What is High Density Storage? It sounds complicated but it isn’t really. There is one overriding concept at the heart of high density storage.
To create an aisle in a shelving system that move from place to place.
Think about it simply. Imagine three rows of shelving. If they are a metre wide and the aisles between them are a metre wide the total system will occupy 5 metres of width. If you could remove one of the aisles the total system will occupy only 4 metres of width. Bingo you have saved a metre width of space! And the simple way to do this is to put two of the shelving rows on wheels. Welcome to high density storage.
Rackline is a business that manufactures high density storage. Whilst the majority of the products work on the basis of the concept above they also have some interesting variations on the theme such as the pirouette which is a form of rotary high density storage.
Whilst the concept is simple the benefits are enormous to a business that has limited capacity in its offices or factory.
High Density Storage can save 80% of the square meterage occupied by conventional storage. In areas where space is at a premium or square meterage costs are high like central London this can save enormous amounts of money.
Just trying to find a simple example to illustrate the financial position, try this:
132 linear meters of traditional storage (four draw filing) occupies 35sqm of space. Replace this with mobile storage and it occupies 10sqm. On a percentage basis this is a reduction of 70% of floor space occupied. Including rent and rates a sqm in London costs £750 per year and rest of country £377 (typically in 2013) This means Rackline’s High Density Storage can save a company for every sqm it occupies with conventional storage £525 per year in London and £263 per year outside of London.
Reduced accommodation costs are a key driver. The Office of Government Commerce provided estimates of the total occupation costs of property occupied by the public sector in
London. Within central London, they estimated that rent is approximately £450 per square metre, rates £175 per square metre and service charges and running costs of a further £125 per square metre. This gives a total occupation cost for inner London of £750 per square metre. Similar information was provided for a second tier of property in outer London and this has a total occupation cost of £550 per square metre.
King Sturge provided the review with total occupation costs for cities outside London and the South East. An average of the total occupation cost for prime city centre office space in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol was used as the comparator for this part of the model. The average total occupation cost this generated was £377 per square metre.
