All industrial based warehouse companies have a form of storage which enables employees to pick and pack an order easier, but more importantly to the company, quicker and therefore more efficiently. Imagine a retail outlet has several thousand orders a day and therefore the need for efficient storage is paramount. These orders need to be picked, processed and dispatched in record time. This is why warehouses invest in pallet racking and storage facilities to cope with the rush of orders.
Often in a peak processing time employees might be more concerned with getting orders out rather than concentrating on their safety in the workplace. This is why companies have to ensure the racking safety processes are adhered to with racking inspections. The way the warehouse operates and the volume of processing is taken into account when planning out a warehouse as well as many other factors.
Rack inspections are critical, but also highlight if any racking safety issues need to be amended or if any pallets or racks need any rack repair.
There are so many different types of pallet racks from drive-in racks, which allow a forklift truck to drive directly into the stacked rows through to push-back pallet racks that focus on depth and space is organised by depth rather than width. However, whichever pallet rack system is in use, the basic principle should always apply and racking safety is adhered to and followed.
When a company moves into premises they will have a business plan and business growth plan in mind but sometimes businesses need to expand, adjust, relocate, merge or alter their original plan according to profit and loss and also the economy.
The next step in this planning can be staff numbers and more importantly staff seating areas and desks required and this is when a company might start looking at dividing space using an office partition. Even the most in-depth business plan cannot always see the increase in staff that might be needed and how this can change the layout of the office.
If the company has built up quickly but has a vast amount of empty room, it can be used effectively with an office partition that can divide space without having to create a solid, permanent feature like an office wall. There are many types of partitions that can be used in an office environment, so check back to this blog for more information on these.
One solution to an increase in staff can be to move desks around but this can also cause complications with moving electrical plugs and making sure there is still enough floor space in-between desks. There may also be the need for an office partition due to different departments being formed. For example, HR departments need privacy and discuss confidential issues and may need to be separate from the business, but still visible – which a clear partition can provide.
The sales team and customer service team, who are always on the phones – may need to be partitioned away from the accounts department who might need quiet to concentrate and does not need the distraction of the phones ringing and office conversations.
Then there’s the management team or director. They may need to handle confidential issues but be close to the business to see employees and an office partition can work really well here – providing the element of ‘not being there’ but can still manage the business and employees without being separated from the company.
As a business experiences commercial growth, no matter what sector they are in, they will often require more space to support this growth and there are several options available from acquiring additional premises to expanding the existing floor space, both of which are expensive and sometimes not physically possible. This is where mezzanine flooring is a great alternative that does generate space.
The word mezzanine comes from the Italian word ‘mezzano’, which means middle – so a mezzanine floor is the ‘middle floor’. This type of flooring often projects from the same walls as the floor below, but does not cover the ceiling, so basically shares the ceiling with the floor below and acts more like a semi-permanent floor system that can be dismantled and relocated in required.
As production and warehousing businesses experience growth they will need to expand to accommodate more stock and the installation of mezzanine flooring is critical and can be the most cost effective way to grow as the warehouse stock will still be in one space, under one roof. There is the option to acquire another building but this can lead to complications when it comes to stock management and stock can easily get lost quicker between two buildings than one building with two floors. Mezzanine flooring is commonly used in industrial operations such as warehousing, distribution and manufacturing for this reason to allow for extra storage capabilities.
Retail stores can often benefit from a mezzanine flooring as they often have high ceilings which can be utilised to create extra space. This can be in the form of storage or even office space above the store. It can make good business sense for the retail store to have the ‘behind the scenes’ office administration and customer services in the same place.
The other sector that can benefit from mezzanine flooring are companies or corporations that are looking to expand into other sectors and therefore need space, or simply growing and need more space to place desks and office equipment safely so they do not breach health and safety regulations.
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