Many businesses are experiencing a boom in their operations. Orders are once more coming in, production is ramping up, and people are finally getting back to work.
But what happens when business is so booming that you need to expand … and quickly? Purchasing and re-equipping a new facility can take years of planning. And building an expansion onto your existing plant will take at least six months. When time is literally money, you don’t have time to wait that long.
Adding a Mezzanine
One solution is to add a mezzanine to your existing production space. Mezzanines are structures that fit between your current floor space and your ceiling, proving you with an entirely new level of storage or production space.
Mezzanines are an affordable option for warehouses, manufacturing facilities and other businesses that need to get bigger quickly. They come in standard sizes, but you also can customize your mezzanine to fit your existing space. Plus, you can choose whatever deck material, shape or configuration for your mezzanine to suit your specific needs.
Powerful Support
Mezzanines are supported by heavy duty steel columns that provide the strength and loading capacity required for supporting your equipment, workers and products. Most come with completely fabricated steel components and can be assembled on-site without drilling, cutting or welding.
Mezzanines can often be erected within your facility without interruption of normal work schedules. They can be built either by the mezzanine’s manufacturer or by your own employees using detail instruction manuals.
Component parts are marked with cross references to the installation manual so that both the individual pieces, as well as the sequence of steps, are clear and understandable. Some mezzanine manufacturers even offer free online video tutorials that will walk you through the steps of building your mezzanine.
Moving Materials Between Levels
Add a vertical reciprocating conveyor (VRC) and you can move materials between floors quickly, safely and easily. VRCs are part elevator, part forklift. They can be installed for through-floor, interior and exterior applications and use hydraulic or mechanical apparatus to move the car up and down between levels.
Facilitating Personnel Access
VRCs are used to move materials between levels, but what about workers?
To allow workers easy access to and from the mezzanine, you also will need to include stairs. These can be either closed tread or open riser and some mezzanines come with stairs included.
Mezzanine Success Story
One company that recently benefited from the installation of a mezzanine and VRC was Royal Basket Trucks, of Darien, Wisconsin. The company, which makes laundry carts and basket trucks, needed to increase production to keep up with growing demand for their products.
But company president Thomas Carney said the business didn’t have time to build a new facility or expand its existing production center. So it opted to install a new mezzanine and VRC.
“We converted 6,000 square feet of totally unused space into a productive work area,” Carney told Modern Materials Handling. “Once we considered the alternative — a 12,000 square-foot building addition for about $500,000 — the decision was easy: Go for the work platform.”