Jiří Zelený
For the industry, it’s an important step. The aim is to encourage collaboration between market players, harmonise technical standards and lay the groundwork for locker systems that are more efficient, more secure and easier to access.
For us, founding membership isn’t just an international milestone. More than anything, it’s a chance to help shape the future of an industry we’ve been part of for many years.
ALFA 3founding member
A New International Platform for a fast-growing Industry
The ILA was founded in March 2026 and officially unveiled in September 2026 at Parcel+Post Expo in London. Thirteen companies from twelve countries were involved, each bringing experience from a different corner of locker technology.
The founding members include locker manufacturers, technology providers and other companies involved in building self-service infrastructure.
Many of them compete with one another in the market. Even so, they share a common interest: moving the industry forward as a whole and solving challenges that no single manufacturer can tackle alone.
Growing e-commerce, shifting customer expectations and the spread of self-service are all placing new demands on delivery infrastructure. Parcel lockers have become a permanent fixture in towns and cities, shopping centres, business parks and smaller communities too.
As that infrastructure expands, so does the need for a shared technical vocabulary, transparent requirements and better compatibility between different solutions. That’s precisely where the ILA comes in.
Shared Standards as the Basis for what comes next
One of the ILA’s central tasks is to create a framework that gives operators, suppliers and customers clearer guidance when choosing and running locker systems.
The association’s first priorities:
A consistent technical vocabulary
a shared glossary that makes it easier for manufacturers, operators and project clients to understand one another.
More transparent tendering
practical documents and recommendations for defining technical and operational requirements clearly.
Driving standardisation
a long-term roadmap for harmonising selected technical processes and requirements.
Safety and reliability
shared approaches to assessing the security and quality of locker solutions.
Interoperability
technical collaboration that will make it easier to connect different technologies and logistics platforms in future.
The whole market stands to benefit. Clearly defined requirements make solutions easier to compare, reduce the risk of misunderstandings during a project, and support the efficient long-term development of self-service infrastructure.
One principle underpins all of it: healthy competition. The point isn’t to make every manufacturer’s products the same, but to create a common foundation on which varied and innovative solutions can grow.
Bringing the Expertise of a Czech Manufacturer
Our role as a founding member follows directly from what we’ve been doing for years: developing and manufacturing modern storage and delivery systems.
What we’ve learned from completed projects, from our production floor and from our technical development work is exactly what we want to bring to the discussions within the ILA.
Founding membership means we’re part of the conversations that will shape the market, and able to share our practical experience with other significant international companies.
Cross-industryCooperation Opens New doors
The ILA is more than a grouping of manufacturers. It creates a framework for structured exchange between companies facing similar technical and operational questions every day.
Whether it’s equipment security, software integration, technical specifications or long-term operational sustainability, sharing expertise gets everyone to workable solutions faster.
For network operators and other customers, that could mean technologies are easier to compare, investments easier to plan, and the expansion of locker infrastructure more predictable overall.
We’re convinced that open technical dialogue and working together on standards will build confidence in self-service technology and encourage its use in more areas of everyday life.
From the launch in London to a Shared Future
The International Locker Association was officially unveiled during Parcel+Post Expo 2026 in London. The programme also included an informal gathering of senior people from the member companies: a chance to meet properly, share experience and talk through common priorities.
Shaping the Future of Locker Systems Together
Founding membership of the ILA is an important step in building our international collaboration, and at the same time an opportunity to help shape where the industry goes next.
We want to keep working on modern delivery technology, keep pushing innovation forward and help create the conditions for further market growth.
You can find out more about the International Locker Association at www.ila.locker.