magazine
businessinfomag.uk
38
The end of the
filing cabinet?
Personal storage bucks
the trend
According to a 2016 study by AIIM, one
in four businesses now runs a clear/
paper-free environment, up from 19%
in 2015. Nearly half (43%) say paper is
decreasing in their organisation, either
somewhat (35%) or rapidly (8%).With
the paper-free movement seemingly
still going strong, is there still a need for
filing cabinets?
Jonathan Hindle, group managing
director, KI EMEA, confirms that
digitalisation and shrinking paper
volumes have led to a decline in demand
for hard copy storage, but says filing
cabinets are still required in some
sectors.
“With shifting preferences towards
‘paperless offices’, the importance of
the classic filing cabinet has declined.
However, this is less pronounced in
sectors such as legal, professional
services and accounting where auditing
and hard copies of documents are still
required. The digitalisation of many parts
of our lives has, of course, reduced the
need for so many paper filing systems
and the footprint they occupy,” he said.
Steve Bays, managing director of
Century Office, has also seen a shift
occur in the last decade.
“Sales in this area have reduced
drastically over the last ten years,
with paper-free offices becoming
more and more popular to reduce
the environmental impacts of refuse
disposal,” he said.
While sales of filing cabinets are
down, demand for lockers has been
growing, driven by changes in working
practices, notably the trend for hot-
desking. Bays says that with employees
sharing and shifting between different
workspaces, personal and lockable
storage that remains separate to a desk
has become more important.
Hindle, too, points to a rise in
personal storage to support more agile
and flexible working. He said: “With the
rapid growth of ubiquitous connectivity,
flexible and remote working has become
the norm for many, so when they do
come together in office environments,
people need somewhere to anchor
themselves without the luxury of an
assigned desk and pedestal.”
RFID locks
The shift to personal storage solutions
has led to new opportunities for KI,
which now offers RFID and connected
locks to help manage the use of private
storage. “Personal lockers, cupboards and
even conversions of legacy systems to
accommodate this new way of working
are creating several opportunities for us,”
explained Hindle.
“The integration of RFID-enabled
locking systems is of particular interest
to customers who wish to create a
flexible, user-friendly and easy to
manage facility that supports any kind
of workstyle. Unlike systems that are
built into an office fit-out, our wireless,
battery-operated locks allow immediate
reconfiguration possibilities should
a company need to change its office
scheme. This key advantage has been
of interest to savvy customers who
understand that being able to redesign
a workspace quickly and easily gives
them an advantage over enforcing a rigid
floorplan.”
Hindle added: “WithWi-Fi integration,
these locks are easy to manage and,
more importantly, to audit. A facilities
manager, for example, can remotely
monitor exactly how storage is being
used and make smarter decisions about
procuring the appropriate amount of
furniture and placing it intelligently
around their office estate. Particularly for
global companies, this means a seamless
and uniform system for both user access
and facilities management across their
entire real estate portfolio.”
Filing and Storage
Fix your filing
We asked Steve Bays of Century Office what buyers should look for when choosing storage:
“Look to maximise your storage into areas that might not be suitable for desking etc. in order
to reduce your rental outlay, for example, under stairwells and in recesses that are not high enough
to accommodate staff.Where possible, archive your filing into storage away from working areas to
reduce clutter and maximise working space. Ideally, you should archive yearly so you only ever have
the minimum required filing within your office space.
“If your working practices change, you should review your storage needs. It is good practice to
de-clutter annually, as we all know how prone we are to stashing ever more stuff into our drawers
that we never refer to again!”
While sales of
filing cabinets
are down,
demand for
lockers has
been growing,
driven by
changes
in working
practices
