Smart door locks have revolutionised and transformed the way people use door locks all across the globe. They have enabled remote access for properties, enhanced home security, prevented burglaries, opened new business opportunities for property owners, are reprogrammable and responsible for numerous other benefits.
While the market for smart door locks is exploding, companies are fighting to create functional and aesthetic smart door locks to win over a larger market share. While designing and planning to manufacture these locks, selecting the right door lock enclosure is one of the most crucial decisions.
The enclosure plays a big role in the success of these locks, and this blog is all about guiding you to make the right decisions for your door biometric lock enclosure.
#1 Design (DfM feedback) based on aesthetics and manufacturing
DfM analysis done by manufacturing experts should be the first step to ensure the enclosure’s design is best suited to the purpose of the smart lock. Factors that the design should be optimised for must include:
- Minimal space-taking structure while having enough space for components
- Space for connections and other components (if any)
- Aesthetic build of the enclosure
- Complexity based on the manufacturing process (like 3D printing, injection moulding, etc.)
- Material analysis
- And a few other factors
#2 Material and cost
Your fingerprint door lock enclosure’s material impacts cost, compliance, design, and every other success factor.
Certain materials would make more sense than others based on factors like temperature resistance, waterproof factor, signal transmission, cost, and others.
Some examples of materials include different types of metals, ABS plastic, polycarbonate, and others.
#3 Compliance and protection
Based on the end-use case and the country where it might get used, companies must also take care of compliance requirements. Some of the certifications that you should consider are:
- IP rating (Mostly used to determine water and solid particles ingress)
- NEMA ratings (Mostly used for ingress and durability)
- UL ratings (For fire)
- RoHS compliance (To prevent the use of hazardous materials in manufacturing)
#4 Durability and strength of the enclosure
Other factors that must be considered before manufacturing enclosures:
- Rigidity
- Temperature resistance
- Electrical insulation (based on requirements)
- Signal transmission
- Chemical resistance
- Scratch and stain resistance
- Scope for future changes
- And other factors
#5 PCB support
The printed circuit board (PCB) is one of the most important components of your electronic door lock. The enclosure size, material, and shape should be made while considering the position and safety of the PCB.
How can Karkhana help you manufacture world-class smart door lock enclosures for your brand?
We at Karkhana.io understand the challenges and the long list of decisions that companies have to take to ensure their smart door lock enclosures are destined for success. We know this since we have helped many companies manufacture enclosures for their IoT and EEE devices while considering all the above-mentioned (and other) factors.
We help companies by giving them access to our extensive network of manufacturers and manufacturing experts who have years of experience in manufacturing enclosures just like the one you are planning to.
Karkhana.io has worked with companies like Lockn Technologies Pvt Ltd. to help them manufacture smart door locks with cloud based access control. We have created Karkhana.io’s digital manufacturing platform based on all the challenges and requirements of companies that we have experienced first-hand.
Our platform is your one-stop manufacturing spot that includes instant quotations for different manufacturing processes, end-to-end project management, DfM feedback via our expert engineers, regular QC, audits of suppliers, logistics, payments, sharing project files within your organisation on the platform dashboard, viewing your CAD files, and more.
Want to leverage all this for manufacturing your smart door lock enclosure? Start by registering on our digital platform.
