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All About Blueprint Storage
- By Rob Powell
- Published 06/16/2006
- Tech Notes
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Rob Powell
Previous CAD and GIS Manager, Civil Engineering Design Technician, and now http://EngineerSupply.com Tool and Supply Store Owner.
View all articles by Rob Powell
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. 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 get you going 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 Mobile Stand (also known as a Blueprint Stands, Blueprint Racks, and Hanging Stands) that is located near the people that use the plans the most. Mobile 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. Obviously, 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 or down a flight of stairs each day. So, you may want to mix your solution selection such as; Mobile Stands (Hanging File 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, or locked storage. Rolling up drawings 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 to rolled drawings right beside a workers desk.
We mentioned
return false">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.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 Mobile Stand (also known as a Blueprint Stands, Blueprint Racks, and Hanging Stands) that is located near the people that use the plans the most. Mobile 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. Obviously, 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 or down a flight of stairs each day. So, you may want to mix your solution selection such as; Mobile Stands (Hanging File 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, or locked storage. Rolling up drawings 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 to rolled drawings right beside a workers desk.
We mentioned
Something else you should consider is the investment in blueprints you or your company has. Some prints from CAD files that were printed on a CAD Plotter can be reproduced (printed again and again) easily, even if you have a disaster such as a fire. As long as the 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 and once these documents are gone, they are lost forever. In these cases, we recommend a secured Plan Room with fire suppression (possibly not of the water type since water would ruin your documents. We recommend 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.
