Knowledge base · Programme note
Rolling out a lock programme across sites
A specification covers what to buy. A rollout decides when each site gets it — and that is where multi-site programmes usually slip.
Why a specification is not a programme
A group can hold a flawless lock specification and still end up with the wrong hardware on site. The specification says what to buy; the programme decides when each site receives it. The failures are administrative rather than technical: a phase is pulled forward, a shipment is split without telling whoever holds the key plan, or a site orders locally and a second part number enters the estate.
Four things a rollout plan has to fix
- Schedule — which site opens in which month, and the date hardware must land to be fitted before handover
- Quantity per site — units, not a programme total, because a total cannot be delivered to anyone
- Key scope — the group manager-key rule, and what each site may change locally without asking
- Spares — replacement stock per site, and who physically holds it
Everything else — packaging, marking, documents — follows from the specification. If your group already has a written specification, the programme is the second document it needs.
Where rollouts go wrong
| Rollout decision | What it decides | How it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping in one block | Freight cost and simplicity | Hardware lands months before the doors exist, sits in a corridor and quietly goes missing |
| Shipping per site | Arrival against the build | No consolidated booking, so freight is arranged too late for the phase date |
| Ordering the group total at once | Volume price | One site draws from another site's allocation, and the shortfall appears at commissioning |
| Allowing local purchasing | Site urgency | A second part number enters the estate and the group loses the key standard it paid for |
The one-line policy worth writing down: no site buys outside the specification without a version number and a date. That single rule prevents most of the drift that multi-site groups discover two years later.
Sequencing against the construction programme
Send the phase dates and the unit counts per phase, and the production lead time is mapped onto them instead of being quoted as one figure. A batch runs around 30 days after specification and artwork confirmation; samples ship from 5 days. Where a phase needs a different model or finish, that phase gets its own batch — batching two finishes into one run is usually slower than running them in sequence.
Consolidate or split the shipment
| Approach | Best when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidated to one address | Sites are close together, or you distribute onward yourself | Receiving storage and onward transport become your cost and your risk |
| Split per site | Sites are far apart or in different countries | Duties and clearance are quoted per destination rather than averaged across the project |
| Mixed families in one booking | Locks, cylinders and latches are needed at the same phase | The MOQ applies per model, not per booking |
When a phase slips
Tell us as soon as the date moves. Two options are usually open: hold the finished batch and ship against the new date, or bring the next phase forward into the same booking. What we will not do is ship into a site that cannot receive the goods and then invoice storage and re-delivery as though they were freight.
What each site receives at handover
A rollout is finished when a site manager can re-order without asking anyone. That means a handover pack per site:
- The specification sheet — model, material, finish, packaging and the keying recorded
- The key plan for that site, inside the group manager-key rule
- Spare locks or cylinders to the recorded keying, at the ratio you agreed
- The inspection record and packing list for the batch delivered
- The named contact and the order reference to quote on a re-order
Change control: versioning the group standard
A specification will change. A door type is added, a finish is discontinued, one site wants a different hasp. Keep one document with a version number and a date, and let sites propose changes to it rather than buying around it. When the version changes, tell us: the stored artwork, keying and dimensions move with the version instead of being reinvented per order.
Two documents, then — the specification, which is versioned, and the programme, which is dated. Groups that run both rarely find a mismatched cylinder three years later.
How is a multi-site order scheduled?
Send the phase dates and the unit count for each phase. Every phase is produced as its own batch with its own delivery date, against one specification, one keying record and one order reference. Where two phases use the same model and finish they can share a production run; two different finishes usually cannot.
Can you hold finished goods until a site is ready to receive?
Tell us the revised date as soon as it moves. The usual arrangement is to hold the batch in finished goods and ship against the new date, or to bring the following phase forward into the same booking. We would rather re-plan a shipment than send hardware to a site that has nowhere to store it.
Who owns the key plan when sites are in different countries?
The group owns the rule and each site owns its list. We record the group manager-key scope and the per-site keying against the same specification version, so a site added later can be keyed to the group rule without rekeying the sites that are already open.