As a business becomes more successful and the more it expands, the greater pressure is generally put on its warehouse storage capacity.

Now there’s an obvious temptation to relocate to larger premises to solve the problem, but this is usually a costly and time-consuming solution.

The solution strangely is often there right in front of the business’ nose, but they often fail to spot it. What they should be doing is utilising the available space more effectively. Not only will such a strategy prove to be less problematic: it will also be cheaper too. Rather than looking to expand elsewhere, maybe businesses should be looking up for inspiration.

Maybe businesses should be thinking about installing a mezzanine floor…

What are the benefits of mezzanine floors?

Mezzanine floors can provide a simple solution for storage logistics by dramatically increasing the usable space within existing premises without expanding the base footprint. Much of the upper area of a warehouse is often, quite literally, wasted space. More often than not it is almost impossible to stack pallet racking from floor to ceiling without running the considerable risk of collapse and injuring employees. Mezzanine floors will not only provide an additional area for storage, they can also improve the overall health and safety of the working environment too.

Installing a mezzanine floor also offers the potential to construct additional space for picking and packing operations within the warehouse, office space for warehouse management and administrative staff, and facilities such as canteens and kitchens. If picking and packing operations and additional staff can be accommodated under the same roof, this will lead to improved logistical efficiency, which should be a key focus in any warehouse environment. Mezzanine floors can be linked to the ground floor by conveyors, stairs and lifts, and this will improve the overall quality of service, efficiency and speed of operations, and will lead to cost reductions over the longer term.

What are the costs?

The initial costs of installing a mezzanine floor may not be cheap, but it will undoubtedly be cheaper than relocating to new or larger business premises. Mezzanine floors are also scalable. So storage expansion can be carried out in stages, rather than all at once. This means that warehouses can continue to trade through the development phase with minimal disruption to business, thus reducing the impact on bottom line figures. Mezzanine floors will result in a better and faster return on investment, and save both money and time, and importantly, in an age of economic recession, will add value to the existing warehouse and future-proof the warehouse operation.