Dom-Ronis launches a configurator to simplify the creation of interlocking projects

A pioneer in the design of this type of key control system for 60 years, DOM-RONIS is innovating once again in one of the most complex areas of industrial security. The French manufacturer is launching today the first configurator designed to make the creation of interlocking projects faster, clearer, and more collaborative.

Interlocking: a technology to prevent accidents

Designed to protect people by requiring sequential safety measures to prevent any risk of injury or error, and also to protect equipment from electrical damage due to improper handling, interlocking requires strict adherence to a hierarchy of operations in a mandatory order and prohibits any deviation from this procedure. This control system is based on three steps:

1. Isolation is achieved using bolt or cam locks, which allow the power supply to be cut off in environments with high and medium voltage equipment and the first key to be retrieved. This forms the basis of the interlocking system, enabling the transition to the second phase.
2. Key transfer via exchangers that can contain from 2 to 24 cylinders depending on the model, or even more by combining several units, to release as many keys as needed according to a well-defined protocol,
3. access so that authorized persons can enter only the permitted risk areas.

However, designing these systems is a complex process, involving multiple locks, connections, and key plans. This is especially true since the vocabulary used often differs between the various stakeholders (clients, prospects, DOM-Ronis). This could lead to misunderstandings resulting in costly errors and delays.

Hence the development by DOM-Ronis of this configurator, the first tool of its kind in the sector, whose objective is to have a common language in order to design safer systems with confidence and speed.

A configurator for faster and more collaborative project creation

With its intuitive interface, the interlock configurator is a digital platform that allows customers to:

• to create new projects or to open existing ones,
• to organize the control plan by clicking/dragging the desired locks to the center of the configurator and then defining the connections between the cylinders,
• to select options such as bolt length, marking, number of keys and markers.

Once the control plan design is complete and the order is verified in the "summary" tab, Cyril Hazebrouck, an interlocking systems expert at DOM-Ronis, validates it and can access it to make any necessary changes. He then sends it to the client for approval. The client then simply needs to approve it to receive the corresponding detailed quote.

Conveniently, a pictogram under the product reference indicates if information is missing and a box allows additional information to be provided (for example, a large quantity of keys required).

Another advantage of the configurator is the possibility for the person requesting the interlocking project to share it with a third profile (their end customer) in view-only mode.

This streamlined process replaces manual drawings and email exchanges, ensuring traceability and precision from design to production through this double approval by DOM-Ronis and the client.

The DOM-Ronis Interlocking Configurator thus guarantees a shorter execution time, a reduction in the risk of errors with the certainty that each requirement is understood and validated, an improvement in quality but even more so a strengthened collaboration between the different players in a sector where precision is paramount.

A true game-changer in the way key control plans are discussed and designed, it is already helping companies create safer, smarter, less complex, and more reliable systems.