Abraxas maximizes storage capacity for efficient document management

Abraxas: information governance solutions

Document management firm Abraxas is dedicated to building strategic partnerships and delivering better solutions to those who manage and govern information assets. The company offers a wide range of services including storage and retrieval, indexing and coding, and document destruction, among others. Abraxas was founded in 2000 and has a total surface area of 800,000 ft².

Abraxas was founded in 2000 and initially concentrated on assisting law firms with their document management needs. Three years later, two major software companies were engaged in a public legal fight that generated one of the largest paper trails in US history. Abraxas supplied a solution for effectively collecting, coding, and producing responses, which further established the business as a leading supplier of records management services in the US.

As Abraxas continued to grow, it found that it required more storage space to house the many documents and records that it manages. “Over a 10-year period, we’ve grown from a 3,000 ft² building to more than 800,000 ft² of facility space,” says Derek Twite, Director of Facilities for Abraxas.

Abraxas’s goal was to optimize the entire document life cycle — from creation to elimination or archiving — to enhance operational efficiency, productivity, and information security. In terms of logistics, the documents are stored in locations that enable quick and secure access as needed.

When equipping its new warehouse in Portage, Michigan, the company had two essential requirements: to maximize storage capacity and streamline the management of documents. Accordingly, Interlake Mecalux and its partner Arrow Material & Handling installed a logistics solution tailored to Abraxas’s needs: very narrow aisle (VNA) pallet racking.

Greater capacity in a minimal space

“With this particular project, the racking was set with narrow aisles and a wire-guided system for the order picking fork trucks. With these systems, the racking is much denser,” says Twite.

The warehouse is 240,000 ft² and contains bolted pallet racks by Interlake Mecalux. The racks are 31' high with an average of seven beam levels and can store a total of 21,000 pallets. The racking takes up as much of the available warehouse space as possible to house as many records as necessary.

It also was important that the facility feature narrow aisles to maximize the storage space. Optimizing the surface area of the warehouse was crucial for gaining a high storing capacity, allowing the facility to boost its overall capacity by one-third, according to Twite. Effective organization of space and operations is vital for avoiding any possibility of error and easily locating files when required.

The forklifts used by the operators function by means of a wire-guided system. To this end, a wire is embedded in the warehouse floor. It emits a magnetic field, which the machine detects and uses as a guide, avoiding potential collisions with the racking structure and the goods.

These racks also aid warehouse operators in managing documents very quickly: they provide direct access to the products, which makes storage and picking tasks easier. This direct access allows the operators to insert and remove the documents with ease.

Coordinating their work in this way has boosted throughput in picking tasks and throughout the entire facility. Operators receive and ship around 200 pallets a day.

Efficient document storage

Since 2000, Abraxas’s mission has been to offer unparalleled customer service and tailored solutions specific to its clients’ information management needs.

With its new Michigan warehouse equipped with Interlake Mecalux VNA pallet racking, the company has increased its total storage capacity by one-third. Moreover, it can maintain a smooth flow of movements and provide the security required for its clients’ documents. Thanks to this logistics solution, Abraxas can continue delivering high-quality and reliable service to its clients, ensuring compliance with internal regulations and policies at all times.