We understand that you want to store your Blueprints safely and securely, but do want to have them organized for quick and easy reference and retrieval. What we will provide in this article are points for you to consider before you make a purchase. In many cases we cannot recommend a specific item due to; we have not seen your office space, have not seen number of workers in your organization, how the workers are situated such as on multiple floors of an office building, and do not know the number of prints you plan to store today and in the future. Our article will simply get your thought process started and hopefully point you in the right direction.
When seeking Blueprint Storage Solutions, you must first start by considering how many sheets and plan sets you have that you want to store. And, then consider how will your collection grow in the future. Will you have some storage solutions that offer quick retrieval but less protection? For example; a Blueprint Rack (also known as a Blueprint Stand) that is located near the people that use the plans the most. The stands offer quick access to hanging files where the hanging clamps can be removed easily and then laid on a workers desk, or laid out on a reference table. Think, it would not make sense to have a worker walk back to a storage room to pull drawings out of a steel flat file drawer that's located 50 feet away from their desk. So, you may want to mix your solution selection, such as; Hanging File Centers (again also known as Blueprint Racks or Stands) that would be located next to workers, but have Steel Flat Files located in a back room for archived or prints that are used less frequent.
Basic starting points to consider when seeking to organize your Blueprint Storage would be; do you want flat storage, rolled storage, permanent storage, locked storage. These are things to consider. Rolling drawings up takes time, but it does allow for them to be stood up on end beside a workers desk. Corrugated Upright Roll Files and Wire Upright Roll Files offer quick access right beside a workers desk.
We mentioned security such as locked storage previously in this article. Some companies either put locks on the drawers or either build a secure area which is typically called a "Plan Room". Depending on the volume of prints that need to be secured and the amount of space you have in your office, can dictate whether or not to build a Plan Room. Plan Rooms are great as they can have a locked door with all of your Flat Files located in a dedicated room within your office.
Something else you should consider is your investment in the plans you have. Some are prints from CAD files that you printed on a CAD Plotter. These prints can be printed again and again, even if you have a disaster such as a fire. As long as your drawing data is backed up by your computer network administrator, you should be fine. But, what if your drawings have notes, or have been hand-drawn, or what if they were the only available original drawings. Your drawings may have many many hours invested in them and as a result make the documents become very valuable and not easily replaced. Many Universities and Plants have the problem of having only originals that are available. Once these documents are gone, they are lost forever. In these cases, we recommend secured Plan Rooms with fire suppression (possibly not of the water type, you would have to learn more about fire suppression systems which is outside the scope of this document), and we recommend Steel Flat Files that secure the drawings and add a level of protection. Some Blueprint Cabinets even offer fire protection as one of their features. You would need to read more about what each cabinet has to offer and how these levels of protection work.
In summary, we have touched on various points of which you should consider before you make a purchase of a Blueprint Storage Solution. We would even recommend possibly getting a meeting together within your company to discuss what each user would want. Would some want Upright Roll Stands beside their desks, would some want to build a Plan Room. Does your documents need to be secured? There are many questions that you should ask yourself and others that will be using the storage solutions. Hopefully our document will help get your thoughts and questions started so that you will be satisfied once your solution is decided upon and plan put into effect.
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