The Art of Storage: What Works Best for Your Business?

When it comes to storing materials and tools, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The answer depends on the specific needs of your business. For instance, if you have only nine types of fabric in your business, you may not need to have them visible all the time. In fact, you could store them in boxes labeled one through nine, as you don't necessarily need to know what's inside those for yourself.

On the other hand, if you're a turnkey operation that puts coatings on bathtubs in people's houses, you likely don't need the kind of material storage solutions I have upstairs in my loft. My fabric is all laid out and stacked so that I can see where the leather is, where the batting and stuffing are, and where the twills and synthetics are. This is because I'm often looking for a solution in the material itself, and having everything out on display makes it easier for me to find what I need.

This highlights the importance of understanding your business's specific needs when it comes to storage. What works best will depend on your unique situation. For example, if you're a fabric store like mine, visibility is key. Having all my materials laid out and visible allows me to quickly see what I have and find what I need.

In contrast, for businesses that don't require such fine-grained material selection, accessibility may be more important. In this case, the best storage solution might prioritize ease of access over visibility. However, it's worth noting that even in cases where accessibility is key, there are still ways to make the most of your storage space.

For instance, I've heard about a room at Lego where they have bins of every currently produced Lego brick laid out for display and reference. While this might not be feasible for all businesses, it highlights the importance of having easy access to the materials you need.

In my own shop, I prioritize organization and visibility over accessibility. This means using clear labels and markers to identify what's on each shelf. My favorite tool for marking is a white out pen on a dark background. I've tried other methods, including label makers, but find that this particular solution works best for me. The pen dries instantly and can be used to write on oily tools without causing any issues.

Another key consideration when it comes to storage is cross-referencing. In my shop, I have an alphabetical list of everything stored in each of the 50 (soon to be 60) storage units. This allows me to quickly find what I'm looking for and ensures that all relevant information is at hand. For businesses with complex inventory systems, this kind of cross-referencing can be a game-changer.

