On-Site Portable Storage Containers Offer Strategic, Innovative, & Customized Solutions
The use of on-site portable storage containers is rapidly on the rise, as a resilient and strategic space solution. In 2019, IBIS World projected the storage container industry would grow 0.7% annually, with $8.9 billion on the books by year end. Fast forward three years, and industry trends reveal market growth of 3.9% in 2022, with $11.8 billion in annual revenue.
As this competitive market continues to evolve, so too do portable storage containers themselves. Traditional shipping containers have been practically, sustainably, and durably constructed with ISO standard steel to handle worldwide transport by rail, road, or sea, built to withstand all water, wind, and weather conditions. Today, portable storage containers remain just as robustly made and now feature many modern options and conveniences available to meet changing preferences and industry uses.
More and more organizations are turning to on-site portable storage containers as an ideal solution for strategic space management, innovative flexibility, and completely customized use.
PUTTING STRATEGIC SPACE MANAGEMENT TO WORK
As the health care industry works to recover and rebound, post-pandemic, there is a lot of work to be done, quite literally. According to Health Facilities Management (HFM) magazine’s 2023 Hospital Construction Survey, capital budget allocations are prioritizing health care facility renovations. However, as the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reports steep cost increases and materials shortages, health care construction projects are increasingly “over budget” and “behind schedule,” which can significantly affect operations.
As health care systems evaluate how to improve existing facilities’ design limitations, despite roadblocks and bottlenecks, alternate solutions are necessary to maintain continuity of care and patient efficiency, in order to make health care renovations more manageable.
When it comes to optimizing functional health care facility space, on-site portable storage containers are more cost-effective per square foot than the rising costs of health care construction, offering facilities managers a much needed and resilient space management strategy.
Because portable storage containers are large, weather-tight, and offer vault-like security, they can provide a perfect storage solution for a vast volume of health documents and records for a prolonged period, with easy on-site accessibility, freeing up facility space that can be functionally repurposed. Climate-controlled containers allow temperature-sensitive supplies, equipment, and surplus PPE inventory to be safely stored and retrieved as needed, while existing storage areas can be reallocated more efficiently. By adding on-site portable storage to health care facilities, essential space can be better used.
Perhaps most importantly, as health care facility construction continues, on-site portable storage can protect the overall patient experience. Containers offer clean, out-of-sight space to securely tuck away construction equipment, tools, and materials from public sight, to minimize disruptions and to help buffer construction zones. By muting health care construction distractions, on-site portable storage can help patients better focus on optimum health and healing.
FINDING INNOVATIVE & FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS
Post-pandemic, concerning classroom conditions found in aging U.S. public school buildings are bringing serious infrastructure issues to light, according to the National Council on School Facilities and a recent CNN report. Overcrowding is a never-ending challenge facing many public school systems; however, one of the solutions – school construction – often falls within an investment funding gap. With the cost of school construction skyrocketing, capital investments for facilities expenditures still have not recovered from the Great Recession of 2007 - 2009, leaving determined educators to redefine space solutions to accommodate student needs.
Across the country, on-site portable storage containers have helped many public school systems create much needed storage for surplus supplies, extra classroom furniture, physical education equipment, building maintenance materials, cleaning supplies, and more, opening up essential and much needed space for students within school buildings and on school property.
When it comes to enriching students’ education, limited funding resources require school administrators to think outside the box (quite literally, outside of the school’s four walls), using the same creative thinking that they encourage amongst their students. On-site portable storage containers can be repurposed in a myriad of innovative ways - to create additional school offices, to inspire study centers and science labs, to design art and music studios where creativity can flourish, to provide safe after-school workspaces for homework with Wi-Fi accessibility, and so much more.
Perhaps the many storage needs of public school systems are best understood by their Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), who are deep in the support trenches. Because on-site portable storage is so flexible, the savviest PTAs are using containers to stock and sort school supplies for back-to-school boxes, organize school fundraising donations and materials, store items needed for teacher appreciation and family events planned each year, even sell tickets and refreshments for student festivals and sports games. Putting on-site portable storage to innovative use allows schools to go above and beyond limited funding and space constraints to inspire students, every day.
CREATING COMPLETE CUSTOMIZATIONS
Despite post-pandemic labor challenges, Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) reports 2023 growth in the U.S. construction industry, with 2.7% more jobs year-over-year, and construction unemployment rates dropping to the lowest recorded since 1969, as of Q2 2023.
While the overall industry outlook is trending positively, materials shortages, supply chain volatility, and inflation are significantly impacting construction planning. In fact, the AGC 2023 Construction Outlook National Survey indicates that materials costs are the second biggest concern amongst those who responded. Combined with construction site theft on the rise, it’s more important than ever to ensure 100% safe and secure storage protection.
On-site portable storage containers offer a completely customizable solution. A wide variety of large, extremely durable container sizes guarantees ample space for warehousing expensive equipment, essential tools, and job-specific supplies right on the construction site, safe from weather conditions, view from the general public, and the risk of theft. Keeping storage within reach allows both time and labor to be used more efficiently, without the hassle of ongoing back-and-forth transport. Not only can containers be easily relocated from site-to-site, but they can also be stacked for long-term inventory planning, which saves money on freight shipping.
When it comes to construction management field offices, on-site portable storage containers can be customized to provide quiet meeting space, secure document storage, and easy visibility as a centralized communications hub right in the heart of the construction site, optimizing time, efficiency, and organization. Additional containers can be allocated for labor break rooms, respite from weather conditions, and employee common areas to boost productivity.
Creative customization options are endless - from logo colors and design to door and window modifications, plus lights, shelving, temperature controls, ventilation, accessories, and much more to best suit unique needs and functionality.
On-site portable storage containers offer flexible, strategic solutions across a myriad of industries, alleviating the challenges of finding much needed storage space and minimizing disruptions, to help businesses, organizations, and facilities succeed.
It’s no surprise that more and more organizations are turning to on-site portable storage containers as an ideal solution for strategic space management, innovative flexibility, and completely customized use.
Brian Quick, President, Mini Warehousing, Inc.
Email address: [email protected]
Brian Quick is the President of Mini Warehousing, Inc., a small, local, family owned and operated business, committed to timely, customized service, for over 45 years. When you need secure, on-site storage at your location, turn to the company trusted by thousands of organizations throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Explore the many reasons more businesses, hospitals, school systems, construction companies, and others turn to Mini Warehousing, Inc. for their storage solutions. Offering storage containers, custom modifications, accessories, off-site storage, and more. www.miniwarehousing.com
