For Part 2 of our “No Cookie Cutter Approach” Series, let’s talk about how to better organize the storage room for more efficient space usage and faster picking.
Track systems can increase the storage capacity of a supply room by up to 50% without increasing the footprint. While you gain storage efficiency you may lose some operational efficiency due to having to push shelves out of the way to get what you need, making it difficult for more than one person to be picking case carts at a time. Because of this, Track Shelving is ideal for instrument sets where you may need a few sets per case. To take it a step further, if you organize instrument sets by specialty, you can grab what you need off of one or two shelving units.
For disposable supplies, more traditional shelving lined up along the wall (like a grocery store) gives full visibility and access to fast-moving disposable supplies. This also allows for multiple people to pull supplies at once which is difficult to do with track systems. Here you gain operational efficiency but lose some space efficiency. There are storage systems that can help you gain some of that efficiency back, but we will cover more of that in Part 3 of this series.
Having a clear understanding of your available space, what supplies, what quantity of supplies, and internal processes and workflows will help to determine which option (or combination of options) will work best for you!