Cleaning Up a Cluttered Facility with Modular Construction

Facilities can get more and more crowded and clustered as a company grows.  It is an unfortunate and unavoidable part of running a successful business.   This can be a bittersweet moment for a company as it's a strong signal that you're doing things right. However... If you do not correct the clutter, things can go downhill real quick with sloppy work and inefficient work processes. 

A disorganized warehouse can create a number of other issues for a company.

First, besides decreased efficiency, a messy and unorganized warehouse can create a decrease in overall employee morale. Moving up the chain of command, a cluttered warehouse may signify to your CEO or General Manager that their supervisors have lost control of their workforce or, perhaps even worse, that they have lost pride in their workplace, (not to mention how it looks to potential customers).

Overall, a messy, unorganized facility can elicit a feeling of irreverence among the workers in the building. This is an emotion that has a tendency to snowball over a period of time, continuing to get worse and worse until concrete steps are taken in order to correct it.

Luckily, there are a number of options available to you whenever you run into this problem.  And Panel Built modular structures can help you in more ways than one. In this post, we will go over some of the many modular structures that we offer that can help provide you with more space in your facility.

Storage Platforms

One of our most often utilized space saving products is our storage platforms. A Panel Built storage platform is a raised steel platform that can be installed into your facility, providing usable space above and below the deck.
Many manufacturing facilities have high, metal roofs that provide a lot of area between the bottom of the roof and the top of the facility floor. In many instances, this space is largely unused. Many companies are not taking full advantage of the unused space above their facility floor.

For example, our case study on Millipore Sigma Aldrich. Millipore Sigma Aldrich had a very comprehensive racking system that they used in their maintenance area. However, over time the area accrued more and more parts and tools. Eventually, this space became a burden to work in and started slowly spilling into other parts of the warehouse.

By adding in a storage platform to their facility, they were able to raise that shelving system and expand the overall area holding their parts and tools. In turn, they were able to use the area below the mezzanine to charge and perform maintenance on their transport carts. Overall, the addition of a storage platform completely changed the way their facility was organized and opened up a lot of room for a variety of different work processes.

Modular Offices

With Panel Built's modular offices, facilities can provide a number of specialized spaces in their facilities. Whether adding the modular office to your facility floor or placing the office atop a mezzanine, our wall system can provide quality office space without taking away valuable storage space. This is because Panel Built office system can be installed with a load-bearing roof.

By reinforcing the offices roofing system with steel beams, our modular offices can provide a roofing system that is very similar to our mezzanines and storage platforms. Depending on what the office's roof will be used for, we can increase the roof's PSF rating (Pounds per Square Foot) to help meet your needs. Typically, companies will have their office rated for light storage or a walkable weight load. However, these roofs can be rated to match our standard mezzanine PSF rating of 125 pounds!

With a roof rating this high, facilities can add new office space to their factory floor without giving up any storage space. This is a great way to provide additional, controlled workspace for your company's supervisors or engineers while still conserving space in your building.

Catwalks

Panel Built catwalks are another way to keep a facility from getting too crowded, but instead of adding storage space to a building, you will be adding walking room or foot-traffic lanes. In this way, adding a catwalk to a facility helps address clutter by allowing easier movement throughout a facility.
Overcrowded aisles and work floors can lead to errors and accidents in your facility. With catwalks in your facility, workers just needing to get from one end of the building to another will be able to use this raised platform, freeing up space below and helping them avoid potential hazards.

Panel Built catwalk systems can also be designed and installed to help support conveyors and sorting systems. These systems allow warehouses to optimize the transportation of their goods from station to station and can greatly boost the smoothness of your warehouse operation.

Exterior Equipment Storage

If you have utilized all the space inside your facility, Panel Built can help you with exterior space options as well! Like at our very own facility, Panel Built can design and fabricate exterior buildings to provide additional storage outside your building.

Using the same wall panels as our modular offices, Panel Built's exterior building implement a durable steel skin to protect the structure from the elements. These buildings are perfect for storing equipment, keeping them protected from the weather and/or harsh temperatures.

Ultimately, Panel Built offers a variety of solutions to help you clear up space in your warehouse. From storage platforms to storage buildings, Panel Built can provide you with the perfect structure to help solve your space needs.

With over 20 years experience in the modular construction industry, our number one goal is “To Solve our Customers’ Space Needs with Excellence and Great Customer Service,” and that is what we strive to do every single day. Every department here is driven by providing the best possible experience to our customers. We pride ourselves on being the modular construction experts, and we are confident that we can work with you to find the best possible space solution for you or your customer.

If you're interested in learning more about our products or if you have any questions, you can call us at 800-636-3873, send us an email to info@panelbuilt.com, or say hello in our LiveChat in the bottom right! We're always happy to help in whatever way we can.