Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Luxer One’s new Flex Lockers require no site prep or wiring so install takes just minutes
Smart lockers from Luxer One are used at more than 200 on-campus locations – including UCLA, Penn State, Oregon State, Rutgers, and NYU – plus dozens of off-campus student housing properties. The lockers support both student ID cards and mobile credential access
The company’s new offering, called Flex Locker, enables campuses and multi-family residences to temporarily rent additional locker capacity to smooth out peak usage periods.
“It's well known that the first few weeks around the start of a term has the highest delivery volume for students and even faculty,” says Adam Waskewics, Vice President - Commercial, Luxer One.
UCLA is adding Flex Lockers to help with the higher influx of packages at both the start of the term and the approaching holiday buying season.
When package volume exceeds the capacity of the installed locker infrastructure, problems arise.
“Unfortunately, staff and students suffer due to delays, lost packages, and general disorganization,” he says.
Budget cycles, however, make it difficult for a campus to rapidly add more permanent lockers, as does the required lead times for planning and site prep.
Enter the Flex Locker.
According to Waskewics, it is a self-contained smart locker with an internal battery and special components that 'talk' with the existing set of lockers wirelessly. As such, it can be placed anywhere in proximity to the existing system, acting as a natural extension with very little up-front work.
“Absolutely zero site prep is required (and) no power or data is needed for these expansion lockers,” says Tessa Turner, the VP of Operations at Luxer One. “We can simply wheel in temporary lockers and wirelessly connect them to the existing locker system.”
She says mailroom staff, delivery companies, and students can start utilizing the expansion lockers within 15 minutes of delivery.
“The system is offered on a low cost 90-day plan with option to extend if the school finds they have a greater need than anticipated,” adds Waskewics.
Absolutely zero site prep is required and no power or data is needed. We can simply wheel in temporary lockers and wirelessly connect them to the existing locker system.
UCLA is rolling out Flex Lockers for the fall term to complement their existing smart locker network. The timing is expected to help with the higher influx of packages at both the start of the term and the approaching holiday buying season.
Last year, research from Capital One found that 43% of Americans began their holiday shopping in October and nearly 50% planned to purchase at least half of their gifts online.
Higher ed students do at least a portion of their holiday shopping from campus, and the influx of additional packages can overwhelm an existing locker infrastructure.
Smoothing out the hills and valleys in delivery volume is the key Flex Locker benefit, but others include:
“Luxer One is the largest U.S. based smart locker manufacturer and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Assa Abloy. We maintain all our software development in-house which is unusual to find in this business,” says Waskewics. “It allows us the flexibility to meet customer expectations whether it's quick locker production lead time, software integrations, or support.”
While the most common use case is package management for student and faculty deliveries, Waskewics describes a campus as an ecosystem of smart locker adoption.
“There's the library for fulfillment of material requests and the campus store for buying supplies online to pick up at store,” he notes. “Also, bag storage at sporting events and IT asset distribution for loaner devices.”
“The ROI is clear and immediate,” he concludes.
