If you are keeping personal records or small business records (paper or images), we suggest you implement a system called “unitized records” or “foldering”. Think of unitized records like a file folder into which you add documents or images over time. Generally, when a document is to be filed, you scan it into an image or put it in a physical folder.

The easy way to do this is to classify your file cabinet drawers into major categories such as “home records”, or in the case of small business, “customer files”. When you have a large number of files, naming individual files can become awkward. Either on your computer if you are imaging, or in your file cabinet drawer if you do paper records, create an alphabet sign post system, naming folders “A, B, C..” – you might start with “0” if some of your records start with numbers instead of alpha characters.

Have a common naming structure

Next you need to decide on a common naming structure. For example, with clients, you might use last name, first name, middle initial. For a client called Mary Baker, you would either put the scanned image in the “B” folder or put the document in the “B” physical folder. And if you have a substantial number of documents for a particular folder, you would create a unique folder called “Baker, Mary” into which the document would go. The main point is to be consistent with your indexing scheme.

For home filing, simple alphabet folders might be sufficient. If some lettered folders start to fill up or if you expect lots of documents from a single source (for example, your bank), then by all means create a folder for your bank documents and put it behind the appropriate alpha folder. For example, Chase Bank would be behind the “C” folder.
For home filing, it would also be appropriate to create a folder for taxes so all tax documents are in the right place when you need them during tax season.

Recommended Personal Filing Categories

If you don’t want to use alphabetic filing, then here are recommended personal filing categories (pick and choose as your needs require):

Finance Category:

Bank – insert bank name
Bonds – insert bond name
Credit Card – insert credit card name
Expenses – Receipts
Financial Planning – insert plan or company name
Income property – insert address
Insurance – insert policy name or insurance number
Loans – insert payee
Medical bills – insert payee
Mortgage – insert mortgage holder
Stocks – insert broker or stock ticker
Trust Agreements
Utilities – insert business name

Lifestyle Category

Associations – insert name
Club – insert name
Gardening
Gift Ideas – insert name
Hobby – insert hobby name
Ideas – insert idea name
Magazine, Newspaper Articles
Pet – insert pet name
Religion – insert religion, church name
Sport – insert sport name
Travel – insert location or firm

Taxes Category

Property Taxes
State Taxes
Tax Records (current year)
Tax Records (insert previous year(s))

Personal Category

Addresses
Adoption – insert name
Advisor – insert name
Child – insert name
Dental Records – insert DDS name
Education – insert institution name
Employment – insert organization
Employment search
Final instructions – plot deeds
Home –insert address
Legal – insert firm name
Living Will
Medical – insert Dr. name or institution
Military Records
Partnerships
Safe Deposit Box Inventory – copies
Vehicle – insert vehicle name, license number or vehicle ID
Wills

Procedure / Setup

1) For the above list, create your own filing categories.
     a. Add a year code (for example, 11 for 2011 records or 12 for 2012 records.
2) Customize the list with your unique item names.

For example, suppose you have the category “Travel”. You own a timeshare (Hilton Grand Vacations). You have American and United Airline Frequent Flyer accounts. Plus you have Hertz Gold Card Membership. And you occasionally get travel ideas from the newspaper and travel magazines.

You would set up your Travel File Category with:
Travel – American Airlines Frequent Flyer
Travel – Future locations and ideas
Travel – Hertz Gold Card
Travel – Hilton Grand Vacations
Travel – United Airlines Frequent Flyer

Using this method, when a United Airlines Frequent Flyer report is received, you open your filing system, go to Personal … Travel, and select “Travel – United Airlines Frequent Flyer” as your filing destination. You can use the imaging system’s default date style file name and avoid naming the image file because it is automatically filed in the correct location.

