The importance of organised storage in the workplace

Putting time and effort into improved storage optimisation can revolutionise process flows, transform workers’ health, and slash resource waste. However, this keystone of logistics can be commonly overlooked, and inadequate storage can impact your business in a myriad of ways.

Quite simply, without effective product and personal storage space, a business just cannot be operating at its full potential.

In this article we will examine three key business areas, and some surprising – and especially negative - side effects of chaotic or cluttered work environments that can be improved by cost-effective storage solutions. We’ll suggest storage systems such as shelving, pallet racking and cantilever racking – all of which can be rapidly and safely installed by our professional and friendly team. Check out all the storage solutions we offer here.

Three ways your business and work environment can be revolutionised by impactful storage solutions are:

• Process optimisation
• Enhanced employee health (and consequently productivity)
• Profit margins (plus flexibility through future proofing in an uncertain global logistics landscape)

We’ll look at commercial, construction and warehousing/manufacturing environments throughout the article. So, let's take an inventory of all the ways this logistical blind spot impacts your operational efficiency, worker health, profits and work flow processes.

Process optimisation

Process (or flow) optimisation is the discipline of refining a business process in order to:

• Boost resource utilisation
• Maximise operational efficiency
• Slash costs, process bottlenecks and mistakes

Process optimisation is the systematic appraisal of current processes in order to spend less and produce more, while reducing waste. Fantastic! But, how is this relevant to storage, exactly?

Warehousing (the act of storing goods to be sold or distributed later), is one of six fundamental warehouse processes, alongside receiving, putaway, picking, packing and shipping. Efficient storage maximises storage space and decreases labour costs. Optimised storage has a domino effect on the rest of the order fulfilment process, as it naturally leads to more efficient, streamlined picking and putaway processes, in part through well-defined and labelled storage solutions.

Therefore, an optimised storage process in warehousing leads to more impactful process optimisation. To view our range of industrial storage solutions click here.

Okay, but my business isn’t in the warehousing sector, so what? The ‘so what’ is item number two on our list.

Enhanced employee health

Globally, more people work in office environments than any other and yet, as evidenced by greater worker sick days, declining scores on multiple indices of worker well being and life satisfaction – it is clear that something is amiss in the modern, corporate workspace. The data is in though; your office space undoubtedly impacts your workers’ health.

A more efficiently implemented workspace, one in which clutter, personal items and typical office odds and ends are effectively stowed away, leads to a more productive workforce with a greater sense of wellbeing.

Employers have a responsibility to design and implement a workspace that maximises the wellbeing of their employees. The simplest, most impactful way to cultivate this is to declutter the workspace. Let’s take stock of four, quite surprising, effects of clutter on the mental health of people experiencing it, as evidenced by recent psychological research .

• Clutter can impact an individual’s subjective sense of wellbeing and overall satisfaction with life.
• A worrying upshot to this is that in chaotic environments which lead to stress people, in fact, make poorer choices regarding their diet, which, in turn, has an impact on their health.
• Earlier research found that a cluttered workspace was correlated with poorer general mental health, and that a streamlined, tidy work environment was essential for mental hygiene.
• In similar research it has been found that people exposed to clutter perform poorly at judging the emotions of others! This is really something to take onboard if you are an employer or manager and you, quite rightly, stress the importance of interpersonal relationships.

It’s clear that optimised storage solutions in workplace environments (whether that’s in the office, construction or manufacturing) is an intervention that can drastically improve productivity, cooperation and wellbeing in the workforce. By improving your storage space you’ll be investing in your workforce’s health and focus.

Check out our extensive range of storage lockers for commercial, industrial and educational settings here. These durable lockers offer your workforce a private, securable space for each employee’s valuable personal effects. Due to their durability, all our products can double up as robust storage solutions for tools and product items. Our range covers media tower lockers for securing valuable AV components, cloakroom lockers and wardrobe lockers for staff changing facilities and a host of other storage solutions suitable for your office environment.

The significant impact to worker health on effective storage is not confined to office spaces, however. The Health and Safety Executive has identified five main causes of accidents in warehousing:

• Slips and trips
• Manual handling
• Work at height
• Vehicles in and around the warehouse
• Moving or falling objects

As we can see, two of the five main causes of workplace injury in warehousing are directly related to ineffective storage solutions. Trips are attributed to either uneven surfaces or items on the floor.

In construction, a good standard of housekeeping (that is keeping work surfaces clear and the building site in good order) is required by law. Every year, 1000s of trips and slips on construction sites result in fractured bones and dislocated joints. The accidents sustained can cause severe, life changing injuries to those affected, including disability. These injuries can go on to negatively impact their professional and private lives. Again, as stated by the HSE, many of these injuries could have been easily avoided by effective storage solutions as they are mainly caused by incorrect storage of building materials or poor waste management.

We offer an array of storage systems to sanitise building or manufacturing environments;

• Adjustable pallet racking keeps your warehouse fit for purpose, no matter stock levels
• Heavy duty cantilever racks keep building materials away from worker through routes
• Small parts storage solutions secure away machine parts and tools
• Shelving is essential for efficient site housekeeping and miscellaneous construction parts storage

Boosting profits

Storage is big business. Warehousing services are needed at scales previously unimaginable, in part due to automation and the rise of eCommerce. Recent worldwide disruption to supply chains, and issues with trucking and shipping, have underscored the need for businesses to have warehousing and storage solutions defined by efficiency and flexibility.

Two ways to boost profits through storage optimisation:

• Go vertical. With warehouse space at such a premium, rather than squandering expenditure on securing additional area, looking (and building) upwards can yield significant return on investment. The most effective use of existing storage space is a sure fire way to cut costs and increase profit lines. Discuss installation of cantilever racking and mezzanine floors with us to maximise your existing storage space.
• Future proofing. In the last two years we have all witnessed how delicate international supply chains are to global catastrophes. Constantly revamping, restructuring or relocating storage space is costly and inefficient.

Flexible, multifaceted racking and storage systems offer a degree of ‘future-proofing’, no matter what happens on the global stage, or with your business. For example, partition walls can allow for the intelligent division of your existing space – while also creating new rooms and spaces without costly expansion of property.

Our fit-out team for interiors can design and tailor make intelligent space solutions bespoke for your needs. Likewise, if you experience rapid growth, optimising your current warehousing assets with the implementation of storage solutions such as mezzanine floors and shelving

will allow you greater flexibility to keep serving your customer base in a timely and cost effective manner.

Time to upgrade your storage?

So, we know that inadequate storage is not only costly, but in many cases, downright dangerous and is detrimental to the wellbeing of workers, their productivity, and ultimately, your profit margins.

Offering a range of impactful storage solutions, for commercial and home use, in Northern Ireland and the Antrim area, let us optimise and economise your warehousing and storage spaces, whether your business is in corporate, manufacturing or construction environments.

Call or email us now for friendly and impactful storage solution consultation and advice. With end-to-end service, bespoke design and multiple storage systems, we can guarantee to revolutionise worker satisfaction, safety and process flows for your business.

Get in touch and find out how to reimagine and reinvent your workspace.