Why is the industrial mezzanine such a popular utility within industry? I see the explanation all around me, even when I’m not near a mezzanine. To the left of my computer monitor I have a stack of five paper racks. If I set those paper racks next to each other instead of on top of each other, I’d have much less usable space on my desk, and the functionality and value of each rack would become diminished. When I Continue reading
Recently, Google announced that it would be opening its first retail store in the Irish city of Dublin. You read that right: Google is opening a Google store. According to this Bloomberg News article, the store will sell “unspecified Google merchandise.” Hmm. According to the same article, Google is currently the largest producer of smartphone software. I’d be surprised if Google opened a physical retail location only to sell smartphone software to window shoppers. I won’t speculate about Continue reading
If you’ve seen the first Indiana Jones movie, you may remember the massive warehouse where the Ark gets stored at the end of the movie. It’s become an iconic shot in American cinema, and it’s been parodied and recreated in a lot of other movies and TV shows (and even by another Indiana Jones movie). What makes the warehouse look so distinct is that it is seemingly endless; you see row upon endless row of top-secret clutter. I imagine two warehouse managers seated next to each other in Continue reading
Simply by virtue of being raised platforms, mezzanines have to be equipped with safety equipment. Because mezzanines vary in terms of their size, height, function and overall design, different mezzanines must be equipped with different kinds of safety equipment. That equipment can range from safety gates, railings, stair treads and railings, anti-slip floor treads and coatings, warning signs and Continue reading
Warehouse and factory floors can be chaotic places. Ideally they’re not, but in reality they can be. Especially in the case of large scale distribution operations, which sometimes are staffed by temporary workers and which can have high turnover rates, the common denominator of worker attention to detail and safety can be lower than optimal. I worked in such a place for a short while after graduating, and I was thankful upon emerging from that job that I never banged my head on anything and that I was never Continue reading
A commenter on the last post made a good point that I’d like to bring to light in this post. He highlighted how investing in free-standing mezzanines and platforms can, over time, amount to significant property tax savings. Here’s part of the comment:
Free-standing mezzanines and platforms can be considered capital equipment, therefore the depreciation is quicker than the depreciation would be for a building addition.
In the United States, there are provisions written into the tax code that allow businesses to Continue reading
Waste is every business’s enemy. Despite this fact, one of the most common wastes of a resource gets overlooked by industrial professionals every day, and what’s more: most of them stare this waste in the face every time they come to work. What kind of waste am I talking about? If you happen to be on a factory or warehouse floor at this moment, look around you. If you see a big gap between your building’s ceiling and the tops of your shelves, equipment, offices and storage areas, you’re looking at wasted space. Space waste might not seem like a meaningful enough problem to warrant serious consideration, but Continue reading
Space management: the final frontier. These are the exploits of industry everywhere: to seek out new ventures, to secure new contracts and to expand to output levels never known before. Please excuse this horrible, horrible Star Trek joke. But there is an analogy (a weak one, certainly) to be found between the voyages of the star ship Enterprise and the exploits of actual enterprises. The problem of space management is a Continue reading
Every supplier and distributor needs access to a space in which they can store their products before they are sold. Most suppliers and distributors make use of warehouses for this purpose, and most warehouses are large, open buildings with fairly high ceilings. Building a new warehouse can be a tremendous expense after all of the associated costs are factored in; these include building permits, construction costs, labor costs and moving costs, not the mention disruptions in business. Many companies, instead Continue reading
Mezzanines systems are widely valued within industry for their ability to expand usable space and increase growth capacity. They are especially valued by suppliers and distributors because of their need for space to store the products they sell. However, mezzanines are also widely used outside of the context of industry. What is most interesting about this is that they are employed outside of industry for the same reasons that they are employed within industry. What are Continue reading