Yearly maintenance:

By bunching records by year, when the new year starts, create new files for the current year (essentially empty but ready to go to accept documents). This is an easy job if you have a spreadsheet of the file names ready to go, just change the year designation and reprint. Put the new folders in the front of the file, pushing last years files to the back of the file (or to a different drawer). Then when you do the next year, transfer the files that are now 2 years old to archival file boxes (label properly in case you need to get to them). Some folders might be “timeless” (for example, wills) and will not have a year designator (may be “P” for permanent instead).

This makes cleaning out easy. After a few years, it will be easy to take the boxes to a shredding service if you need to get rid of them. This approach keeps the most recent record current and simplifies records housekeeping.

Recommendations:

To make labels fast, we recommend the free label printing service from TAB called TABQUIK.com. Just buy labels and you get the rights to print either top tab labels or side tab labels, complete with color code indexes and even year codes – with multiple lines of text, all done with a single label. Chose from any one of TAB’s standard designs or ask for a unique design that meets your needs.  (Click here for more info)

Here’s to better, easier record keeping in 2012 and beyond.

Check out a quick video demo at TABQUIK (click here).

No charge Web Service

But now that’s all changed with Tabquik.com. Now you get color-coded labels in 3 easy steps without any software fee.
You avoid having to guess ahead of time how many unique characters or numbers you will need. And you never run out of a character.

Tabquik.com produces the exact colors you need as you need them. Plus, text is printed at the same time avoiding the multi-step hand-made process.

Tabquik’s flexibility meets your requirements and is fully compatible with your current labeling style. Fax or send us an image of the front and back of your typical label and with your order for blank labels, we will duplicate your design to match. We will even add barcodes at no extra charge in case you want to implement file tracking in the future.

Try it for free

And try if for free today. Go to TAB (click here) and request your free label sample pack (specify laser or inkjet printer). Run Tabquik.com on any computer with Internet Explorer (you will need to permit an ActiveX component so Tabquik.com can print to your printer).

By the way, your data is totally secure; it never leaves your computer.  Learn more at TABUIK.com (click here)

However, you only get the full benefits of document imaging when you use an experienced team to help the implementation process.

Converting paper records using document scanning into digital images gives your organization major productivity improvements.

Document imaging gives you these major benefits:

• Automatic backup of paper files
• Eliminates problems of lost or misplaced files
• Fast and easy access from virtually any PC or Notepad
• Faster responsiveness to clients, patients or customers
• Multiple users can access the same document or file at the same time
• Frees up office space used to store paper records along with eliminating the cabinets/shelving

Achieving these benefits can be difficult and slow due to technical issues, costs, and staff expertise. The Association of Information and Image Management (AIIM) report that 50% of organizations who attempt document imaging projects fail.

You can assure success if you use a trained and experienced staff of imaging professionals to help you avoid the pitfalls.

These professionals do not have to be employees since these skills are typically needed only at the initial implementation stage of your document imaging project. They simply need to be with you at the beginning of the project to ensure your project is done properly. Shifting the burden to an outsource document imaging service will reduce internal staff requirements and help you avoid IT capital investments.

And if you are concerned about documents leaving your facility, the good news is that we provide on-site document imaging services referred to as a “facilities management” (FM) engagement.

Our Approach

1. We provide an on-site analysis of your current records management environment.
2. We make specific recommendations for changes and improvements for your document imaging project.
3. We provide
   1. Planning
   2. Tools
   3. Staffing
   4. Project management

…to implement the recommendations

And we do this at a guaranteed price and within a guaranteed time frame.

To learn more about our document imaging professional service process, we’ll send our free “Planning a Document Conversion” white paper. Call us at 408 -2656 -11709.

For a no obligation assessment or to learn more, call 408 -2656 -11709 or email today.

In one recent dental office remodel, the available wall space for files was only 106”. Using two, 36” and one, 30” lateral cabinets, 5-drawers provided 480 patient record filing inches. The alcove was about 30” deep. What could be done to get more records in the space available?

