Doors open for self-help kiosks

There are about 60 million keys duplicated each year, and the makers of MinuteKey see no reason why automation shouldn’t play a larger role.

Armed with stats showing extreme ease-of-use (93% of kiosk users did not need or receive help duplicating their key, according to a customer survey), VP marketing Chris Lohmann said automation makes complete sense in the key arena.

He described traditional key service centers this way: “low ticket, little or no profit, customer dissatisfiers.”

Lohmann may be biased, but he also has some strong growth numbers in his company PowerPoint presentation — from 18 self-service key duplication kiosks in 2010 to 1,696 today. They’re scattered mostly in Lowe’s, but also in Menards, Walmart and Orchard Supply Hardware locations.

The U.S. market size for key duplication is about $1.2 billion, with 600 million total keys duplicated annually. Some keys — for instance, transponder-injected auto keys — need special assistance, but 90% of the market is kiosk-compatible.

The movement is bolstered by an array of new key designs and “Ultralite Metallic” keys, described as “engineered aluminum technology.”

But what happens if home automation and smartphone apps take over the door-entry business? Lohmann isn’t worried: “I don’t see keys going away any time soon.” — Ken Clark