The Benefits Agency Cardiff

The Brief
The Benefits Agency asked Rackline to design a system capable of storing the contents of 819 ten drawer cabinets and 391 four drawer cabinets, equating to a a storage capacity of 4,989 linear metres.

The reason for this was the 1st and 2nd floors of the Benefits Agency in Cwmbran, where this filing was currently held, was earmarked to become The Department of Work & Pension Authority for England. This meant a relocation of all the files and hence the request for Rackline’s filing division Filing Heaven to resolve the problem. The Benefits Agency had chosen two rooms in its Gabalfa site in Cardiff,around 17 miles away in which this documentation was to be stored. The area having a total of 282.82 sq m illustrating the constraints on floor space compared to that used on the original site (892 sq.m).

The Solution
Rackline’s solution was to convert all documentation from the current GBU format into an A4 file, designed specifically for the Benefits Agency. These files were then stored on the shelves of a Monotrak mobile shelving system, This allowed for additional storage capacity to be achieved whilst making filing and retrieval easier. The Benefits Agency were unsure as to the exact number of files were stored, Rackline found it to be 300,000.

Rackline’s solution was to convert all documentation from the current GBU format into an A4 file, designed specifically for the Benefits Agency

Records originally stored in 5 & 10 drawer filing cabinets and boxes.

File contents were decanted and placed in new files.

The Installation
It required Rackline manning levels to exceed 70 to meet the deadline laid down by the Benefits Agency. Whilst not interfering with the day to day operation, all files needed to be removed individually, in sequence from the cabinets. The purpose of this exercise was to log Surname, Christian Name, Initial and National Insurance number details onto a database enabling label generation at a later date. All files were then replaced into the respective drawers. Installation of the Monotrak mobile consisted of 470 bays with 3840 shelves and 5460 shelf dividers. The file transfer and conversion then commenced. All files needed to be removed individually from their existing drawers, unfolded and converted into Rackline tabbed folders. After transporting them the 17 miles they were decanted from crates and placed into the shelves of the new system. All in all, 300,00 files were converted, transferred and loaded into the new system in 17 days. Once the transfer was completed Rackline staff started to retrieve documentation for the Benefits Agency to ensure that a level of service was being offered to it’s clients. Labels were generated on-site from the earlier compiled database. 300,000 labels were generated, applied to files and sorted into alphabetical order in just over 4 weeks.

The surname. christian name, initial, and national insurance number were entered onto a database to allow for label generation at a later date.

Files being labelled and sorted alphanumerically.

The files were then transferred into the new system.

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