Current Situation (three lateral cabinets, 5-drawer) fit into 106″ alcove:

Current Patient File Area Layout3D Image of Current Layout

3D Illustration of Current Lateral File Cabinets

Solution:
The alcove is about 30” deep. While traditional lateral cabinets are 18” deep, taking most of that space, modern end-tab folder, flipper-door cabinets are only 14” deep. So the available opening will get more capacity with narrower cabinets.

A “Side-Trac” system came to the rescue. Our special, narrow space-saving cabinets are available in 30”, 36” and 42” wide, and just 14” deep. By placing three cabinets in back (2, 36” and 1, 30”) and two in front on movable carriages (1, 36” and 1, 30”), the same space now stores 92% more patient files. This new configuration shown below adds 443 filing inches of storage in the same 106”.

New Moving Cabinet Solution - 3 in back, 2 movable in front

3D Image of New Layout, 3 cabinets in back, 2 in front

Side-Trac Mobile, Side-to-Side Movable Storage Solution

To learn more about high density storage in tight spaces, click on the Side-Trac Picture above or visit our web site.

The bedrock of an organization’s ongoing success is good records management.  If your bedrock is shaky or changing, instead of dealing the complexity of records management change yourself, you can outsource professional records management services and save a ton of time and money.

                Situations that impact your organization’s records include mergers, acquisitions, relocations, reporting requirements, ISO certification, audits, space problems, missing files, or paperless initiatives.  While your organization may be staffed fine for daily operation, adding a “records management” improvement project may be a problem without professional help.  Plus, your team may not have the time or expertise for a major overhaul.

                If you are facing records management changes or improvement initiatives, results happen faster and more professionally when you use a records management professional services group.  One we suggest you consider is Professional Services from TABaProductssCompany.

                Their Service includes File Moves (keeping folders in the right order), Conversion Service (changing from inefficient vertical file cabinet storage to end-tab filing), Imaging Services (both on-site and off-site, scan-on-demand), and general Records Management Consulting.  They have trained and certified Records Managers provide experienced based advice on records oriented business functions, records classification, records retention and destruction, corporate records policies and records monitoring systems.  Plus, during mergers or acquisitions, their help is especially valuable when consolidating multiple records into one centralized system.

                Their Approach is to thoroughly involved you and your organization’s personnel in a needs assessment.  The organization does a no-cost Survey to determine the potential project scope and objectives and prepares for your review, budgetary estimates and a rough idea of the tasks required.  If fiscally OK, a detailed Proposal is prepared covering project tasks, benefits and results expect and time frame.  To confirm the proposal, a Test is done to make certain that the assumptions and scope were properly identified.  Then a detailed Scope-of-Work is prepared that confirms what is to be done, by whom, and when.

                On the other hand, if you are looking for a good alternative to reduce your record keeping costs, reduce risk of exposure to litigation and ensure regulatory and legislative requirements, and increase record management efficiency by speeding information retrieval and increasing employee productivity, you might consider using a File Room Outsourcing capability.

               Tax returns, business audits & processes go faster and smoother with good, easy-to-find records.  A good goal for 2010 is to get your records into excellent shape.  It will help today and certainly in the years to come.

For a prompt, personal review, contact us at 408 . 656 . 1709

 End Tab Filing, a more modern filing method, is much more efficient and less expensive. 

 Here is why:

