Steel cabinet with doors open showing bins on the door panels and interior

Hospital maintenance storage gets planned last and used hardest. The engineering shop holds thousands of small parts, a handful of expensive tools and whatever was left over from the last project, and it has to hand any of it over at two in the morning. The fix is boring and effective: bins on louvered racks, tools in organizers, and a cart that takes the job to the fault instead of the fault to the shop. Labs USA is a supplier and project partner, not the manufacturer. We supply Quantum Medical storage products, help configure them for the room and the workflow, and coordinate delivery and installation.

Single sided louvered rack filled with blue hanging bins
800 lbpublished mobile rail cart load
32compartments in the largest published organizer
4published louvered rack models
18-36″published rack and cart widths

Small parts on louvered racks

The problem in a plant shop is not the number of parts, it is the number of part types. Louvered racks are the cheapest way to give every one of them a labelled home.

A louvered rack is a steel panel with horizontal slots that hanging bins clip into anywhere along their length. Change the bin mix and you change the rack in a minute – no shelves to move, no holes to drill. The manufacturer publishes single sided racks in two sizes, a double sided rack and a mobile double sided rack, plus preconfigured packages that arrive with the bins already specified.

Single sided racks go against a wall and take the fast-moving consumables. The double sided version stands in the middle of the floor and doubles the bin count per square foot, which is usually the right answer in a shop with one long wall and a lot of parts. The mobile version is for shops that reorganise, or that run a project bench and want the parts to follow it.

Double sided louvered rack with yellow bins on both faces

Published racks, carts and organizers

Model What it is Published detail
QSS-1866H Single sided louvered rack published in the louvered rack series
QSS-3666H Single sided louvered rack, wider published in the louvered rack series
QDS-3666H Double sided louvered rack bins on both faces
QMD-36H Mobile double sided louvered rack louvered panels on a wheeled frame
QMD-36H-220 / -230 / -240 / -230240 Mobile rack packages rack supplied with a published bin mix
QRC-4D Mobile rail cart 36″ x 24″ x 35-1/2″, 800 lb published load
QRC-7D Mobile rail cart, narrower 36″ x 18″ x 35-1/2″, 800 lb published load
ORG81832 Single sided organizer 18″ x 14″ x 3″
ORG81532 Single sided organizer 15″ x 12-1/4″ x 2-3/4″
ORG80322 Double sided organizer 12-1/4″ x 10-1/4″ x 3″, up to 32 compartments, 24 dividers
ORG80032 Single sided organizer 12-1/2″ x 10″ x 2-1/4″, up to 17 compartments, 12 dividers

For the mobile rail carts the manufacturer publishes 16-gauge cold-rolled steel with a powder coated gray finish, an all-welded steel push handle, two rigid and two swivel poly casters with brake, an 800 pound load capacity and a flat top with raised edges that doubles as a work surface. For the organizers they publish clear lids for identification, dividers to stop parts migrating between compartments, and construction from industrial grade polypropylene; the wrench holder is published as high impact polystyrene and the hand-held caddies as high density polypropylene with high strength ribs.

Reading the model numbers. QSS is a single sided rack and QDS a double sided one; QMD is the mobile double sided rack, and the suffix on a package (220, 230, 240) identifies the bin size supplied with it. QRC carts are numbered by their rail configuration. ORG numbers encode the organizer footprint and compartment count.
Louvered rack holding a mix of yellow and red hanging binsMixed bin sizes on one rackBig bins low, small bins at eye level. The louvered panel lets you change the mix later without tools.
Mobile rail cart with yellow bins on angled rails and a flat topMobile rail cartTakes the bins to the job. The flat top with raised edges doubles as a work surface.

Laying out a plant operations store

1Split fast from slowThe parts used weekly belong at eye level near the door. Everything else can go higher, deeper or further away.
2Bin the small stuffFasteners, fittings, filters and electrical parts go in hanging bins on louvered racks, sized so the bin is full but liftable.
3Cage the valuable stuffPower tools, meters and test equipment want a closed, lockable cabinet with a sign-out routine, not an open shelf.
4Rack the bulkFilters in cases, pipe, duct and lamps need shelving or racking, not bins.
5Make one cart the job cartA mobile rail cart with the common parts and a work surface saves more time than any other single change in a shop.
6Label the locationLocations outlive the contents. Label the bin position and keep a par level for the fast movers.
Storage of chemicals, flammables, gas cylinders, medical gases and any regulated material is governed by your own facilities, safety and compliance teams. We supply storage products and design to the criteria your team provides; we do not advise on codes, standards or hazardous-material requirements. Estimated figures only. Quantities, footprints and capacities we produce during planning are estimates for discussion. Final specifications and dimensions are confirmed on the quote and field-verified before installation.

Beyond the shop

The same products solve the same problem in the areas that support the shop: grounds and transport stores, biomedical engineering benches, the paint and finishes store, and the project store that fills up during a refit. Where the store also holds consumables for other departments, keep those on their own rack and label it as such – shared stores without an owner become nobody’s stores.

Plan the shop with us

Send the room, a photo of the current mess and a list of what has to live in it. We come back with a rack and bin layout, the published models and a quote. No charge for the planning work.

Hospital maintenance storage FAQ

What is a louvered rack, in practice?
A steel panel with horizontal slots. Hanging bins clip in anywhere along a slot, so the bin layout can be changed in seconds without tools. The manufacturer publishes single sided, double sided and mobile double sided racks, plus packages that arrive with a bin mix already specified.
How much does a mobile rail cart carry?
The manufacturer publishes an 800 pound load capacity for both published rail carts, in 36 by 24 and 36 by 18 inch footprints at 35-1/2 inches high, in 16-gauge cold-rolled steel with a powder coated gray finish and two braked casters.
How many compartments do the organizers have?
The published range runs up to 32 compartments in the double sided organizer, which ships with 24 dividers, and up to 17 in the smallest single sided organizer with 12 dividers. Clear lids are published so contents can be identified without opening them.
Can we store chemicals or gas cylinders on this?
That is a question for your facilities, safety and compliance teams, and their criteria govern. We do not interpret codes or standards, and we will not sell you storage on the basis that it satisfies a requirement. Tell us the criteria you have been given and we will quote against them.
What about lockable storage?
Cabinets are the answer for tools and test equipment – see medical storage cabinets, where the published cabinet widths and door styles are covered. The manufacturer publishes 36, 48, 60 and 72 inch wide cabinets plus specialty configurations.
Is this the same product range as industrial shelving?
The families overlap, and that is fine – a hospital plant shop has the same parts problem as any other maintenance operation. What we do here is size and specify it for healthcare facilities work, in rooms that share corridors and lifts with clinical areas.

Get a hospital maintenance storage quote

Send the room dimensions and a list of what has to live in it. You get a rack, bin and cart layout, the published models, freight and lead time at no charge.