My approach has been that random storage makes more sense than block
storage for several reasons:

1) Block storage reduces security. In theory, someone gaining
unauthorized access to the facility is more easily able to access all
of your boxes when they are stored together. That could be an issue if
the boxes are marked externally with any identifying information.
Random storage will tend to scatter the boxes and make "browsing" for
information much more difficult.

2) Random storage tends to reduce risk from disaster. As seen with the
London fire (and other commercial record center fires in North
America), fires involving records centers tend to be total losses. By
scattering your records throughout a facility, you reduce the risk of a
burst pipe causing damage to your entire holding. By insisting that
records are stored randomly among multiple buildings, you reduce the
risk that all records would be lost in a large disaster. I have a
standing policy that I try to ensure that no more than 25% of our
records are in a single facility. The natural randomization of new and
returned items storage will tend to mitigate the risk.

While the reasons that you articulated are good reasons for maintaining
block storage, I would suggest that the security and disaster risks are
greater risks. I have not found block storage to necessarily reduce the
risk of lost boxes. People are people and they can misplace a box
anywhere, so a missing box does not necessarily mean that only the
block storage area will be searched. Block storage, in my experience,
does tend to make for much more labor in general for the records center
and tends to make their storage practices less efficient, primarily
because they have to resort the incoming boxes into the permanent
location order, as well as put boxes away in a precise location, rather
than placing boxes in the first available location that is encountered.

With the larger commercial records centers, you'll find that they
typcially work from a hub and spoke system, no matter where your boxes
are stored. Their delivery trucks tend to work off of routes and your
boxes will be placed on a vehicle with boxes for other clients, most of
whom have random storage anyway.

Patrick Cunningham, CRM

--- Anna Robinson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> We are currently reviewing the way our files are stored with our
> commercial storage contractor and I wonder if any other records
> managers
> who use commercial storage could give us any feedback on the risks/
> benefits of allowing boxes of files to be stored randomly within one
> warehouse as opposed to block storage (i.e. all boxes of files to be
> stored in blocks within designated customer areas)? Or is it
> considered
> preferable to store across several warehouses to minimise the risks
> of
> losing all of the files stored?
> 
>  
> 
> We have always resisted allowing our storage supplier to store our
> boxes
> randomly with the view that firstly if the box is misplaced a whole
> warehouse search would have to be carried out in order to find it,
> and
> secondly if our boxes are stored in one warehouse in blocks this aids
> speedier retrieval and prevents the need for boxes to be delivered to
> one 'hub' before they can be delivered to us.
> 
>  
> 
> We would welcome feedback as to whether this view is now outdated,
> particularly in the light of the Iron Mountain fire which happened
> last
> year. Any opinions/experiences  as to  preferred methods of storage
> and
> reasons why would be very helpful to us in our current review.
> 
>  
> 
> Apologies if this subject has been raised many times before!
> 
>  
> 
> 
>
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