News Blip:
Superior Locks Prompted For Trailer Couplers
RVBusiness Reports On A Theft Costing Around $40,000 That Inspired A New & Improved Coupler Security Device For Travel Trailers Called Proven Lock.
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved through RVBusiness' website via Google.
Proven Industries, located in Port Richey, Florida, is a manufacturer of heavy-duty trailer coupler locks for the aftermarket that traces its roots to the theft of the family-owned company’s cargo trailer almost a decade ago. The story ends with security footage catching a burglar spending just seconds dismantling a conventional trailer coupler lock, using a crow bar. from there, the thief then made off with the cargo trailer and the $40,000 of equipment inside. “We trusted one of these low-grade, entry-level locks. You think a lock’s a lock before you really dive into it. That was so expensive. It was definitely a setback,” said Ron Lee, president of Proven Industries. RVBusiness relays that Proven Industries started looking for a superior lock when they realized they really couldn’t find one out there that wasn’t just like what they already had.
Rick Kessler, writer for RVBusiness relates in his article: "Lee and his team started developing their own version of a lock that would be “superior to others on the market.” After several prototypes, they ultimately were satisfied with one resembling a cylinder that fits securely over the trailer coupler. The shell itself is made of 1/4-inch hardened steel, while the puck-style locking mechanism is made of aircraft-grade 6061-T6 aluminum. Landing on a prototype for what would be known as the Proven Locks line was only step one. Step two was finding a domestic manufacturing partner – as keeping production in-house was too expensive – that had the right mix of quantity, quality and price. Once that was settled, Lee incorporated in 2011 and Proven Industries was born – which overwhelmed him into step three: marketing. “We started making our own demonstration videos, posting them on YouTube, redirecting the consumers to our site, and that’s when it really kind of snowballed," says Lee. Now Proven actually has a lot of customers that do the groundwork. They get the product and they’re passionate about it and they bring it into their trailer stores and they show the people there and they contact us. "When they hear more about our product, we set up accounts with them, and so on. It’s quite interesting how it changed, and that it went a lot faster and a lot easier once we started going directly to the consumers.”
Read the whole article right here at RVBusiness.
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