34 Keynotes December 2024 aloa.org Our Industry: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow A LTHOUGH MOST OF MY articles have been “how-to” articles about jobs I’ve done or products I’ve used, this article is different. It’s about our industry — the past, present and future. I knew that the basic format would be to develop a list of questions and ask for responses. To get a full and varied perspective, I needed to figure out who I wanted to speak with. Just like locks and security hardware, through the years, I have learned that it’s important to use good, reliable, tried and tested security products — the real McCoy that will hold up and are con- sidered the best in their class. There are products that look similar, but they are not built the same and they usually don’t do the job. Just like those tried-and- true tested “good” security products, I wanted to pose my questions to the tried-and-true experts in the security field. It would have been easy enough for me to get online responses from anybody in our industry, and maybe that would have been good enough … but I don’t like good enough. I shoot for the best, so I reached out to experts in several different areas of our industry. The eight experts who responded gave me solid, genuine, substantial answers to my questions. I really appreciated all the time and thought the security experts put into the answers (as well as their frankness). To move forward, it’s important to look at history. Each contributor to this project has interesting stories about their early years in the industry and how those early experiences informed their opinions about the changes they’ve seen and would like to see. These security experts have many decades of combined experience. The group reflects expertise and experience in general locksmithing, safes, vaults, GSA locks and contain- ers, automotive, electronic security, electronic locks, inventors, electronic access control, hotel locks, product test- ing and service as an expert witness. All had ideas for how to help our industry move forward. Methodology I sent questions to several experts in our industry. The content of this article is based on the answers I received. I used “locksmithing” to refer to locksmithing, safe work, physical security, automotive, institutional, residential, commercial and forensic. I received responses back from eight people. See what some experts in the industry think about the state of locksmithing — and how locksmiths can prepare for the future. By Rick Karas, RL, CFDI, AFDI
