The Security Industry in general and the access control segment specifically has seen unprecedented chaos in the supply chain which continues to send shock waves through the integrator and end user communities. Delivery times for some products, particularly locking products and some controller and reader lines can exceed one year. One exception is exemplified by the Mercury Security/Keri Systems partnership. 

Keri Systems has partnered with Mercury Security to provide a version of their industry best embedded firmware on Keri NXT panels offering another path for Integrators to get the Mercury Security feature set. To maintain consistency, the installation and configuration process is virtually the same for the Mercury and Keri hardware platforms. 

Keri Systems has been a proud Mercury Security partner for over ten years and the integrated Mercury/Keri product has already been installed on hundreds of thousands of doors including various Federal and Local Governments as well as in Residential, Service and Manufacturing industries.

Supply chain stability and integration options

Keri Systems foresaw the supply problem long before it became mainstream news and put a large amount of strategic inventory of key components in place to assure a stable supply for our Integration partners. To provide additional flexibility, Keri Systems NXT and NXT-MSC (Embedded Mercury version) panels can cohabitate on the same Keri software installation as Mercury Security Series 3 LP, Legacy EP and SCP product lines.

Keri can interface to most major Wireless locking products, including Assa Abloy, Aperio, Allegion/Schlage products as well as dormakaba’s Wi-Q. Whether you are just looking for video clips that are tied to access events or a full integration with the video client controlling doors, sending alerts and monitoring the access system, Keri has partnered with video suppliers to provide a solution to fit any need.

Destination Dispatch and other advanced features are also available as Keri supports virtually the entire integration suite provided by Mercury.

Integrator strategies to thrive in a market experiencing long lead times

Integrators with the agility and forethought to adapt to the opportunities that present themselves, including the embedded Keri-Mercury solution, enjoy a significant advantage over integrators and specifiers who cling dogmatically to the hope that lead times will quickly resolve themselves. Most forecasts for products using semiconductors don’t anticipate an improving supply chain until summer of 2023. Here are a few strategies to flourish in the midst of our current market.

• Don’t wait to place orders. Surprisingly, many Integrators continue to hope in vain, that they will “find a window” when they place an order and they will receive a shorter lead time. It won’t happen. Stake out your place in line early by placing orders far in advance of when they are needed. You can always reschedule that material out to a later date if it will arrive before you need it.

• Work proactively with Specifiers to ensure that they are aware of the delivery challenges and work with them to approve comparable products that can be delivered. The Specifier works for the end users and end users are more flexible than ever, being intimately aware of sourcing issues. If a property owner or developer needs to open a new or newly renovated building, they will accept reasonable substitutes. No owner or developer wants to leave tens or hundreds of millions of investment sitting idle, merely because they can’t get a specified access or video product.

• If a specifier isn’t involved, take on that role yourself and proactively present options to your end user client. 

• Embrace vendors who have mastered the supply chain. If they have survived this chaos “unscathed,” they are likely to be good long term partners.

• Generate other sources of revenue off of your existing installation base. Offer new services or capitalize on programs to shift Client Server solutions to the Cloud and look for suppliers who will do most of the heaving lifting for you. For instance, Keri Systems offers a White Glove conversion program for its integrator partners to convert its Client Server solutions to its hosted solution by doing all of the conversion and installation work for the Integrator. The Integrator generates another recurring revenue stream while relying on the software vendor to enable it.

By Ken Geiszler, Keri Systems CEO

For more information, visit: kerisys.com

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