget and has been depending on automotive lock work for the biggest portion of his locksmith income. He agreed that ignition locks are disappearing in favor of car remotes and pushbutton starting but feels that there will still be enough cars on the road needing non-electronic keys to support his business until he retires.
There is no way to predict when the last car with a wafer tumbler ignition lock will go to the crushers. There is also no way of knowing when the last pin tumbler lock will be replaced with an electronic version. What can be said is that the amount of new cars fitted with wafer tumbler ignition security is declining each year. And the amount of new electronic residential and commercial lockset products is increasing exponentially each year.
The gentleman starting his new business asked if he should be investing in tools for automotive work or for residential lock work. The simple answer is to look at supply and demand. If the supply (wafer ignition locks) is high, then the demand for servicing these items will remain high. Many new cars only use a key-operated lock as an emergency device in case the electronics fail.
Just like a banker studying a profit and loss statement, each of us must keep track of the public demand for the type of locksmith work we do. When demand for your present services wanes, it is time to change your list of services to match the changing security demands of the public.
Automotive lock servicing today requires an investment in programming equipment plus a good stock of transponder keys and remotes. Access control requires an investment in tools for wire pulling and voltage tracing. Success goes to those who determine what phase of locksmithing is most required and least served in their area and then specializing in that sector.
Above all is the need for education in these new technologies. Curriculum from locksmith schools often shows pictures of key blanks and lock cylinders to attract students. This description of locksmithing is misleading. Future growth of the security industry will depend less on the plus or minus length of pin tumblers and will depend more on the positive or negative flow of electricity.
