I've operated records centers both under the "Box Number equals Location" and "Room, Aisle, Bay, Shelf" systems. There are pluses and minuses to each.

With the first system, the location of a box is always the same; with the second system, you can permanently assign space to a box or you can assign the box a number and use bar codes to set the location very flexibly. I prefer the latter approach.


The box number equals location systems is the simplest to operate. It doesn't require a sophisticated inventory system and a gap in the number sequence immediately tells you what box is missing. You can permanently number your boxes and reuse them after destruction of the contents. The biggest issue is that you have to sort out boxes that need to be put away so that you're not covering the same ground twice. Large retrievals and put aways can take a long time.


The room, aisle, bay... system provides the greatest flexibility (assuming that you are assigning space flexibly) and tends to allow more productivity because you can put a box wherever you have space, read the barcode to a location, and you're done. It does require more sophistication, but adding barcodes, readers and an inventory system early on provides you with room for growth.


My experience was always to number from rear to front, left to right, bottom to top. In the box number equals location system, the bottom left most box is always Box 1. We always numbered an entire aisle side first, rather than weaving back and forth across an aisle. Boxes were always loaded on the bottom shelves first. You never want to top load box shelving. 

 
Patrick Cunningham, CRM, CIP, FAI
[log in to unmask]

"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier." 
-- Colin Powell

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]