Ultimately, the best way to store materials will depend on your unique business needs and priorities. Whether you prioritize visibility, accessibility, or organization, there are solutions available that can help you achieve your goals. By understanding what works best for your specific situation, you can create a storage system that truly supports your operations.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enlet's see here speaking of this John cesolfo says when you find some aspect of the shop that needs reorganizing what is your Tipping Point between buying a solution versus building one uh okay uh assuming approximate equal monetary cost either way what makes you decide one over the other for a given situation well the main reason I would choose building something over purchasing it uh is often about size storage size so right now I store a lot of uh I'm storing some things uh how do I say this let's see I'm going to break out a box so um I use these art bins I have uh five or six of them yeah five or six of them and I use them for some various hat chemicals and shoe chemicals and leather working chemicals and stuff like that um and these are a fine solution because I can see what's going on inside of them I like that aspect but I'm also clear that like this doesn't perfectly fit everything I need in the chemical department so at some point I'm either going to find a bin that's taller it allows me some bigger storage or I'm going to come up with a a a more efficient solution so efficiency is usually for me The Tipping Point between purchasing and buying a solution I find that purchased Solutions tend to not maximize the storage space as well as a customized piece especially since I end up with all these shelves on the z-axis uh that I'm going up and again space is at a real premium here I've got one blank space over there that I got to take care of that I could add some more stuff over to and I definitely need to add about 10 more sortemos to the collection in here um but again it's a process uh so uh buying a solution versus building one it's not so straightforward too either right like some of the storage solutions can be expensive um I I tend to like my storage solutions to have some uniformity to them uh and I for example I would guide you to the build I did for storing all my Staples and Brad nails for my automatic staplers um I like visually being able to see everything at once so I prefer storage solutions that have some clear aspect to them so I don't have to open everything up in order to see what's inside of it my drawer game has radically changed over the last 10 years I know I used to say that drawers are where things go to die but I now feel like I love drawers but really specifically for being able to have dedicated spaces for things uh that live together so I made this set of five flat files to store all of my precise measuring equipment of every stripe and precise measuring equipment little stainless steel rulers and and and radius gauges and thickness gauges and stuff like that I for me it doesn't work to have all that in a drawer it's too much to sift through so I made Flat files that laid it all out for me um and I you know you can find flat files but they can be expensive they're usually incredibly expensive and they're usually much bigger than the one that I built I wanted a very specific solution that lived under this table and I built it and I literally built it so close to tolerance I had to hammer it in the last couple of inches that's just the way that I tend to do things again to talk about it being a process not a solution Justin Justin Cessna says what do you believe is the best way to store materials how should shelves be arranged and marked Etc see that is not a question to which there is an answer to there is no single answer to that question the answer is what do you need from the storage right like it could be that there's only nine types of fabric in your business in which case you don't need to have them visible you could have them in boxes labeled one through nine because you don't need to know what's in those for myself in the creative way that I use this space I need everything visually out and visible to me because I can't always remember everything that I have and I need my Solutions galvanized by proximity to seeing other other Solutions um so you're saying specifically storing materials not tools um again it really matters about whether you're a turnkey operation like maybe uh you're one of those folks that puts a coating on bathtubs in people's houses those are the kind of businesses in which you don't need the sort of material Storage Solutions I have upstairs in my loft my fabric is all laid out and stacked so that I can actually see where the leather is and where the batting and stuffing is and where the twills and the synthetics I have to have all that laid out for me because I'm often looking for a solution in the material um that's the difference I think that's the key difference right like what kind of shop is it uh and then which we'll get to in a few minutes with some of the other questions um the best way to store materials is not necessarily the way that's accessible to you uh if I had my druthers I would want everything out on shelves with lights on the shelves so I could see everything where it all is but there's not enough room in the world for that I have I have heard about you know I I I've heard about a room at Lego that they have where there are bins of every currently produced Lego all laid out I want that in my shop I want that for my Legos but I mean you know but that's not reality um but you're specifically qualifying this and saying buy this I mean how should shelves be arranged and marked um I have gone through a bunch of different marking Solutions over the years and Tom sacks gave me my all-time favorite which is a white out pen on a dark background I find I can see that I'm just looking around I can see you know over here carbide end mills slitting saw blades I can read the contents of my shelves and my tools from all the way across this room I can look over there and see that's where the wire sleeves are and that's where the set screws live like white out pens specifically specifically this one uh Google's correction pen premium um I have one of these in every pen holder in my life I've got like five or six at the house about a dozen here I use them all the time uh it dries instantly you can write on oily tools and somehow it works uh and that is my favorite method of marking I have difficulty with label makers now for marking stuff for storage because oftentimes it's too far away for me to see with my normal glasses I have to end up doing this kind of thing as I'm getting up close to stuff I'm sort of like taking off my glasses and putting them on so for me the best way to Mark stuff in my shop is with the clearest labels that I can see from the farthest away and that's absolutely a Tom Saks solution that I that I that I stole outright um foreign I have an actual alphabetical list of everything that's in every one of the 50 sort of moves I have in this shop soon to be 60. um I have a cross-referenced alphabetized list so I mean cross-reference I mean corks are both under R for rubber Corks And also C for corks comma rubber uh and I'm always modifying it whenever I look for something and I can't find it under the first thing I'm looking for I make sure I'm going to add that to the next iteration of that list and for stuff like the kind of hardware store I have stored in the sortamos around the shop that is a really really key and important important thing is that is that cross-reference I go to it all the time thank you so much for watching if you'd like to support us even further you can by becoming a tested member uh details are of course below But it includes all sorts of perks and we're building them all the time you get Advanced word and behind the scenes photos of some of our projects questions you get to ask direct questions during my live streams