The German-Swiss company dormakaba is considered one of the top addresses worldwide for smart and secure access solutions. Around 16,000 employees worldwide provide their expertise to a growing customer base in more than 130 countries. dormakaba's innovative systems can be found in corporate headquarters, office complexes, top hotels, shopping malls and many other buildings. Since March 2023, dormakaba has integrated parkoneer's access solutions into its access systems. Through this cooperation, the People & Car Access areas merge into a powerful complete solution - and into building ecosystems in which people can move around safely and comfortably. In this interview, Thomas Herling, Lead Global Business Owner Ecosystem at dormakaba, talks about how real estate operators, resident companies and their partners and customers benefit from integrated People & Car Access.

Mr. Herling, dormakaba is considered a global leader in access solutions. Could you briefly explain to us what you consider to be part of the People Access area and what solutions dormakaba offers for this?

People Access includes a wide range of solutions, from systems for the smallest applications in private households to solutions that can also be used to map distributed multinational organizations. Our goal is to select the appropriate software for each customer that best meets the organizational requirements. The solutions exos and MATRIX, on which we focus here in the first step, are typical representatives, which can be scaled from the requirements for small companies up to worldwide operating organizations. 

In what type of building are your products and services typically used? 

dormakaba's solutions are used in a wide range of applications. We achieve this through broad coverage of different access situations and software that maps the customer's organization and requirements. In general, these are found in traditional industries such as automotive and industrial goods, banking and healthcare, and critical infrastructure. Well-known companies in these industries are typically our references, such as the luxury resort Bürgenstock on Lake Lucerne, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg or the Smart Campus in Vienna. Generally speaking, dormakaba has solutions to offer that allow each customer to mirror their own organization in a complex way. This is particularly important for projects in which several different parties coexist in one building and also share parking areas, especially against the background of flexible working environments.

What are your customers' wishes and requirements?

Customers want a solution where they benefit and have as little effort as possible. After all, the subject area of access is not normally the core of value creation.

Through the partnership with Scheidt & Bachmann Parking Solutions, you are now merging People and Car Access. How did this decision come about?

The requirements for intelligent people flow and space management are technically very complex and can often be operated better by two well-developed and compatible partners than if one supplier has to develop elaborately on its own. This is why the cooperation of two experts in their respective fields is so crucial for the customer and close coordination between the two experts in the background is crucial for the success of a unified solution. We believe we are a good fit in this regard.

Why did you choose the still rather young solution "parkoneer" within the Scheidt & Bachmann world?

From our point of view, the parkoneer solution is future-oriented and best prepared for the upcoming dynamic requirements of potential customers. It also offers a natural interface between the applications of our companies through the API.

Where do you see the most promising areas of application for integrated people and car access?

The dynamization of the working world in the context of new working environments is our main focus. Here, office space, workstations and infrastructure are allocated dynamically for the employee. The connection of People and Car Access is therefore natural, as the parking area represents another asset used by the employee and the management of the parking areas makes sense for the companies in any case due to the associated costs.

What potential and added value do your customers gain from the integration of People Access and Car Access?

The added value comes from improved use of the office space and better utilization and, if necessary, commercialization of the parking areas. All in all, however, also through the seamless operation of the property for employees, visitors and possibly private individuals at times when no work is being done.

The cooperation provides for the integration of the Scheidt & Bachmann access solution "parkoneer" into the dormakaba access systems "exos" and "MATRIX". What exactly will the future customer experience look like for end users who want to visit a building equipped by you by car?

An obvious example is an employee's intention to come to the office for work. Here, he needs the right to access but also access to resources such as work but also parking. Similarly, when business partners or customers visit, resources also need to be planned and allocated. This will happen - cloud-based - through smart digital user interfaces. In the future, a smartphone will be enough to independently manage the daily schedule, including all accesses, via an app.

What schedule are you and your partners at Scheidt & Bachmann pursuing for the introduction of combined People and Car Access?

Our goal is to implement the first projects at customer sites this year in order to make the mutual solutions tangible and experienceable as reference installations for other customers. Our first installation will be at dormakaba's headquarters in Ruemlang.

Let's venture another look into the future: Are there any extensions to these solutions that you can imagine? What vision do you have for the merging of People Access and Car Access?

With today's solution, we are of course at the beginning of a development in which we can continuously deepen the cooperation. In the long term, for example, we can imagine not only access control, but also solutions that we offer for hotels and building complexes with multiple uses. The applications are generally diverse, because most of today's solutions are always based on fixed resources. However, a more efficient use of parking spaces can already result from the combined consideration of access control for the apartments and the available parking spaces in a multi-family complex.