Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen consolidate safe deposit lockers and upgrade to Gunnebo SafeStore Auto

Background
Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen employs over 500 staff in ten branches and twelve self-service locations in Solingen. Two of these branches were located within 500m of each other in the Ohligs district and both had separate electronic, customer-operated safe deposit locker systems. Thus, management decided that it made economic sense to consolidate the two branches and, at the same time, also the rental safe deposit box systems, upgrading to Gunnebo’s state-of-the-art SafeStore Auto (SSA) automated locker solution.

The Challenge

With sustainability in mind, Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen wanted to integrate as many of the existing safe deposit lockers as possible into the new location. Both systems were already accessible via a self-service area but operated via two different software solutions that could not be combined. At the same time, management wanted to modernise the complete rental locker system to become Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen’s first SafeStore Auto safe deposit box system.

By far the biggest challenge for the financial institution was the seamless consolidation of all existing customers before opening day, which required the relocation of 1,250 customer deposits to the new locker location. As a long-standing and loyal Gunnebo customer, Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen knew that it could rely on the established and trusted business relationship with Gunnebo and the solutions that had been successfully implemented and proven over many years.

Customised Solution

After initial plans to build a cast-in-place concrete vault, it was finally decided to build the entire room using a modular construction. Due to the panel lengths, each module was transported by crane through the roof of the building into the basement where it was installed. In this way, Gunnebo delivered and installed a solution of individual components and created a completely customised, highly secure vault. Notable were the particularly high ceilings for such a construction. Gunnebo’s engineers were ultimately able to achieve an interior height of 4.70 m and at the same time accommodate a significantly higher number of lockers across a smaller footprint.

A highly satisfied customer

The three-year consolidation and modernisation project were successfully completed on time and the new branch was opened in April 2021. The entire board of Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen praised the whole team and wrote to thank them for the successful completion.

“The realisation of this project required a lot of imagination, good planning skills, perseverance and, above all, good craftsmen and service providers on site. It is especially important for us to thank you and your staff for the successful conversion. We are very pleased with the work you have done. You have contributed significantly to the completion of our branch.”

// Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen Management

Stadt-Sparkasse Solingen was extremely satisfied with the technology provided by Gunnebo Safe Storage, the expertise used to project manage the solution and the competent implementation.