Ever since the dawn of humanity, people have collected and preserved items and information that are precious and valuable to them and future generations. Archives have always existed. However in the last couple of decades storage has changed a lot. Amongst others it has become way more efficient than it ever was! Do you remember the introduction of high-density shelving? Or even two-tier shelving? All groundbreaking innovations to store your valuable items and documents more efficiently. However, these innovations also have a downside: safety & security issues. For your items, but most of all for people. Let’s walk through some safety and security issues, to question if your archive is still futureproof.

Safety of your storage

With self-moving storage systems comes risks. Risks of damaging your valuable items and documents. What measures do you have in place to prevent this? By using the right advanced technology these risks can be reduced to almost zero. For instance: cabinets can stop moving when detecting objects or persons in the aisle and the storage system can be connected to the fire alarm of the building.

Security of your storage

Question how well your archive is protected against theft and unauthorized access. Theft can cost a lot of money. Anti-theft technology and access control can greatly diminish the risks. Unauthorized access can be prevented by having access control. Arrange personal RF-ID cards or pin codes, so access can be granted or denied per aisle. Put an alarm in place, when someone tries to force a cabinet to open. The cabinet could actively push back and an alarm could sound.

Are your users safe?

Above all it is important that the people working in the archive can safely use the storage system. To prevent people from being harmed you need to put safety measures in place. A cabinet needs to stop moving when it detects a person in an aisle. Make sure the system has the latest technologies like cameras, photocells and an intelligent blockage detection system which are able to prevent a cabinet from moving. In darker aisles automatic lighting could be a good solution.