and we have some members only videos including the atom Real Time series of unbroken unedited shots of me working here in the shop they are weirdly meditative thank you guys so much I'll see you on the next onelet's see here speaking of this John cesolfo says when you find some aspect of the shop that needs reorganizing what is your Tipping Point between buying a solution versus building one uh okay uh assuming approximate equal monetary cost either way what makes you decide one over the other for a given situation well the main reason I would choose building something over purchasing it uh is often about size storage size so right now I store a lot of uh I'm storing some things uh how do I say this let's see I'm going to break out a box so um I use these art bins I have uh five or six of them yeah five or six of them and I use them for some various hat chemicals and shoe chemicals and leather working chemicals and stuff like that um and these are a fine solution because I can see what's going on inside of them I like that aspect but I'm also clear that like this doesn't perfectly fit everything I need in the chemical department so at some point I'm either going to find a bin that's taller it allows me some bigger storage or I'm going to come up with a a a more efficient solution so efficiency is usually for me The Tipping Point between purchasing and buying a solution I find that purchased Solutions tend to not maximize the storage space as well as a customized piece especially since I end up with all these shelves on the z-axis uh that I'm going up and again space is at a real premium here I've got one blank space over there that I got to take care of that I could add some more stuff over to and I definitely need to add about 10 more sortemos to the collection in here um but again it's a process uh so uh buying a solution versus building one it's not so straightforward too either right like some of the storage solutions can be expensive um I I tend to like my storage solutions to have some uniformity to them uh and I for example I would guide you to the build I did for storing all my Staples and Brad nails for my automatic staplers um I like visually being able to see everything at once so I prefer storage solutions that have some clear aspect to them so I don't have to open everything up in order to see what's inside of it my drawer game has radically changed over the last 10 years I know I used to say that drawers are where things go to die but I now feel like I love drawers but really specifically for being able to have dedicated spaces for things uh that live together so I made this set of five flat files to store all of my precise measuring equipment of every stripe and precise measuring equipment little stainless steel rulers and and and radius gauges and thickness gauges and stuff like that I for me it doesn't work to have all that in a drawer it's too much to sift through so I made Flat files that laid it all out for me um and I you know you can find flat files but they can be expensive they're usually incredibly expensive and they're usually much bigger than the one that I built I wanted a very specific solution that lived under this table and I built it and I literally built it so close to tolerance I had to hammer it in the last couple of inches that's just the way that I tend to do things again to talk about it being a process not a solution Justin Justin Cessna says what do you believe is the best way to store materials how should shelves be arranged and marked Etc see that is not a question to which there is an answer to there is no single answer to that question the answer is what do you need from the storage right like it could be that there's only nine types of fabric in your business in which case you don't need to have them visible you could have them in boxes labeled one through nine because you don't need to know what's in those for myself in the creative way that I use this space I need everything visually out and visible to me because I can't always remember everything that I have and I need my Solutions galvanized by proximity to seeing other other Solutions um so you're saying specifically storing materials not tools um again it really matters about whether you're a turnkey operation like maybe uh you're one of those folks that puts a coating on bathtubs in people's houses those are the kind of businesses in which you don't need the sort of material Storage Solutions I have upstairs in my loft my fabric is all laid out and stacked so that I can actually see where the leather is and where the batting and stuffing is and where the twills and the synthetics I have to have all that laid out for me because I'm often looking for a solution in the material um that's the difference I think that's the key difference right like what kind of shop is it uh and then which we'll get to in a few minutes with some of the other questions um the best way to store materials is not necessarily the way that's accessible to you uh if I had my druthers I would want everything out on shelves with lights on the shelves so I could see everything where it all is but there's not enough room in the world for that I have I have heard about you know I I I've heard about a room at Lego that they have where there are bins of every currently produced Lego all laid out I want that in my shop I want that for my Legos but I mean you know but that's not reality um but you're specifically qualifying this and saying buy this I mean how should shelves be arranged and marked um I have gone through a bunch of different marking Solutions over the years and Tom sacks gave me my all-time favorite which is a white out pen on a dark background I find I can see that I'm just looking around I can see you know over here carbide end mills slitting saw blades I can read the contents of my shelves and my tools from all the way across this room I can look over there and see that's where the wire sleeves are and that's where the set screws live like white out pens specifically specifically this one uh Google's correction pen premium um I have one of these in every pen holder in my life I've got like five or six at the house about a dozen here I use them all the time uh it dries instantly you can write on oily tools and somehow it works uh and that is my favorite method of marking I have difficulty with label makers now for marking stuff for storage because oftentimes it's too far away for me to see with my normal glasses I have to end up doing this kind of thing as I'm getting up close to stuff I'm sort of like taking off my glasses and putting them on so for me the best way to Mark stuff in my shop is with the clearest labels that I can see from the farthest away and that's absolutely a Tom Saks solution that I that I that I stole outright um foreign I have an actual alphabetical list of everything that's in every one of the 50 sort of moves I have in this shop soon to be 60. um I have a cross-referenced alphabetized list so I mean cross-reference I mean corks are both under R for rubber Corks And also C for corks comma rubber uh and I'm always modifying it whenever I look for something and I can't find it under the first thing I'm looking for I make sure I'm going to add that to the next iteration of that list and for stuff like the kind of hardware store I have stored in the sortamos around the shop that is a really really key and important important thing is that is that cross-reference I go to it all the time thank you so much for watching if you'd like to support us even further you can by becoming a tested member uh details are of course below But it includes all sorts of perks and we're building them all the time you get Advanced word and behind the scenes photos of some of our projects questions you get to ask direct questions during my live streams and we have some members only videos including the atom Real Time series of unbroken unedited shots of me working here in the shop they are weirdly meditative thank you guys so much I'll see you on the next one\n"