How Maximising Floor Space Can Revolutionise Your Operations

Every square foot counts. In industries where precision and efficiency are paramount – aerospace, rail, medical, manufacturing – wasted space isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a liability. 

Are you truly maximising the potential of your workspace, or is valuable floor space being swallowed up by disorganised inventory and inefficient processes? 

Imagine being able to fit that new piece of machinery you’ve been wanting, or expanding your clinical practice to better serve your patients. 

For over 45 years, we’ve helped companies like yours reclaim lost space and transform it into a strategic asset. Let’s explore how unlocking the hidden potential of your floor space can revolutionise your operations and how our proven solutions can help you achieve it.

The High Cost of Wasted Space:

Think about it: what’s the real cost of that overflowing storage room or the sprawling shelves packed with disorganised inventory? It’s more than just the physical space it occupies. Wasted space translates to:

 

 

 

 

 

• Lost Productivity: Time spent searching for parts is time not spent on critical tasks – or on expanding your project capabilities.
• Increased Product Spend: Overstocking and expired products drain your budget, preventing you from investing in essential equipment or resources.
• Higher Operational Costs: Inefficient workflows lead to increased labour costs and delays, hindering your ability to take on new projects or expand your services.
• Increased risk of lost or damaged parts: Disorganised parts can easily be misplaced, and be damaged if stored incorrectly. This can halt production or delay critical procedures.

 

In high-pressure environments, these inefficiencies can have significant consequences. Missed deadlines, production bottlenecks, and even safety concerns can arise from a poorly organised workspace. More importantly, it can prevent you from optimising your core operations.

 

 

 

The Real ROI of Optimising Your Square Footage:

The benefits of optimising your floor space extend far beyond aesthetics. A well-organised workspace can lead to:

• Improved Efficiency: Streamlined workflows and easy access to parts reduce downtime and increase productivity, allowing you to take on more projects and meet deadlines with ease.
• Reduced Costs: Optimised inventory levels minimise waste and free up capital, freeing up resources to invest in new equipment or expand your services.
• Enhanced Safety: Clear pathways and organised storage reduce the risk of accidents, creating a safer environment for your team and operations.
• Increased Morale: A clean, organised workspace creates a more positive and productive work environment for your team, boosting morale and improving overall performance.
• More Space for Core Activities: Reclaim valuable space for essential activities, whether it’s expanding your clinical practice, adding new machinery, or creating dedicated project areas.

 

Your Blueprint for a More Efficient Workspace:

 

1. Assess Your Current Layout: Conduct a thorough audit of your existing workspace. Go beyond a visual inspection. Map out your current layout, noting the dimensions of each area, the location of equipment, and the flow of materials and personnel. Identify areas of clutter, underutilised space (e.g., empty corners, high shelves that are difficult to reach), and inefficient workflows (e.g., bottlenecks, excessive travel distances). Quantify your inventory. How many SKUs do you have? What’s the average quantity of each item? How quickly do you consume each item? This data is crucial for optimising inventory levels. Consider how re-allocating this space could benefit your core operations. Could you create a dedicated project area? Expand your clinical practice? Install that new piece of machinery you’ve been wanting? 
2. Implement Vertical Storage Solutions: Utilise wall-mounted shelves, vertical carousels, mobile storage, and other space-saving solutions to maximise vertical space. Explore a variety of vertical storage options to find the best fit for your specific needs and space constraints. Consider factors such as load capacity, accessibility, and ease of use. Think beyond traditional shelves. Vertical carousels, automated storage and mezzanine floors can significantly increase your storage capacity without expanding your footprint. Imagine the possibilities of having that extra floor space available for essential equipment or project needs. Would it allow you to take on more projects, improve your production capacity, or enhance your service offerings? 
3. Optimise Inventory Levels: Implement a robust inventory management system to track stock levels, minimise overstocking, and prevent stockouts. Understand your demand by analysing historical data to forecast demand and determine the optimal stock levels for each item. Implement a Just-in-Time (JIT) Methodology, aiming to receive materials and parts only when you need them for production. This minimises storage space and reduces the risk of obsolescence. Establish a reserve batch, maintaining a reserve batch of each item to buffer between reordering and restocking ensuring you never run out of stock. Consider Kanban and implement a Kanban system to visually signal when it’s time to reorder an item. This helps maintain optimal stock levels and again, prevents stockouts (you see the theme). 
4. Standardise Storage Locations: Designate specific locations for each part or product and clearly label them to ensure easy access and retrieval. Create a standardised system by developing a consistent naming, numbering and scan system for all your parts and products. Clearly label everything using clear, easy-to-read labels to identify the location of each item. Document your system by creating a detailed map or diagram of your storage locations and make it readily available to your team. Train your team to ensure that everyone on your team understands the standardised system and knows where to find each item. This not only saves time but also ensures that valuable floor space isn’t wasted on disorganised storage. 
5. Embrace a “Less is More” Mentality: Regularly review your inventory and eliminate obsolete or unnecessary items. Conduct regular inventory audits to identify items that are no longer needed. Dispose of obsolete or damaged items to free up valuable space. Negotiate with suppliers to reduce minimum order quantities and improve delivery schedules. The space you reclaim can be used for more productive purposes.

The TwinBin Approach: How We Transform Workspaces and Deliver Results

At TwinBin, we understand the unique challenges faced by high-stakes industries. That’s why we’ve developed a range of simple yet effective inventory management solutions designed to maximise floor space and optimise your operations. Our goal is to help you reap the most savings – in space, time, money, and stress – and our solutions are designed to be simple to implement and highly effective.

 

 

 

 

Our racking options – wall-mounted, rotating, portable, and more – are designed to be extremely slim and streamlined. They reduce clutter and simplify the reordering process, freeing up valuable floor space for other uses. All of our systems are designed to support Kanban, JIT (Just-In-Time), and FIFO (First-In, First-Out) inventory management methodologies, ensuring that you have the right parts, in the right place, at the right time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We understand that every business is different, which is why we work closely with you to create a customised solution that fits your specific needs and space requirements. Our team will analyse your current layout, inventory levels, and workflows to design a system that maximises efficiency and optimises every square foot.

 

Our solutions have a proven track record of helping companies across various industries achieve significant improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and safety. By implementing our systems, you can reduce wasted space, improve inventory accuracy, and streamline your operations, ultimately freeing up resources to focus on your core business. We are confident that our solutions can help you achieve similar results.

 

 

Real-World Example: Martin’s Point Health Care, a mid-sized primary care practice, faced challenges with labour inefficiencies and supply room layouts. They were experiencing wasted time performing inventories, re-ordering, and re-stocking products. Limited supply room size, high SKU counts, and non-standard product locations resulted in over/under stocking & frequent product relocation.

From this:                                                                                                                                                    To this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By implementing our TwinBin Live System, Martin’s Point Health Care was able to:

• Reduce the number of stocked SKUs by over 40%.
• Reduce monthly spend by 25-60% per site.
• Free up valuable floor space for clinical use, allowing them to better serve their patients and expand their services.
• Achieve a full ROI within the first 6 months.

 

Conclusion:

 

Maximising floor space is not just about creating a more visually appealing workspace; it’s about unlocking hidden potential within your operations. By implementing the right strategies and solutions, you can transform chaotic environments into streamlined, efficient powerhouses – and create more space for the activities that truly drive your business forward.

Email info@twinbin.com today to request your free sample and learn how our proven inventory management solutions can help you maximise your floor space and revolutionise your operations.