Archive for September, 2010
I recently was having dinner with a friend. The discussion of fashion and quality came up. She mourned about buying the “greatest little top… I wore it a couple of times, washed it on delicate, and it fell apart”.
When our purchases fail, we need to say to ourselves: “OK, I paid ‘x’ and wore it twice. It cost me ‘x/2’ each time I wore it.”
A standard banker’s box is universal in size. It’s made of corrugated cardboard. It has a lid. Buy the cheapest banker’s box from the local retailer and save $0.25 per box. Now do the same math.
If the quality of the cardboard is poor and the lid sits like a ill-fitting hat or breaks when it’s folded, the box will never last 7 years in storage.
So you purchase another box to replace the first one. The initial savings are gone. And you wasted time dealing with “box collapse”.
The integrity of your contents has been compromised.
Working closely with a local manufacturer, we came up with ‘The Ultimate Records Box’.
It’s easy to put together, double-walled, has strong handles and is made of high-quality recycled cardboard.
Now I ask you, what more could you want to manage the lifecycle of your documents? At City Centre Archives, we respect your time and your pocket book.
The Situation:
One of my favorite London organizations is the Alice Saddy Foundation, a non-profit organization who views all people as having the right to reach their fullest potential.
Earlier this year, they decided to reduce risk and storage costs. Their closed file boxes were spread throughout several home basements and a self-storage unit. Out of sight and out of mind.
Actually, this is a very popular approach among our latest client membership – until they have to find the file. Then we get the call.
The Dreaded Task:
Going through all the boxes
Alice Saddy needed to decide what to keep and what to shred. They needed a plan. They needed us.
The Trick:
Take the overwhelming task and break it down into manageable bits and bites.
We started with one basement. We picked up banana boxes, bankers boxes, shoe boxes and food boxes – 75 in total and brought them back to our facility. {insert second picture]
We provided an audit room and they provided Tom.
Tom had the task of documenting what was in each box. Document. Sort. Shred or Keep? 75 of those boxes were reduced to 25. Management reviewed and approved the boxes marked “shred”.
It’s working… a work in progress…the storage unit is next
