MRO Today - MRO stock moves at Genesee County Road Commission

MRO stock moves at Genesee County Road Commission

by Paul Calcaterra, product manager, Lista International

When your job is to maintain a county highway system with its seasonal demands and constant preventative maintenance needs, there is the potential for many roadblocks to efficient workflow. There was a time when these efficiency roadblocks were the norm at the Genesee County Road Commission, but that time is past and the obstacles have been removed.

Since the early 1900s, the Genesee County Road Commission has been keeping roads in Genesee County, Michigan, operational and safe. Today, this Flint, Mich.-based facility is renowned for having transformed itself into a model of procedural effectiveness, efficient inventory management and complete wall-to-wall organization.

Laying the groundwork for success
Tim Sabin is operations/equipment director for the commission. Sabin has worked for the commission for the past 34 years. His department has overseen the maintenance of all of the department facilities, including five garages and the primary equipment department in Flint servicing over 300 vehicles – from cars to graders to loaders

Also responsible for overseeing the purchase of new and used equipment, Sabin was a driving force in the commission’s turnaround. He credits much of this transformation to an overhaul of the facility’s storage and workspace equipment and the introduction of a new system from Lista International of Holliston, Mass.

“Previously we were using metal and wood shelving that was probably 30 years old, and parts were stored, or more precisely, haphazardly scattered in various locations on shelves, on tabletops and even on the floor,” Sabin says. “The Lista high density storage system has allowed us to organize our parts, equipment and workspace so that everything is readily accessible, inventory is better managed, and we have a much more efficient use of space.”

Prior to making this storage system investment, Sabin already had a modicum of first-hand experience with Lista International, a leader in the area of modular storage and workspace systems.

“We had three Lista modular drawer storage cabinets that we purchased a number of years back that we used to house small parts like wire ends and spark plugs,” he says. “We liked the durability of those cabinets; they have held up very well. And we knew that Lista was a very solid outfit, both in terms of their products and their post-sale follow-through.”

The new Genesee County Road Commission storage solution went well beyond a few cabinets. In fact, it covers a huge range of Lista offerings: six workstations, an issue counter, 42 modular drawer cabinet combinations of varying width and depth, 81 sections of Storage Wall system, and a shipping/packaging station.

Wall-to-wall organization
The facility’s equipment department stockroom has perhaps seen the greatest transformation. Previously the department was housed in a two-level garage area with disorganized overflow stuffed in a cramped space. The department now has its home in a completely renovated single-level space that has twice the storage capacity and no stock overflow. Lista’s Storage Wall systems, with their unique combination of drawers, shelves, wide-span beams and roll-out trays, were the hero in what proved to be a dramatic transformation.

“We’re very pleased with the overall outcome of how the Lista products have improved our organization and efficiency,” Sabin says. “It’s surprising the number of items you can put in a drawer in comparison to a shelf.”

By combining a wide array of different modular components, Lista’s Storage Wall systems allow organizations like the Genesee County Road Commission to store small, medium and large sized parts and inventory together and have easy access to everything. In Sabin’s equipment department, Storage Wall systems comprise a large section of the space and are laid out in five rows. These systems, along with an array of custom-configured Lista modular drawer storage cabinets, are home to all the parts mechanics use to repair and maintain vehicles, including coil filters, spark plugs, oil filters, starters, engine parts and more.

Larger, bulky items including an extensive library of equipment repair manuals still reside on shelves where they can be readily and easily accessed. But the smaller parts have snug, secure and protected homes in Lista’s compartmentalized drawers.

And thanks to Lista drawers' 440-pound capacity, even extremely heavy parts such as lift cylinders, starters, alternators and batteries can be safely stored in the drawers.

Station-to-station efficiency
Individual work areas have also undergone a huge change.

“What we were using before were desks that were built from different combinations of metal and wood,” says Sabin. “These desks had gone through the mill a few times, and many featured stubborn drawers that would stick in place. With the new Lista workstations, we’ve not only consolidated space, but have set up the area so that everything we use now has an official home.”

The new workstations can hold a large number of items, including files, thanks to the fact that they are partnered with Lista modular drawer storage cabinets with file drawers. Each workstation is paired with a Lista locker where workers can store clothing and personal items.

Above the worksurface, the workstations feature the added benefit of overhead cabinets. Now items that were laid out on the worksurface in a state of disarray – items like manuals, books and software – are safely stored out of the way, freeing up that once-cluttered workspace.

The workstations are located directly behind a new issue counter that wraps around the outer perimeter of the room. Before, the issue counter was just that – a counter. Today a custom-configured issue counter features Lista modular drawer cabinets and butcher block tops to create a truly practical workspace.

Stock keepers can now store fast moving parts like wire ends, spray lubricants and paints right at their fingertips, and at the point of issuance.

Lista’s cabinets maximize organization and their customizable drawers contribute to fast item retrieval. These cabinet drawers, which feature 440-pound load capacity, are available in seven different sidewall heights for full cubic storage capacity. Also, each drawer can be subdivided with a wide variety of drawer accessories to create organized, customized compartments.

The new layout, with its clean, neatly organized storage, in combination with a new computerized fleet maintenance management program called Dossier, has improved both employee productivity and morale.

The leader of the packing
The commission’s packing and shipping area within the stockroom has also seen marked improvement. Previously, mailing materials and packing supplies were spread out over three different desks; all of these items are now neatly organized in a custom-configured Lista packing and shipping workstation.

Lista’s packing and shipping workstations bundle together an array of great features and benefits. There are holders for rolls of paper, Bubble Wrap, and other long items on rolls, as well as spool holders for rolls of labels.

Extremely flexible, these benches are available with a wide selection of bench tops, including butcher block, plastic laminate, pressed wood over solid wood core and galvanized steel-over-wood. Beneath the work surface, full-height, vertical shelf dividers provide custom, slotted storage for corrugated or other bulk materials such as cardboard pieces.

Down the road
Overall, the award-winning Genesee County Road Commission couldn’t be more pleased with the Lista storage and workspace solutions, and the transformation their equipment department has undergone.

Tim Sabin and staff have also enjoyed the working relationship they have developed with Lista.

“Lista is not in it for the short term. They’re not going anywhere; they’re going to be there to take care of any needs we may have down the road. Even though we’ve never had a problem, we know they’ll be there if we need assistance. We wouldn’t hesitate to work with them again,” he says.

Clearly Sabin feels the commission took the right road with their decision to purchase the Lista storage and workspace system. And they’re on the right track for a bright future.