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Category: Millennium Storage and Interiors (page 12 of 17)

Have You Considered Expansion In Your Workplace Design?

When designing an office space or warehouse it is easy to fall into the trap of catering for existing needs without considering the future. It’s essential then in any consultation process to consider how that future might look for the business and how the existing space will be used in the longer term.

There are several factors that need to be taken into account to prepare effectively for the future of the business from how functional the space is to how efficient and comfortable it is for staff who will ultimately be the lifeblood of the business as it grows and develops. As many business owners will tell you, the good people they hire are the ones that help take the business forward more than anything else so they need to be happy and productive.

When it comes to productivity space is important and there needs to be enough capacity to cope with an increase in productivity and a reduction in costs. In other words all your space should be optimised effectively for future growth.

Energy is another important factor to consider and even something as simple as fitting LED lighting will save a fortune on utility bills as will motion detectors that turn lighting on and off when they are not required.

Why You Need Warehouse Crash Barriers

September 30, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Warehouses can be dangerous places for staff when fork trucks are constantly moving around and racks are stacked high with various goods. This is where crash barriers act as an important safety feature.

The number of injuries in the transport and storage industry numbers approximately 2,500 every year. Each one of these incidents will not only result in injuries and even fatalities in some cases but also damage to goods and time off work for those with seriously injured.

Crash barriers then are an essential feature all warehouse designs should incorporate along with layouts that help minimise the potential for accidents to occur in the first place.

Warehouse barriers should be designed to serve a number of functions in addition to protecting workers. Barriers will minimise damage to racking which can be expensive to replace and reduce the impact of collisions with moving objects such as forklift trucks.

Warehouse crash barriers do this by spreading and absorbing the force of impact, which dramatically reduces the injuries likely to be sustained. They also act as a means to slow down vehicles during collisions.

If you require more information about installing racking and safety features in your warehouse, give us a call.

Guide to Office And Warehouse Partitioning

September 19, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Making sure your offices reflect the ethos of your business can be a difficult task in some building but if you have enough space to play with, partitioning could be the answer.

Before considering which partitioning is right for your workplace, some important questions will need to be answered first such as will it reduce noise levels? Should you go for glazed or simple stud partitioning? What colours should it be? Should these colours be the same as your branding? This process will be made easier by consulting a specialist company to help sort out your partitioning requirements.

In terms of choice, the 2 most common types of partitioning you will come across are:

Stud partitioning
This is an incredibly versatile type of partitioning which is as useful for warehouses as it is for offices. It is a great choice for those workplaces that need to reduce noise levels. IT can then be decorated using your own choice of colours and finish.

Glass partitioning
Glass is ideal if you want to let in plenty of light and gain the benefits of partitioning. It is also very flexible when used in offices. If you do require privacy, then you can also add blinds but glass is less effective at reducing sound levels.

How To Solve The 3 Most Common Warehouse Efficiency Issues

August 22, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

The volume of space we have at our disposal is something that is always changing and if your business revolves around the storage of items you will encounter times when space becomes a real issue if you are affected by these 3 common issues.

The wrong type of pallet racking
Has pallet racking in your warehouse been correctly thought out or is it no longer meeting storage requirements? It’s easy to overlook how pallet racking is installed even though it is one of the most important areas to check. Sometimes changes can be made such as making better use of the height or aisle space of a warehouse. Regular inspections should be made to ensure that racking is not only set up to maximum efficiency.

Outdated shelving
This can be a safety hazard as well as a storage concern. If shelves haven’t been inspected there can be hidden safety issues as well as impacts on storage capacity. In these cases it can be useful to speak to an expert who can advise on the best solutions for your warehouse storage facility.

Items stored on the floor
Of all the storage solutions, floor space is the least efficient. Using floor space not only creates hazards for employees it also limits your options when it comes to utilising all the space that could be available.

3 Things You Need To Know About Warehouse Racking

August 12, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Warehouse racking may sound like a relatively simple storage option for your business, but there are some important points to keep in mind before deciding on what type of racking is best.
Should you buy your racking new or second hand?

On paper it may sound like you save a lot of money investing in second hand racking which is an appealing prospect if you trying to cut costs. Unfortunately, this can be a false economy when installing second hand racking can often turn out to be more expensive unless you can be q00% sure there are no missing parts or damage. According to research, 25% of used racking will either be damaged or have parts missing. This will also mean it takes longer to install.

Consider the amount of space needed for handling equipment
Another important consideration when choosing is racking is the type of handling equipment you will be using. If you are using conventional counterbalance trucks for example your aisle space will need to be wider.

Keep safety in mind at all times
Warehouses are potentially dangerous environments particularly when racking maintenance is neglected. As a business owner, you will be responsible for carrying out repairs and audits to racking and these will need to be documented annually. Any repairs should be carried out to manufacturers guidelines and while this might be costly, the cost of compensating staff for injuries will cost considerably more.

How Furniture Can Solve Staff Productivity and Wellness Issues

July 20, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Furniture may be taken for granted in many offices but there is a quiet revolution going on in furniture design that aims to improve staff productivity and their sense of wellbeing.