	Vertical/Lateral File Cabinets	End Tab File Cabinets
Filing Levels – Maximum	4 or 5 Drawers cannot be above eye level.  You automatically loose storage area above eye level. You must be able to see over the top of a file drawer.	6, 7 or 8 Proper labeling gives you file storage above eye level, automatically increasing the filing capacity per square foot. Making use of filing space above eye level
Depth of File Cabinet	Typically 18” or 19” for lateral, 20” to 24” for vertical files. The weight of the drawers when extended to access files limit the depth available for filing.	Typically 12” to 14” for letter sized folders and 15” to 17” for legal sized folders.  Depth is determined by the folder type; cuts floor space used.
Space used by file drawer mechanism	Drawer roller glides consume cabinet space; about 4” to 6” per drawer are used for in/out hardware.  So a 42” wide lateral file typically has 36” to 38” of filing space per drawer. Notice the drawer glides take up storage space	No drawers.  Typically, about 2” per shelf is used for the sides of the cabinets.  Thus a 42” end tab folder cabinet has 40 filing inches per shelf. No pull out drawers means no space taken by glides
Access to File in Drawers or on Shelves.	Only one (1) drawer can be accessed at a time.  The drawer needs to be fully closed before another drawer can be opened.  Drawers extend into aisle space, reducing room for personnel passage and space to access files that might be positioned on the other side of the aisle. Only one drawer can be opened at a time.	All shelves are accessible at the same time.  Nothing extends into the aisle so less space is needed between units that are opposite one another. Access all files at once
Folder Efficiency	Pendeflex style folders, often used as containers or holders for manila folder take filing space.  Eight (8) Pendeflex style folders consume 1 filing inch.  Plus Pendeflex folders cost about 90 cents each, adding to your cost of filing (compared to about 12 cents per manila folder).  The plastic tab labels in hanging folder give you limited labeling space and there is no benefit from color-coding.  Plus, when hanging folders get full and heavy, they sometimes fail. Hanging Style Folders Take Up Space	End tab (side tab) folders do not need “holders”, no space is lost to folders holding folders. Text labels use the entire folder edge giving you lots of space for folder identification including color-coding.   Lots of Information on Color-Coded Labels
Office Floor Space Used	4 Drawer Vertical File:15 Filing Inches/Sq. Foot 5 Drawer Vertical File:18 Filing Inches/Sq. Foot 5 Drawer Lateral File: 15 Filing Inches/Sq. Foot	7 Shelf Cabinet: 25 Filing Inches/Sq. Foot
	End / Side Tab Filing Gives You More Filing Per Square Foot

You have probably seen color-coded labels in your local doctor’s office or as props in a TV medical drama. While healthcare is a big user of color-coding, virtually any office filing system is improved with color-coding.

There are many benefits to color-coding files. First, blocks of color, associated with the same character or number (i.e., “A” or “1” ) are grouped together. This assures all “A”s are in the same location. Since “B” is represented by a different color, if a folder that begins with “B” got mixed in with “A”, the color difference would be immediately apparent. If the file was simply text, there would be no visual clue that there is a problem.

Can you spot the misfile?

Files without color code.

Files with color code.

Improved Business Info Reliability

Color-coding also improves the reliability of business information because it is easier to find a file on a shelf and proactively prevents misfiles. Data is found quicker and more reliably.

Better Retention, Purging Actions

And if you use date color-code notation (year codes) you can more quickly and reliably identify records that can be purged or moved to off-site record storage. For example, a doctor’s office could add a color-code year to the patient’s file label and update it as patients are seen by the physician. Then, on a yearly basis, the office staff can quickly identify patients that have not been seen for some time and move those records to off-site storage, freeing space in the current patient record area.

Better Space Utilization

Another key benefit is an increase in the volume of records that can be stored in the available space. Part of the increase in space efficiency is the ability to file records above eye level. Lateral & vertical file cabinets max out at 5 drawers because above this, you cannot see into the drawer. Side tab labeling lets you go 6, 7, 8 or sometimes 9 levels high, adding 40% or more storage in the same number of square feet.

Plus, if you use high density mobile storage (moving shelves), you can literally increase storage capacity of a room more than 330%.

A firm in the Bay Area called us recently to see if we could solve an upcoming record management filing problem. The space set aside for record storage in a pending move was much smaller than their existing space. Could we help?

The client has legal files, currently stored in Pendeflex folders in lateral and vertical cabinets. They have four, 42” wide, 5-drawer lateral cabinets and 40, 25” deep, legal width 4-drawer vertical file cabinets. The file cabinets are full of files with about 1 Pendeflex holder per 2 filing inches. We calculated they have about 4,611 filing inches of records (12 filing inches per foot). Although spread out in their current facility, these 4 lateral filing cabinets and 40 vertical filing cabinets would need to be stored in a room about 20 feet by 15 feet in the new location (or about 300 square feet). Over time, the cost of the 4 lateral file cabinets and 40 vertical filing cabinets was about $16,000 that works out to about $3.50 per filing inch.

