Find out how TAB Helped Johnson Controls with LEED Certification!
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April 2010: In This Issue
- How TAB Helped Johnson Controls with LEED Certification »
- Why Records Managers and Facilities Managers Are Working Together »
- TAB Storage Solutions for LEED Certification »
- Don't Miss TAB at the 2010 MER (Managing Electronic Records) Conference »
- What Your Colleagues are Downloading »
Dear Records Manager,
This month we step out of the file room to look at other ways RM is helping organizations achieve their goals.
We’ve got a great story on how TAB helped Johnson Controls with their LEED certification, as well as a great Q&A with our own Janet Campbell on why facilities managers and records managers are working together.
We value your feedback. If you have any questions, or want to discuss any of the issues raised in this newsletter, please get in touch!
Regards,
TAB
How TAB Helped Johnson Controls Become LEED Certified
 Johnson Controls, Inc. had big plans when they decided to renovate and expand their Glendale, WI headquarters: To become a LEED Platinum Certified complex, and the world’s most sustainable campus.
In order to achieve such ambitious goals, they needed to ensure that every aspect of their green retrofit lived up to the exacting standards of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. As part of their renovation plans, Johnson Controls was faced with moving and repurposing the extensive records management systems in their Corporate Tax and Corporate Law Departments.
Johnson Controls has been a long-time client of TAB's. The file storage equipment that was being moved and repurposed was installed by TAB many years ago. In fact, the TAB Account Manager who planned the overall move project was part of the team that installed the original systems some 20 years earlier.
Business Situation
Johnson Controls was looking for a trusted business partner who shared their commitment to achieving their ambitious goals. They needed a partner who was capable of delivering the efficiency and excellence they expect of themselves, and whose vision, like theirs, commits to “creating a more comfortable, safe and sustainable world.”
TAB's Solution
The proposed solution included many phases, and logistics planning sessions to get the project done correctly, and within the allotted timelines, with minimum waste. The overall project included the repurposing of EZ10 mobile shelving units that were 20+ years old, and the reuse of all components, in new configurations, in the renovated departments.
To deliver this project, the move was designed into three phases: teardown of existing high-density mobile shelving, relocation of the shelving to temporary offices and warehousing of surplus units, and then repurposing of equipment and materials for the move back to headquarters.
To ensure maximum contribution towards LEED certification and to keep a tight hold on logistics and deadlines, TAB had an extensive consultation process including members of Johnson Controls’ Corporate facilities team, along with key representatives from their Corporate Tax and Legal departments. Corporate Tax had the largest collection of files, boxes and binders and planned to complete the project over a weekend.
Business Benefits and Results
The client was committed to reducing, reusing and recycling as much product and material as possible. The team at TAB really used their expertise and creativity to meet that goal. At the end of this project, all that was left was a single garbage can of waste. That’s an amazing achievement by any standard!
“TAB’s approach to moving, repurposing and reusing our largest records management system fit seamlessly with our goal to create the world’s most sustainable campus,” said Sara Scheive, Design Manager, Global Workspace Solutions, Johnson Controls.
This is also a true testament to the excellent quality and durability of the original units that TAB had installed. In addition, TAB was able to return a portion of surplus plastic components to the original raw material manufacturer for 100% recycle and reuse. In all likelihood, the recycled raw material will be returned to TAB in the form of new finished products. Not only did this contribute to the LEED objectives of using recycled materials, but also by sourcing from a local supplier, TAB was able to limit transportation, associated emissions and fuel costs.
 More and more, Facilities Management (FM) is collaborating with Records Management (RM). Why? OnRecord sat down with Janet Campbell, TAB Sales Manager, to find out.
OR: Hi Janet and thanks for joining us. So what exactly is driving the increased collaboration between FM and RM?
JC: I think quite simply that facilities managers now recognize that records management directly affects many of their top strategic priorities, from aligning their programs with corporate strategy to emergency preparedness and meeting environmental goals.
OR: Can you give us a specific example?
JC: Sure. Storage and efficient use of space is a great one. On average, 21% of facility floor space is devoted to some sort of storage—that’s a big chunk of real estate. And there are growing demands for records storage and access, both in the physical sense as well as electronic. Think about it, in most facilities budgets, spending on storage is second only to systems furniture and on average, and IT storage spending is growing three-times faster than overall IT budgets.
So because the right records management program can have a significant positive impact on efficiently using physical and virtual storage, it makes sense that FM would work with RM to achieve this.
OR: So is it just around filing and storage or is their more to the relationship?
JC: Oh no, it’s much bigger than that. Detailed RM strategies are benefiting Facilities managers in many different ways. Take the greater requirements organizations face around corporate governance, such as the classification and retention of documents. Working with Records Management can help Facilities managers reduce the overall volume of records, identify security concerns, reduce cost—and it’s all in the context of bigger corporate imperatives around improving governance policies and procedures.
And then there are areas like storage equipment. Records management professionals can help facilities managers identify the storage equipment that’s best suited to the organization. Not only does this improve things like employee safety and accessibility, but if done right, this can help FM can reduce equipment costs and space requirements, while still meeting the functional business needs.
OR: An office move or relocation would seem to be a natural opportunity for facilities managers to use the expertise of records management. Is that a common starting point for collaboration?
