them. Even though Medeco’s first cata- log was only one page in 1969, D. Silver Hardware Company became Medeco’s first distributor, followed by distributors in Chicago, IL and Miami, FL. A Media Blitz Demonstrating its continued ingenuity, in the early 1970s, Medeco wanted to prove its newfound security within its cylinders. So, a national contest was in- stituted to prove its validity: A $10,000 reward would be given to anyone who could pick a Medeco lock. Wow! The rules were such that after picking one lock, you would be given $1,500; for two cylinders, $4,500; and for three, $10,000. A New York City police de- tective by the name of Bob McDermott accepted the difficult challenge. But, unfortunately, in 1972, he only opened one cylinder and gave up after trying for three hours attempting to open the second. Bingo! This was the impetus Medeco needed in a national campaign to show the security of its locks. Lock- smiths across the country soon realized what they could offer to their custom- ers, and Medeco took off like wildfire once again. Moving On Sometimes progress doesn’t always meet one’s hopes. But, even though de- mand for the fabulous Medeco lock in- creased, Spain set a two-year goal to sell the patent rights. Good idea, or fear- ful of the future? Regardless, in 1971 Medeco was being promoted in 12 states via sales reps, with new products being introduced, such as vending machine locks, cam locks and K-I-K cylinders. But, as happens with many businesses (and without the ability to foresee the future), Spain sold the business to Roy Oliver and Paul Powell. Roy Oliver then became President of Medeco. 34 KEYNOTES NOVEMBER 2015 The Dust Settles 1974 was a transitional year for Mede- co. Its current facility was constructed in Salem, VA, and additional products were added to the line, including locks for alarm systems, computer locks, OEM pay phone locks, padlocks, deadbolts and the incomparable interchangeable core cylinders. By 1982, Medeco had increased its employee base to 300 people and had a workspace of 132,000 square feet. But more was to come. The Ultimate in Key Control: Biaxial In 1985, a new concept was patented that included additional angles (ori- entations) within the elevated and ro- tated pin tumbler design. The Biaxial product offered even greater master keying capabilities since double cuts could also be engineered on each key cut, along with special offset tips on the pins. Today, a utility patent on both the key blank and the cylinder has ex- pired, though the products are still in use today. SFIC: The Ambiance of Key Control Medeco first introduced KeyMark in 1995. Today, it’s a world-renowned small format interchangeable core. Medeco KeyMark has been expanded to retrofit most of the LFIC brands, such as Corbin Russwin, Sargent, Schlage and Yale. This interchangeable core was designed to be retrofitted into various IC housings when additional drill-resistant and pick- resistant features weren’t necessary, as in many large institutional settings. Even though KeyMark is not UL437 listed, it does offer mushroom pin combinations with a special “security leg” shape of the keyway to promote increased pick resis- tance. It’s used as a non-UL437 alterna- tive for key control. Figure 6. Medeco’s M3 Cliq LFIC is shown here. Buy Outs Recognizing a good opportunity, Hil- lenbrand Industries purchased Medeco in 1984, adding to the many worldwide patents they already owned. Thus, Mede- co grew quite aggressively throughout the 1980s. KeyMark X4 was introduced in 2008 (but is now called Medeco X4). Locksmiths et al. With the locksmith market a real concern — and opportunity — throughout the remainder of the 1980s, Medeco decided to assist locksmiths in increasing their profits. To that extent, Medeco created business-training classes, incentive pro- grams, specialized marketing tools and mechanical training with the assistance of an aggressive sales force. During this time, Medeco realized the need to retrofit their unique locking system into other lock manufacturers’ hardware. This is where the following expression came into play: “Medeco, the Father of Retrofitting,” as the company leaders recognized market needs. To wit, Medeco offers retrofitted locking cylin- ders for Amerock, Corbin Russwin, Dex- ter, Falcon, LSDA, Lockwood, Marks, Master, Olympus, PDQ, Sargent, Sargent & Greenleaf, Schlage, Weiser and Yale — quite a selection. In the latter part of 1996, Medeco altered their marketing strategy to sell directly to the retail lock- smiths instead of through conventional wholesale distributors. Obviously, this al- WWW.ALOA.ORG