At first glance, you might wonder how office furniture can have such an profound influence on office environments. Ignoring the importance of good furniture however can create the kind of environment that breeds hostility and discontentment.

Business owners can avoid this by investing in the latest innovations in office furniture that not only facilitate interaction amongst workers but also improve health and productivity. ‘Healthy furniture’ such as treadmill and sit stand desks could well become commonplace in the offices of the future.

Charging stations are also likely to become an important part of the contemporary office as more people work on portable IT equipment and need the freedom to move around different areas of offices to aid collaboration.

There are also signs that the traditional open plan office layout of recent decades is likely to be replaced by more separation. Rather than a return to compartmentalised offices, however, the emphasis is likely to be on separation within open spaces and good acoustics.

Important Things To Consider In A Modern Office Design

July 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

So you want to plan an office layout that will keep all your staff happy and productive? This might sound like a straightforward task but getting it right means balancing out a variety of factors including the following…

The size of your space
The size of your office will have the biggest impact on your decisions. If you have a large office space, then the challenge is whether to create a light open plan or build in cubicles. Most contemporary offices adopt the former approach creating collaborative spaces for staff, however open plan spaces can prove to be distracting. Smaller spaces meanwhile can be challenging and staff can become demotivated and unhappy if they feel closed off.

Exposed Offices
If you have an office that is visible to members of the public, clients and guests, then it is important to maintain a professional appearance. Perhaps the more playful office designs adopted by trendy business are not best suited to exposed glass fronted offices if it appears staff are busy playing table tennis rather than working.

Acoustics
Spaces large and small can benefit from careful consideration of acoustics. Excessive noise can be stressful for staff and reduce productivity. A few simple measures to dampen noise levels can work wonders.

Time and Space
How long are people going to linger in different areas of your office. Will you provide hot desks for staff who regularly work from home? In these cases space can be saved and equipment can be kept to a minimum freeing up space for other purposes in smaller offices

3 Ways To Impress Millennials With Your Office Design

June 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

As time moves on so does the age of your employees and most office chairs will now be filled by a generation of people collectively known as millennials or those born between the early 1980s and just after the year 2000. As millennials are now so essential to businesses, how do you go about attracting them and keeping them in your office rather than those of the competition?

Most millennials don’t like conventional offices
If you want to retain your younger staff members it’s time to ditch the traditional office layout and go for something less conventional. Millennials despite their reputation are hard working on the whole as well as being career focused. They can be trusted to work in collaborative spaces with flexible furniture.

Millennials Want To See Up-To-Date Technology
Some business owners are hopelessly out of touch with technology and these are the ones that tend to have a high staff turnover. No self-respecting millennial is going to want to work in an office and make do with poor outdated equipment when they have superior technology at home.

Flexibility
The days of travelling to work every day and going through the motions from 9 am until 5pm are coming to an end for many private firms. Flexible working is now demanded by many people as is a flexible approach working remotely. IT infrastructure should be set up to allow this and enable millennials to enjoy a better work life balance.

Guide To Small Office Must Haves

May 24, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Improvements in IT and a revolution in the way we work in the past 50 years has led to many businesses opting for smaller offices and many even finding space at home to carry out daily tasks.

As with larger offices however there are still some essentials required to ensure the work environment is comfortable and work can be done efficiently. Here are a few essentials anyone moving into a small office should consider.

Office furniture
The standard and provision of office furniture is important not only for staff but also to create the right impression of your business. Old furniture and broken chairs will demoralise staff and could even be a potential hazard. In business presentation is important and if you want to recruit the best staff and ensure that they are loyal, then early investment in your office space is important.

Ensure utilities are reliable
The last thing you need is a faulty boiler, heating that stops working and disruptions to your energy supplies or phone lines. Having these breakdowns not only harms productivity but it can also disrupt workplace morale. Also ensure that you are on the best deal available to reduce energy costs for your business.

IT Systems
Many small businesses pay little attention to their IT systems until they breakdown. Some high profile cases of hacking should alert business owners to the importance of security and updating software and equipment regularly.

3 Office Design Myths

May 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

As the way we work continues to change rapidly driven by great technological advances and increased efficiency in workflows there has been a lot of debate on what makes the ideal office layout.

Certainly your office layout is likely to be influenced by the age of the building you find yourself operating in and in some cities it might not even be possible to stray too far from the traditional compartmental spaces.

So let’s look at three common myths about office layouts to help you decide on what’s right for your business.

Open plan is best
If being shut away isolated in a room isn’t for you then you might prefer the collaborative environment of the open space office but for some people this can actually impact on productivity. Open plan offices can get noisy and it may not always be the case they are collaborative. Design can play a major role in making a space work but if owners make it up as they go along then open plan isn’t going to make any difference.

Offices with lots of compartments stifle productivity
Staff might be able to communicate more if they can see each other, but these days even if they can, emails are rapidly becoming preferable to simply walking over to someone’s desk. Often being able to work in peace and quiet can actually boost productivity and you can create collaborative spaces for when they are needed.

Open plan layouts save you money
This may be true in some cases but not always. A large open plan office may end up costing more to heat and it will be difficult to please everyone when it comes to the temperature settings. You may also end up buying more office furniture to fill the space.