Established in 1999, INKAS® Safe Manufacturing is a Canadian-owned company that designs and builds industry-leading security products including safety deposit boxes, fireproof filing cabinets, vault doors, gun safes as well as residential and commercial safes.
INKAS® also provides various services such as safe installation and moving, lock opening and combination changes, as well as general interior modifications, repainting, repairing and general maintenance. It’s safe to say that INKAS® is with you every step of the way.
A recent interview with Alex Khomyakov, the general manager at INKAS® Safe Manufacturing shed some light on the industry, as well as why he believes INKAS® has been so successful in the space.
1. What type of customer will most likely benefit from purchasing an INKAS® safe?
INKAS® safes are ideally suited to both residential and commercial customers who require secure storage for physical valuables assets such as cash, jewelry, important documents, and firearms. The right safe in the right place can easily prevent important documents and jewelry from being destroyed during an unfortunate event such as fire and burglary. Using a safe is an appropriate security measure to contribute to a person’s sense of security as well as peace of mind.
2. What makes INKAS® unique compared to other competitors on the market today?
INKAS® builds and distributes safes to retailers, government agencies, financial institutions, jewelry stores, and private clients alike. We are one of the only manufacturers in North America to offer a range as wide as ours. Starting from custom luxury safes and ending with UL-rated commercial grade safes, gun safes or cash depositories, we do it all – even vault doors and safety deposit boxes. We manufacture everything in-house using our proprietary technologies and patented materials – from a quality and security standpoint, INKAS® safes are at the top tier within the industry.
3. What is the secret of being a top innovative safe company?
There is no secret. You must assemble a group of talented people who are dedicated to research and development to continuously improve our products to better serve our client’s needs. We invest in continuous innovation to provide our clients with a good night’s sleep while our product safeguards their assets. This single goal has yielded countless innovations within our products and continues to be the driver for innovation for safes to come.
4. Can a safe be fully insured?
Yes, all items held in your safe are typically insurable. Also, depending on the value of the items, in some cases, having a safe in your home may lower your insurance premiums by up to 20%. Most insurance agencies will offer various discounts on your premiums based on the security level of the safe. For example, a BR-Rated safe may offer you a lesser discount on your premiums as compared to an RSC or UL-Certified safe.
5. What does UL Certified mean and what the difference between UL, TL15, TL30, and TL30x6?
“UL” is a short term for Underwriters Laboratory. This organization tests thousands of products wanting to earn a UL Certification. In the case of safes, they must undergo rigorous testing to ensure their advertised level of protection. UL-TL15 safes should withstand 15 minutes of abuse, and UL-TL30 safes remain intact for up to 30 minutes. A UL-TL30x6 safe will withstand forced entry attempts on all 6 sides for 30 minutes each. Finally, there’s the residential security container, or RSC, which must withstand five minutes of rigorous drilling, chiseling, or other attempts at forced entry.
6. Why is it so important to store firearms in a high protection gun safe?
In our 20 years in the business, we’ve seen and heard everything. From people storing their firearms in low-security safes, purchased in local office stores to others who simply build out a drywall door and basic lock mechanism somewhere in their homes. These are clear examples of very dangerous situations waiting to happen. Whether it’s an intruder gaining access to a client’s firearms, or potentially even a guest in the home – or worse, a child; it is without a doubt that a professional UL-certified safe should be the only place for firearms to be safely stored within the home.
7. Are there any interesting stories you can share about INKAS® safes?
Recently, there was a power outage across Texas and residents had difficulties obtaining cash as all the atm and POS systems were out of service; banks were also closed. However, our INKAS® Safes clients were able to successfully access their cash as our safes’ locking mechanisms work independently of electricity – this is a company policy. Thankfully, our clients were able to access their cash in this time of need.
8. Where can we purchase an INKAS® Safe?
INKAS® distributes safes through a network of over 2,000 locksmiths, 1,000 safe technicians, and 100’s dealers and Distributors located across North America.
List of a few key dealers:
- Hoogerhyde Safe & Lock
- The Safe House
- Toronto Safes
- CE Safes
- Fortex Safes
- Anchor Safe Co.
9. What advice can you give to your potential clients?
The first piece of advice I would give is that not all safes are created equal. Whether you’re shopping online or in-store, you’ll be presented with a large array of safes, features and of course, prices. We do our best to educate clients on the difference between a BR-Rated safe, and a UL-Rated safe, or even a Residential Security Container (RSC). These are all unique products with unique characteristics. In the end, safety is the utmost concern, of course, however, clients may also be concerned with the weight of the product, or the interior features, or the locking mechanism.
While there were an estimated 161,291 home invasions/burglaries in Canada and 1,117,696 in the U.S.A. every year, it’s important to understand that some of these homes already had safes. However, these safes may not have been bolted to the ground, they may have been light enough to carry or dolly out, or they simply may have been using low-security locks or low-security construction, which enabled quick break-ins.
Again, not all safes are created equal – I can’t stress that enough.
We’re always happy to educate the market on not just our products, but safes in general. In the end, we’re all in this together to protect what we’ve worked so hard to obtain.