In any organization, the key to reducing downtime, ensuring a productive workforce, and improving both customer and employee satisfaction is to remain organized. In fact, having a proper system of organization can be instrumental in how you communicate, keep records, manage projects, solve problems, and care for your tools.
For companies in industries that require facility maintenance, industrial storage solutions such as Vidmar’s custom-configured cabinets, workstations, and adjustable racking can be the key to efficiency. Here’s a look at how:
- Security: One of the primary advantages of a storage system is that it can safeguard valuable inventory. When the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of Natural History needed a storage solution for one of the world’s largest collections of insect specimens, Vidmar provided cabinets with drawers and internal partitions. Such organization allowed researchers to have easy access to specimens while ensuring the specimens were well protected in drawers.
- Inventory: While Otto's BMW, a 12-person department that supports more than 20 vehicle technicians, already had an efficient workflow in place, it needed to increase its inventory but had no room to expand it. A new storage plan, including a combination of high-density cabinets, an automated vertical lift system, and a mezzanine, allowed the company to increase its organization and take easy inventory on future transactions.
- Productivity: At Bitterroot Motors in Missoula, Mont., technicians were wasting valuable time sorting through and keeping track of specialty tools from the Ford manufacturer in order to service vehicles. With a new inventory control system, consisting of four Vidmar cabinets (with a total of 52 tool drawers) and overhead cabinets for bulk storage, technicians have increased productivity by spending less time looking for tools.
Disorganization can be a direct link to inaccurate inventories, unscheduled downtime, unexpected stock-outs, overcrowded or inefficient use of space, and malfunctioning or non-functioning machinery. For these reasons as well as those listed above, proper organization is the key to operational efficiency.