Office Systems Division Case Studies       

The Kardex Solution: Lektriever Vertical Movable Shelving System

Market: Government
Application: Publications Library, Physically Challenged User
Installation: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville, Florida

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers renovated their Publications Library in Jacksonville, Florida, the primary objective was to increase storage capacity for a constantly expanding collection of instructional materials. The Corps met that objective by installing a Kardex Lektriever Vertical Movable Shelving System and, at the same time, reaped another important benefit: greater accessibility for a physically challenged office worker.

"Once I fell and was badly hurt trying to reach a file on a high shelf," said Corps of Engineers Library Aide Irmagard Wooten. "Now I can work from my wheelchair, and the Lektriever brings me any files I need."

The Kardex Lektriever system is an automated carousel which rotates Ferris wheel style and delivers files to the operator on electronic command. Because the unit's work station is adjustable to either standing or seated position, it safely accommodates the special needs of physically challenged workers.

"I can pull my wheelchair right up under the work station and reach my file in the system," Mrs Wooten said. "All I have to do is punch in a few numbers on the keyboard, and whatever shelf I need comes right to me. It's so wonderful not having to wait for someone to help me get things that are out of my reach."

Most of the materials maintained by Mrs. Wooten are heavy instructional manuals, often contained in bulky three-ring binders. In the past, the weight of the binders has presented her with an additional challenge because of paralysis in her left arm.

"With the Kardex (Lektriever) I can adjust the height of the shelves, so it's easier to get the binders out with my one good hand. There's even a locator bar that lights up and shows me exactly where the file is on the shelf. That saves a lot of time I used to spend searching for files.

Market: Government
Application: Publications Library, Physically Challenged User

According to Mrs. Wooten's supervisor, Librarian Orianna West, the accessibility factor of the Kardex Lektriever system was an unexpected bonus of the added storage capacity. "We now have a much happier, much more productive employee, and it's all because we ran out of space," she said.

Prior to renovating, the Corps Library had been using 82-inch fixed shelving to store some 550 binders, most of which are three-inches or larger in width. The small 144 sq.ft. office where the documents were stored had long ago been outgrown, so almost 100 of the binders were stored in other areas of the library.

"We needed room to expand, and there was no more room to be had," Ms. West said. To correct the problem, the department investigated traditional movable shelving because of it's high-density storage capacity. Then the Corps of Engineers purchasing agent told Ms. West about a Kardex Lektriever system he had specified for storage of aerial drawings and blueprints in another department. Because the Lektriever takes advantage of vertical space, it would provide the Library with 20% more storage capacity in 50% less space at the same time that it "made life easier for a loyal employee."

"Everybody else offered us expandability but not accessibility," Ms. West said. "But our Kardex dealer representative came in with the attitude that he wasn't going to sell us equipment, he was going to solve our problem. Most companies in this day and age are too busy trying to make money to do that. I've never met a salesperson who tried harder to help than our Kardex representative did."

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