Traka

Traka ASSA ABLOY is manufacturer of key management and control solutions, access control equipment and keyless electronic lockers. The company is headquartered in Olney near Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK. Traka products are installed at schools, colleges, prisons, police premises, transport hubs, utility sites and critical infrastructure.

Traka was formed in 1995, and began by manufacturing key cabinets for use at Gatwick Airport by British Airways to ensure that keys for ground support vehicles were managed securely. In 2012 Traka was acquired by ASSA ABLOY, a Swedish lock manufacturer with market capitalisation in 2013 of $14.89bn.

Principal contract awards for Traka have been supplying the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) with fingerprint key management systems to replace manual dispensing of prison keys and provision of key management systems to the Metropolitan Police Service’s Royalty Protection Squad. Recent projects include key management systems at BT Group’s International Data Centre in Cardiff.

Traka’s key cabinet and locker products restrict access to keys and other assets such as computers, tools and weapons to authorised users, with designated items being released according to the user’s job profile and seniority. A central database records when a key or asset is used and by whom.

Traka’s nickel-plated cylinder iFob units, with keys attached, lock into receptor strips within a key cabinet. Advanced applications involve the iFob unit becoming a key in itself which can discriminate between staff members and determine if they have sufficient privileges to use a piece of equipment, start a vehicle or enter a controlled area etc. iFobs are used in this way by Tesco at their logistic centres including Hinckley, Leicestershire, and at mines for Sasol in South Africa where the associated databases can be used to enforce regulations regarding hours of work in hazardous areas and validity of training certificates. In 2014, Traka key cabinets were installed at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site in Cumbria, England, and Saint Paul Regional Water Services, Minnesota, USA.

Traka have also developed lockers using RFID technology for controlling and logging access to portable computing and communication equipment such as data terminals, laptops, industrial tools and medical equipment. The lockers help site managers to identify who has last used equipment. The lockers are used in education worldwide, an installation in 2014 being at twinned schools in Hastings, England.

Traka has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise three times: in 2004 and 2008 (for export) and in 2012 for innovation.

Traka was founded by John Kent, who trained as a quantity surveyor before creating property valuation software for the Psion Organiser.

Forty percent of Traka’s business is outside the UK. The company has a US office and division in Longwood, Florida. US clients include the FBI. Traka has a partner network and distribution in over 30 countries.