Plastic storage bins reduce manufacturer’s storage space by 50%

To improve storage efficiency and inventory control within its 700,000-square-foot master parts DC, a major manufacturer of construction and mining equipment needed a solution. The DC is responsible for providing parts and responsive customer service to customers worldwide, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year to keep up with demand. One of the biggest hindrances to the operation’s efficiency was its 150,000-square-foot small parts storage area. The area used a variety of steel shelving, drawers, corrugate containers, wooden boxes and pigeon hole cubbies that created a less than adequate environment for efficiency and neatness.

The manufacturer was using a variety of storage options with many SKUs contained on shelves in cardboard boxes. The corrugated boxes were dusty and became soggy and weak in the humid climate. And since the boxes couldn’t be cleaned, they left the area looking dirty and ragged. Labels tended to peel off, making it difficult for order pickers to identify parts. The most prevalent issue, however, was possibly the great variety of box sizes creating a vast amount of wasted space. After a thorough evaluation and discussions with factory floor supervisors and management decision makers, a storage and materials handling product specialist provided samples of plastic storage bins to test out. Ultimately, the group chose a six-compartment system bins solution, as its one-piece design provided the clean and organized look the heavy equipment manufacturer hoped to achieve. In particular, the manufacturer liked the look of the one-piece molded plastic storage bin and how it gave uniformity to the storage space. A combination of 12-inch deep and 18-inch deep bins were used for the variety of part sizes. Another benefit of the bins was the savings in freight they provided when compared to standard bins. The shipment of bins only required 7.5 truckloads to fulfill—6.5 less than comparable single-compartment bins.

Upon implementing the new storage system, the formerly 150,000 square feet of storage space was consolidated and reduced to roughly 75,000 square feet. Due to the consolidated storage area, the travel time for pickers greatly declined. And, as a result, order pickers now have shorter distances to travel when picking orders, which saves time and boosts efficiency.

In addition, a new bar coding system—implemented with the new storage bins—also allows pickers to locate parts faster within the smaller footprint. And, of equal importance, the reduction of the space required for storage has also opened up extra capacity, which can now be used for additional racking to store larger parts.

Keepsakes stowed in shoeboxes, plastic bags and old photo albums won't keep all that long, according to Hilary Seo.  She ought to know. As head of preservation for university libraries, Seo oversees the longterm upkeep of books, journals, art and special collections pieces that range from 19th century letter sweaters to bovine watering bowls. Below, Seo tells the rest of us how we can take better care of those old Yellowstone snapshots, grandma's quilt and other family treasures.

First things first: Microclimates (aka boxes)

Microclimates are good for everything. For household purposes, a microclimate is a box that's sized just right for your treasure. It's small enough so nothing rattles around and big enough not to pinch. That box does a little preservation magic. It buffers the object inside from rapid temperature and humidity fluctuations. Fast fluctuations accelerate aging and deterioration of paper, leather, textiles, all kinds of materials and also cause physical distortion of objects.

We're not talking shoeboxes here

If you try to create a microclimate with a shoebox or other ordinary kinds of cardboard, you're setting up a hazardous environment for your treasure. Cardboard boxes are made of wood pulp, and acids in the wood will burn and discolor textiles and paper. To do that microclimate right, you'll need an acid-free and lignin-free box. (Lignin is what causes the day-old newspaper in the driveway to yellow.) You can buy such boxes, custom-sized, online. Google "archival products" or "microclimates."

Plastic containers also can create effective microclimates for treasures. Use polypropylene or polyethylene plastics. Avoid polyvinyl chloride plastics. Most household containers are made with polyethylene.

Photos: Don't do anything you can't undo

Don't laminate, tape, glue, write on or do anything else to a photo that can't be undone. Remove photos from old albums if you can; most aren't acid-free, and some use damaging plastics and adhesives. It's best to store your print photos in polyester sleeves. Make sure the sleeves are polyvinyl chloride-free. PVC will break down the emulsion. Here are a few other photo tips:

• No pens, markers: Documentation is good, but it's better to put notes on photo sleeves rather than photos. If you must write on photos, record on the back edges with a soft-lead pencil. Markers eventually will bleed through and ballpoints will emboss.
• Color fade: Old photos that are changing colors should be scanned. Actually, any old photos should be scanned, as colors will continue to shift and fade over time. Scan at 600 dpi and save in the TIF (Tagged Image File) format.
• Printing: For the most stable photo prints, use quality photo paper and printers with proprietary inks.
• Digital storage: CDs and DVDs aren't built for the long haul, so don't store photos on them. Keep photos on external hard drives, on an online photo site or elsewhere in the cloud. (If you have images in the TIF format, store them that way.)
• Backups: Create backups and store in different places. Keep one of the storage drives pristine; load photos onto this “dark” storage device, such as an external drive, and leave it alone. Use your hard drive to store copies you want to access and manipulate, and use other storage devices or cloud services to keep backup copies in multiple places.

Cedar chests? Yes, but ...

A common notion is that cedar makes an ideal container for textiles. Cedar chests are lovely and they smell good. But textiles in direct contact with cedar can be damaged by the acid. The solution is to wrap the textiles in unbleached muslin (available at fabric stores) before putting them in the chest. You also can drape muslin over that wedding dress or other fine clothes on hangers.

Don't leave textiles in dry-cleaning or any other plastic bags. The bags off-gas chemicals that can damage cloth. Polypropylene, polyethylene or polyester plastic containers, mentioned earlier, can be used for textile storage.

Check on your treasures every once in a while to make sure they're not incurring damage from pests, moisture or anything else.

Free consults available at the library

Preservation staff will do free consultations on preserving your treasures. Make an appointment by calling 4- or emailing Seo, , or conservator Melissa Tedone,  also can get some insights into university preservation projects on the library's preservation blog.