This week, #MadeInSandwell Monday is celebrating iLockerz, another innovative Sandwell company that is cleverly adapting its products with coronavirus safety measures in mind.

The company produces smart lockers from its headquarters on Station Road Industrial Estate in Rowley Regis. The hi-tech lockers enable organisations to track and manage shared equipment, organise secure drop-off and collection, and charge electronic devices while they’re safely locked away. iLockerz units are used by laundry services and click-and-collect services to accommodate contactless deliveries, by universities and colleges for automated equipment hire, by logistics operations to automate scanner management and by the emergency services for storing sensitive items such as breathalysers, radios, evidence and weapons.

However, it’s under coronavirus safety measures that these automated storage systems are really coming into their own, helping in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 by enabling businesses and staff to develop new safe working practices. With people travelling less, more work is being done from satellite offices or tightly-controlled shared work spaces. Smart lockers can assign a specific laptop to the same person every day, avoiding cross-contamination. They can also provide a full audit trail of who has used shared equipment and reduce the human contact required.

However, the real innovation is in iLockerz UV-C Clean technology. Each locker compartment can be fitted with the company’s patented system of LEDs which sterilise objects placed inside within 30 seconds. The light technology kills over 99 per cent of pathogens, including coronavirus, leaving the contents safe for the next person to use. Another great example of a business in our borough developing cutting-edge technology and adapting to new challenges, as well as benefitting the wider community.

#madeinsandwell Monday is a celebration of the talent and diversity within our borough. If you’re interested in being considered for a #madeinsandwell Monday profile and having information about your organisation shared on Think Sandwell and through Twitter, read this.