Mobiles for Archives

Effective archive storage systems are designed to provide efficient storage and retrieval. Link 51 Mobile Shelving system gives excellent accessibility, whilst maximising the available floor space for storage.

Mobile shelving is effective in saving space by eliminating the need for several access aisles. The shelving moves along floor tracks so the space for only one aisle is needed.

The highest ever Link 51 mobile shelving system – providing a remarkable 4.2km of storage space – is now fully operational at the new Hill Dickinson archive facility in Liverpool. The installation, which effectively creates a solid ‘block’ of shelving locations that requires only individual access aisles to be open as required, measures no less than seven metres in height. It can contain 16,000 individual storage boxes yet requires only a sixth of the floor space of the equivalent storage in a static facility. The installation provides a new central focus which replaces a number of separate satellite storage units with Hill Dickinson enjoying a reduction in file retrieval costs as a direct result.

The Link 51 design is centred on a series of back-to-back shelving bays mounted on bases that run on parallel rails set into the floor. Each base can accommodate up to 22 tonnes yet can be easily moved laterally with the use of a lightweight, ergonomically designed hand wheel. Each hand wheel operation easily opens an individual aisle – exactly where required – to provide access for a mobile picking platform. This ability to vary the point of access allows the majority of the installation to be kept in a ‘closed’ configuration which, in turn, minimises the overall footprint required, helping to maximise storage space efficiency.

As well as saving space, mobile systems are ideal for sensitive or expensive items that are stored because the systems can be closed up or locked to restrict access.