The art of folding just got a whole lot cooler. How businesses are boosting efficiency with old world tech.
Ask your grandparents how they used to contend with life and storage before computers, and you’re bound to hear about compactus. Gargantuas of a time past, compactus mobile shelving units were used to house the mountains of paperwork and documents that were required to be shelved, and largely forgotten, before the digital database was a thing.
A lot of things were different in the workplace during those times however, not just their filing systems. Smaller companies could afford to occupy bigger spaces, full inventories had to be kept on hand, and ultimately, fewer employees were necessary to keep a business functioning well. Fast forward to present day, and most companies require most of their work to be done in-house, cutting costs for consultancy. While there isn’t a need for massive paperwork storage, commercial real estate prices are forcing businesses to get more bang for their buck when it comes to square footage. That, coupled with the fact that on hand inventory is still necessary, and just about every employee needs a personal computer- shop owners are required to get creative when it comes to storage and organization.
The New Face of Compactus
Compactus mobile shelving units are comprised of upright shelves that are mounted on an articulating wheel and track system. The tracks can either be permanently installed in flooring, or placed on top of it as a temporary storage option. While not much has changed in the general design of a compactus unit, there have been some pretty noticeable changes in how they operate and what they house.
Because there is no longer much need for paper or file storage, in the way there was when the units first came about, the articulating shelves now come in all shapes and sizes in order to address more modern storage concerns. Office supplies, art, artifacts, and general inventory can all easily be catered to by these newer units.
But what they hold isn’t necessarily the basis of their appeal. What makes the marvels of storage solutions so relevant is how they work together. “Using a compactus system, you can actually save yourself up to 50% of floor space that would otherwise be taken up by other types of organizational storage.” Says a representative from a Premier Lockers that provides these Compactus necessities. “Compactus uses multiple upright shelving systems that all articulate along the same track system. Which means they can concertina out on demand, creating aisles between units as you need to access specific items. Then they collapse back together when access to the storage is no longer needed.” Our storage solution translator tells us.
He also mentions that new technology is being embedded in the ancient systems- QR code readers, RFID systems, and even computer catalog retrieval systems can be placed for ease of finding specific items. Motorized locomotion can make these towering, and often extremely heavy systems safer and more easily used by special needs populations.
Not Just a Pretty Face
In keeping with the mindset of modern small business needs, the behemoth systems also come with a variety of different finishes or veneers. “This makes it really easy to integrate the organizational system directly into the businesses aesthetic, so there’s no need to cordon off an entire room for storage anymore, you can have it front and center, and no one would be the wiser.”
In fact, entire houses can be made based off a compactus model. On Netflix’s Amazing Interiors, a couple builds a “shapeshifter flat” inside of a tiny apartment building in Spain. The walls are based off of compactus-like concepts where rooms and even furniture expand and collapse on demand.
Systems like compactus are also now being used for clever space utilization. Some systems can even be combined with electric outlets or certain types of plumbing. Allowing businesses to create collapsing “rooms”. Imagine being able to store your inventory and have an employee break room set up in the same space. You can expand certain units with integrated smart boards, table tops, or televisions for a boardroom on demand. Or perhaps temporary hot desks. The possibilities are virtually endless to what this technology can offer if one wants to get creative enough to push the boundaries on a beloved classic.
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Founder Dinis Guarda
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