Ready to Buy Intelligent Lockers? 6 Things to Settle Before You Sign

Part 3 of 3: Planning a purchase and deployment that pays off from day one

You've done the groundwork. In the first article in this series, we looked at the hidden cost of unmanaged shared equipment: scanners that disappear between shifts, headsets that turn up broken, and supervisors who can't say who had a device last. In the second, we walked through how to evaluate intelligent lockers, from auditing your devices to comparing software and reporting features.

Now you're close to a purchase decision. This is the stage where many locker projects quietly lose value. It's rarely because you chose the wrong locker. It's because you didn't work through the buying and rollout details. The installation costs more than budgeted. The IT security review adds weeks. The compartments don't quite fit next year's scanners. Or fifty workers queue at a single locker bank at 7:00 AM, and supervisors go back to handing out devices from a shelf.

You can avoid every one of those problems with planning. Below are the six questions we hear most often from warehouse and 3PL teams at this stage, and how to answer each one before you sign a purchase order.

1. "Do we need IT to install it?"

Most locker budgets focus on the hardware. The costs that catch teams off guard sit around it: running network cabling across a large facility, adding data drops and electrical circuits, scheduling outside contractors, and booking time from IT and facilities teams who already have full plates. Depending on the building, a single new network drop can run into thousands of dollars in materials and labour, and waiting for one can hold up a project before the lockers are even switched on.

Infrastructure also dictates placement. If a locker needs a wired connection, it tends to end up wherever a network port already exists, not where workers actually start their shift.

The solution: Budget for the total project cost, not the price tag

Ask every vendor on your shortlist to spell out exactly what their system needs on site, then compare the full picture side by side:

Connectivity is where systems differ the most. Consider intelligent locker platforms with secure, built-in cellular connectivity, so a locker bank doesn't need a dedicated network connection. Paired with a choice of cloud-hosted or on-premises software, that lets you install lockers where they'll have the greatest operational impact: near entrances, dispatch areas, time clocks or existing charging stations, wherever employees naturally begin and end their day.

A simpler installation means less coordination with IT, lower deployment costs and a faster path to results.

2. "Will our IT security team sign off?"

An intelligent locker is a connected device that stores employee identities and access records. Your IT or information security team will want to review it, and if you bring them in at the end, that review can stall a project operations thought was finished. Expect questions like: Where is the data stored? How is it encrypted? How are users authenticated? How are security updates handled? Does the locker need to sit on our corporate network?

The solution: Bring IT in early, with the right documentation

Involve IT at the shortlist stage, not after the purchase order. Ask each vendor for a security package up front that covers:

• Recognized certifications, such as ISO 27001 for information security management
• How data is encrypted, both in transit and at rest
• Hosting options: cloud, on-premises in your own data centre, or standalone
• How software and security updates are delivered, and how often
• Whether the locker can run independently of your corporate network, for example over cellular

A provider that has been through enterprise security reviews will have these answers ready. If they don't, that tells you something too.

3. "Who's going to manage it day to day?"

Warehouse staffing is constantly in flux. New employees are hired, seasonal workers come and go, people move between shifts, and departments restructure. If each of those changes means someone must manually update the locker software, administration becomes one more job for supervisors or IT, and records drift out of date. That's the opposite of why you're buying lockers in the first place.

It's also a security gap. A former employee whose locker access was never revoked still has access to your devices.

The solution: Connect your lockers to the systems you already use

Look for a platform that synchronizes with your existing systems, so user records are managed in one place and changes flow through automatically:

• Identity and access management (IAM): Syncing with Microsoft Entra ID or Active Directory means new hires, role changes, and departures are applied to locker permissions automatically.
• Physical access control (PACS): Letting employees open lockers with the badge or fob they already carry removes a second credential to issue, replace and track.
• Warehouse management (WMS) and ERP: Linking device access to the work itself enables smarter rules. For example, a worker might only be able to check out a long-range scanner when their assigned shift task requires one. You can also enable fault code logging and link to your internal ticketing system to alert your IT team and get broken devices fixed instead of abandoned.
• Open APIs: A documented REST API lets your team build custom workflows and pull locker data into the reporting tools you already use.