Space Needed for Existing Filing Cabinets

Since the client only had a 15 foot by 12 foot room in the new location that could be dedicated to corporate records, the client called upon us for a solution.

The Solution

High Density Storage will come to this client’s rescue. A 15 foot by 12 foot room can be outfitted with a high density mobile storage system with 1 fixed shelving unit and 4 movable shelving units. Each carriage holds a 76” tall, 7 opening, legal depth filing shelf unit. By converting to side tab filing (the professional way to store records), taking advantage of space above eye level, and eliminating wasted space (aisles), the high density system will store 6,076 filing inches in this small space, a 39% increase over the current filing capacity of their lateral and vertical cabinets. Plus, an added benefit, this solution only requires 180 square feet of space, 39% less than the alternative 20 x 15.

High Density Storage Plan

Another benefit of this solution is the elimination of the Pedeflex hanging files. Eliminating the Pendeflex hanging files freed up an additional 242 filing inches, the equivalent of almost 2 ½ vertical file cabinets. RefBPCH-0006

The investment required to install this system the high density mobile system is about $20,700. So while the investment amount is more (about 29%), there is more storage capacity (about 39%) and the space requirement is less. This solution works out to about $3.40 per filing inch. And the customer continues to get the benefit of reduced space by lower lease rates and building costs such as heating and air conditioning.

We were recently asked to do a workplace ergonomic evaluation. One of the recommendations was to position the keyboard at optimum height to minimize body stress when working at the keyboard. Desks and cubicle work surfaces are typically 29″ above the floor, fine for writing but not the best height for keyboard positioning. Putting the keyboard on a typical work surface is too high for most people and ultimately lead to stress, carpal tunnel syndrome or other arm, back problems. It’s a worker comp claim in the making.

Our suggestions included a commercial grade under-work surface keyboard holder. And since the price of those units seem high compared to typical office super store purchasers, we were asked to provide information on the differences between consumer grade keyboard holders and commercial grade keyboard holders. While consumer grade keyboard holders are certainly less expensive, there are real reasons businesses should only consider commercial grade keyboard holders.

Factors that justify the benefits of a commercial grade under-work surface keyboard holder.

Knob adjustable tilt and height, typical of consumer grade products:

Professional/Commercial products do not require hand twisting a knob to adjust and set the height (and tilt at the same time). Height adjustments should be only dependent upon the user grabbing the edge of the tray, twist slightly to unlock, move to the desired height and let go. The unit should stay there. The only time you adjust the tilt is once and from then on the tilt is maintained. A unit with knob adjustment for the height would require constant adjustment every time you want to push the keyboard back under the work surface. A big no-no. Plus, the twisting knob is not something you want to do every time you want to set the height (not to mention the tilt will be constantly adjusting at the same time (no consistency))

The value of Metal Parts;

The height adjustment mechanism on some consumer units are made of plastic. Not a good idea for reliability since this section of the keyboard holder needs to be robust.

Keyboard tray is made of phenolic material in commercial grade keyboard holders.

Inexpensive keyboard trays are made of wood or plastic. Professional grade products are made of phenolic, an ultrastrong composite made of wood pulp and resin that is non-toxic, durable, and easy to clean. A phenolic tray holder is thinner and provide more clearance between knees and the bottom of the tray. And it will not crack or split.

U-shaped brackets that connect the keyboard tray to the lift mechanism are used in commercial grade keyboard holders.

The angle brackets on the bottom of an inexpensive keyboard holder are larger than the type typically used in professional grade products because there is only one 90 degree bend. Professional grade products typically have a 5 surface keyboard tray holder in the shape of a U with flanges, not a simple L. This means more clearance for knees and strength without bulk.

