Multiple Departments, Multiple Solutions
A fast-growing life science pharmaceutical company needed help with storage solutions. The company’s growth had overrun the available storage in several departments, and management was seeking ways to use space more efficiently. Each department had unique storage needs, requiring custom-tailored solutions to relieve the overcrowding and maintain smooth operations.
The Challenges
A fast-growing life science pharmaceutical company needed help with storage solutions. The company’s growth had overrun the available storage in several departments, and management was seeking ways to use space more efficiently. Each department had unique storage needs, requiring custom-tailored solutions to relieve the overcrowding and maintain smooth operations.
Two of the company’s departments managed a large quantity of paper documents in disparate sizes. The Quality Control department generated bulky binders of test files, and the Facilities department had numerous large-format architectural drawings. The test files and large floorplans pushed document storage to its limits, and hampered access to files.
A third department, HR, provided day-use lockers for staffers’ personal belongings. As hiring ramped up, lockers began to run out. New hires would soon have no place to store bags and outerwear.
Each department had a unique storage problem that needed equally unique solutions.
The Solutions
The NOS team recognized that a robust project management plan needed to be developed. The plan included needs analyses, prioritizing, and project milestones, ensuring a low-friction design and installation process – maximum efficiency, minimum disruption.
The Quality Control department was first in line for a storage makeover. The goals were to increase the storage capacity of the existing storage room, and to create an easy-to-use audit-proof document filing system. NOS set up a two-phase approach. First, the contents of each binder would be scanned into a digital “file cabinet.” The NOS team imaged each document into a secure searchable database via an OCR conversion process. The cloud-based library of imaged documents could now be quickly accessed to verify test results, equipment history, and SOP protocols.
In the QC department’s second phase, the NOS team’s needs analysis had discovered that the QC test documents were collected in standard three-inch 3-ring binders, far larger than necessary. Following the document imaging phase, the team moved the original paper documents into space-efficient binders with color-coded side tabs and bar labels that itemized the contents of each binder. This step improved test files’ findability and doubled the storage room’s capacity with high density mobile storage.
The Facilities department’s goal was somewhat different. Project drawings for the company’s older buildings were on unwieldy 24” and 36” blueprints. They were difficult to access, to revise and to store. The department wanted the hard-copy floorplans to be as easy to use and store as their newer buildings’ online CAD floorplans. The NOS team used a large-format scanner to digitize over 40 boxes of floorplans. Then they added indexing and metadata tags to create searchable “smart drawings” that identified spaces and showed the drawing’s revision history. After the document conversion process, the Facilities department’s staffers could reference and share any floorplan electronically, without having to retrieve cumbersome oversized drawings.
Human Resources’ goal was to support personnel by offering lockers for employees’ use. Unassigned day-use lockers had been installed some years earlier for staffers to store their personal items: electronics, purses, gym bags, and outwear. NOS’s needs analysis found that the ever-increasing staff headcount meant that lockers became less and less available. The NOS team installed keyless lockers on each floor to provide adequate personal storage now and into the future. Similar to amusement park or gym lockers, the day-use lockers let each staffer choose any open locker and set their own lock code. The lockers eliminated clutter and breakage in work areas, while giving employees peace of mind that their belongings were safely stored. An added bonus: Because the lockers were keyless, replacing lost keys was never an issue.
The storage solutions NOS provided didn’t stop with these three departments. Lab casework is another NOS specialty, and NOS furnished modular casework for several labs in the client’s facilities. As scientific work evolves and the storage needs of these labs change, the casework can be reconfigured to fit the new requirements. And when the company’s sensitive equipment, data drives, and paper documents needed extra protection, NOS installed fireproof storage for these hard-to-replace items.
This client was able to solve an array of storage problems with products offered by NOS. We pride ourselves on our access to the best quality manufacturers in the specialty storage industry. When storage solutions create efficient space utilization and file management, employees can dedicate their time to a better, faster product development outcome benefiting everyone.
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