For one thing, the new building would have as little wood as possible. For another, their new locking system would be tougher and more reliable than their last one. For, while making ice cream may seem a lot of fun, getting the security right is serious business.

“There are certain hazards,” says vice-president Ashley Chapman. “Chemicals, for example, are around in our lab, which we use to test the product. They’re highly flammable, corrosive. You don’t want anyone accessing that stuff. We have a lot of sensitive areas where we needed a controlled intelligent access system.”

At the same time, when your buildings are always cold and wet, finding reliable locks isn’t easy. In fact, he adds, the locks in their previous system became a bit of a nightmare.

“They had an exposed metal circle, and we found that was not good for our application. They would corrode easily,” Chapman says. “We’re a dairy plant. So there’s no way to get around the moisture.”

For their new access system, they decided on something new; so new, it wasn’t even on the market yet — the AD-300 locks by Schlage. Scott Kittell of Kitchener, Ont.-based Knell's Door & Hardware, which designed their system and specified all the doors, frames and hardware, had arrived soon after the fire with samples of the locks.

“This system was just being launched, and we didn’t want to put something on that was going to be obsolete in a year,” says Kittell, systems integrator and Architectural Hardware Consultant. “I believe it was one of the first systems in Canada of this nature. And if not the first, at least the largest.”

The system is almost keyless. There are only a dozen mechanical, master keys, and only senior managers use them. Employees have fob keys, which to gain access they touch against a reader faceplate. The fob key is a small, teardrop-shaped piece of plastic that can be carried on a keychain.

“They’re not indestructible,” says Chapman. “We’ve played around with them to see how much they can take, and they are really tough, these little proximity fobs. And they have enough metal in them to be metal detectable, which, for us in a food manufacturing plant, is very important.”

With the AD-300 series of locks, the access system is contained entirely within the door, says Josh Weidman, director of business development at Ingersoll Rand, the project vendor. There are no separate readers or switches to build into the wall.

“The industry is bringing the access control solution from around the door to being able to install the complete access control solution onto the lock itself. It makes a lot of sense for all stakeholders. In the process, you consolidate the number of products that are brought to the site,” he says.

Taking advantage of the need to rebuild, Chapman’s installed the access system during construction. As each stage of building was completed — a group of doors installed, walls and frames finished — Knells would come in and work for a couple of weeks, installing locks and then, door by door, programming and testing each one. Then they’d stop to let construction catch up. Construction staff and tradespeople were given proximity credentials, so they could access the areas they were working on.

“The old approach,” Weidman says, “would be to run the electrical as part of the general construction project and, as you got closer to being ready for opening, the security team would come in and lay the security solution on top of what had been constructed. But now, the installation happens as soon as you put a lockset on the door. Your security system is installed.”

Chapman says the new locks, which have now been in for nine months, are light-years ahead of the last generation of locks they had before.

“They’re excellent. [Ingersoll Rand] really did their homework. There are a lot fewer moveable parts, and they truly are a water-sealed locking system. We’ve only had one break so far, and I’m pretty sure somebody hit it with a forklift,” he says.

The system is completely hardwired but can be converted to wireless. “When you’re building from the ground up, you might as well do it properly. That is the best way,“ Chapman says.

In place of the lost plant, Chapman’s built a 165,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility, which they call Phoenix. They also have a smaller production facility (for nut products), a dry goods warehouse, a wastewater treatment plant and a large distribution centre. All have been integrated into the one system and are controlled from central locations.