Installation will take more time in a consumer product.

One way companies keep product prices down is to leave much of the installation finishing to the consumer. In consumer grade product, you often get a bag full of parts. Commercial grade products in contrast come almost fully assembled. You do have to bolt the keyboard track to the underside of the work surface and bolt the tray to the lift mechanism, but that’s about it in a commercial grade product. You aren’t going to be assembling the knob mechanism or other parts.

Lack of options in consumer grade products.

Consumer grade keyboard holders typically just have one track length and one shape – straight. Plus they are only available in one keyboard tray size. In contrast, commercial grade keyboard holders offer a variety of track depths and keyboard tray widths and shapes (for example, to accommodate curved front keyboards like those available from Microsoft.  RefBPCH-0005

Lack of mouse cord restraint or mouse pad edge in consumer products.

Commercial grade keyboard holders include a special bracket or clasp with their mouse pads. These constraints grip the mouse cord and help keep the mouse from falling onto the floor. If you have a cordless mouse, pads in commercial grade products have a lip that helps prevent mice from falling over the side.

Lack of meeting BIFMA standards is typical for a consumer product.

BIFMA (Business and International Furniture Manufacturer’s Association) has established standards for commercial/industrial grade products used in offices. Consumer products often do not meet BIFMA standards.

Environmental Standards and LEED credits.

Organizations that specialize in building commercial grade keyboard holders often have Greenguard certification and specific programs for recycling materials used in the manufacturing process. Consumer grade products don’t typically have the same level of environmental commitments.

Our Recommendations:

Our firm offers only commercial grade product. In regard to Keyboard tray holders, we represent HumanScale, Idea-at-Work, Intellaspace, DolphinPointMarketing, and Workriteergo. These companies specialize in workplace ergonomics including sit/stand workstations, monitor holders, keyboard holders and lighting. Plus, many of their products are LEED MR 4.1 & 4.2 eligible. Typically commercial grade warranties are at least 10 years. Consumer products are typically warranted for only 1 year.

Contact us at 408-16561-11709 for specific recommendations based on your requirements. Locally we are pleased to provide a no-obligation, on site work place review and specific recommendation.

A typical desk orientation is right when the door to the manager’s office is on the left as the manager faces the door.

The current facility was evenly divided between Right and Left orientation, ½ of the desks were Right Hand, ½ were Left Hand.

Right Return L and U Desk Configurations

As we started to plan the move, we discovered, much to our chagrin, that the interior designer for the new facility pout virtually all the doors on the left. If this was a new installation, there would be no issue. However, since we were moving existing desks into this facility, this was going to be a problem.

Right Return Desks used with door on Left

Unlike cubicles that are easily configured, handed desks are not typically reconfigurable. Eight desks would NOT work in the offices because the office doors were on the wrong side. We can reuse the bridge and credenza hutch but the desks and credenza/returns had to be replaced because the pedestals are on the wrong side.

And that is precisely why we always recommend reconfigurable desks for any of our clients who expect or plan to move (and in Silicon Valley, that happens often because of rapid business growth).

Two product lines from Indiana Desk (one laminate and one veneer) are completely reconfigurable. Recognizing a need for flexibility, Indiana Desk’s designers cleverly developed two lines that are easily reconfigurable. Called the Revolutions (veneer line) and Resilience (laminate line), these units feature predrilled under work surface pin receivers that accurately and securely attach pedestals and modesty panels to be connected to the work surface without drilling into or connection to side panels. Plus pedestals, lateral cabinets, and modesty panels are finished on all sides so that if their position is altered, it end configuration is a completely finished product. When reconfigured, no holes are drilled or patched. No glue is used in final configuration assembly. RefBPCH-0004

So if you are considering new office desks and may move, get reconfigurable systems to give yourself the ultimate flexibility and avoid unnecessary furniture expense because things don’t line up right in the new location.