JC: Definitely. In records management, we have something we call the “SMART” process—for Streamline, Manage, Access, Retain, and Toss. It’s standard preparation for a corporate move, although it could also be done on an annual basis. From an FM perspective, this process frees up space for active files and staff seating. And when organizations are moving offices, it reduces how much material FM teams have to pack up and haul to the new location.
As well, facilities managers frequently have to organize file moves within an organization, and here records management can be a big help. Files are not furniture, and if they aren’t moved correctly this can have a significant negative impact on a business. So RM can help ensure the files are moved correctly while addressing security or privacy concerns. And similarly RM can contribute to mapping out a new floor plan, as well as ensuring business continuity and reducing the overall risk involved in any move.
OR: Does it work the other way? Can facilities management help records management?
JC: It’s different in every organization, but the challenges that RM groups typically face are due to a lack of resources. So say for example an organization is moving. This is when facilities managers become aware of issues around document retention and the classification systems, and then raise those issues with the senior leadership. In this way FM helps RM get funding and sponsorship from executives.
OR: So, it’s a win-win for both Facilities Management and Records Management teams?
JC: Absolutely, it’s a collaboration that enables both roles to meet their objectives.
OR: Any advice on how the two can successfully work together, on getting the partnership started?
JC: It’s important to have senior management buy-in and a corporate mandate, just to get the right level of support in terms of budget and human resources. And the earlier that facilities managers include the RM group in the planning process, the better. This is important because together, they can demonstrate a stronger ROI to senior management, in terms of more effective use of storage space, achieving productivity gains, and reducing risks. It’s critical too that FM and RM groups jointly establish standards for their respective areas of responsibilities, and come up with ways to support the requirements of both.
OR: What does the future look like for this partnership?
JC: I have definitely seen the overlap grow, and this will continue. Everyone has to do more with less, and the two groups need to rely on mutual collaboration to meet their own objectives. Every time an organization or department needs to relocate, RM is at the table with FM to help manage all the material that is stored—because in a lot of organizations, the storage situation is out of control. The more the two teams work together, the better it is for both sides.
Janet Campbell is the Prairies Region Sales Manager for TAB Canada and sits on the Board of Directors for IFMA (Manitoba Chapter). If you’d like to find out more about how RM can help facilities management, contact us.
 Working toward a LEED designation? Our high-density storage systems can contribute points toward your project by having a direct positive impact on our natural environment, economy, as well as our health & productivity. Here’s how:
Smaller Footprint
Our mobile systems reduce the amount of space needed for storage, which in turn helps reduce building sizes and preserves our valuable open spaces.
Energy Conservation
High-density mobile storage systems can help with energy conservation because, by helping reduce building size, they help to reduce the amount of space you need to heat and cool. And by expanding your on-site storage capability, you can reduce the amount of fossil fuel consumed in retrieving off-site archived storage.
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
Our steel suppliers use recyclable material that is 18%–23% recycled scrap, and we also recycle our own aluminum and steel scrap in the production of our storage units.
And the beauty of many of our high-density storage systems and their components is that they can be re-purposed and reconfigured as storage needs change.
Improved Indoor Environmental Quality
We use a durable and non-off gassing powder coat paint, which has the lowest Volatile Organic Compound (VOC ) emissions possible, to reduce air pollution.
LEED: TAB Can Help
These are just some of the ways that TAB and high-density storage solutions can contribute towards LEED project certification. And even if you aren’t pursing LEED, these storage systems are perfect for organizations that want to minimize their impact on the environment! To find out more about how we can help you with your LEED project, contact us.
 TAB will be participating at the National Conference on Managing Electronic Records (MER) in Chicago May 17-19th. MER delivers cutting edge information on key operational, technical and legal issues associated with the life cycle management of electronic records.
Whether you’re focused on meeting compliance and risk management requirements, cost savings through the application of technology, or “keeping up” with the sheer volume of information to manage your critical records quickly and efficiently, plan on attending MER to meet with TAB’s thought leaders and practitioners in the areas of:
- Imaging programs
- Classification and records retention development
- Merger and acquisition RM integration
- RM Outsourcing services
For more information about the MER conference, go to www.merconference.com.
 Want to know what your colleagues are reading?
These are some of our most popular recent downloads:
How to Switch to Electronic Documents for Efficiency and Space Savings
Thinking of converting paper documents to electronic format? Using imaging to save real estate? Need to be more efficient with fewer staff? Then your RM program has to be ready.
Answering the questions in this tool will help you:
- Ensure your imaged documents meet record-keeping requirements
- Understand how your existing RM program can support an imaging and retention program
- Understand which records, once scanned, can be destroyed and which must be retained
This is an invaluable resource for anyone who is thinking of enhancing their records management capabilities with an imaging program, and you can download it here!
File Retrieval Assessment Tool
Struggling with lost files or long retrieval times? This tool can help!
We’ve worked with hundreds of organizations over the past 50 years to help them solve their file retrieval problems, and we’ve used that experience to develop this useful tool.
Answering these questions will help you identify the root causes of any retrieval challenges you may be facing, and get you thinking about potential solutions and what those might look like for your organization.
You can walk through this diagnostic tool on your own—or call one of our records management experts to help.
Download your copy here.
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