These are the questions we are actually asked, grouped the way they arrive: which product, how big, how long, who installs it, and how the process works. Answers are short and each one points at the page with the detail. Two things you will not find here: prices, because healthcare storage is quoted per configuration, and any interpretation of codes, standards or accreditation requirements. Labs USA is a supplier and project partner, not the manufacturer. We supply Quantum Medical healthcare storage products, help size and configure them for the room and the workflow, and coordinate delivery and installation.
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Jump to a theme
- Products and product families — which family fits which job
- Sizing and capacity — how big, how many, how deep
- Lead time and delivery — how long, and what arrives when
- Installation — who fits it, and what we need from you
- Design process and quoting — how a room goes from question to quote
If your question is not here, send it to us. Planning questions get answered whether or not there is a project attached, and the resources section holds longer guides on cart selection, shelving materials, room sizing and sterile storage planning.
Products and product families
The fastest way through the range is to say what the storage has to do. Every answer below points at the page that carries the published product detail, including the pages that say plainly where the manufacturer publishes no current specification.
If you are choosing between two families, the buyer guides in the resources section compare them properly.
What does Labs USA actually supply for healthcare storage?
Carts, shelving, storage cabinets, bins and containers, wall-mounted systems, high-density mobile systems, sterile processing storage and plant-operations storage — the Quantum Medical range, configured for the room and the workflow. Start at the healthcare storage hub. Labs USA is a supplier and project partner, not the manufacturer. We supply Quantum Medical healthcare storage products, help size and configure them for the room and the workflow, and coordinate delivery and installation.
Do you manufacture the products?
No. Quantum Medical manufactures them; we are a supplier and project partner. We claim no dealer, distributor or contract status with the manufacturer, and we publish the manufacturer’s own figures for specifications rather than our own. See Quantum Medical storage.
Which cart family should we use?
Decide from the task, not the supplies: a work surface at the point of care points at procedure carts, restocking points at supply or utility carts, a fixed kit points at crash or isolation carts, and moving case sets points at surgical case carts. The medical cart selection guide works through it in order, and the medical carts hub lists every family.
Wire, stainless steel or polymer shelving?
Cleaning method, load, how wet the room gets and how small the items are — in that order. Wire suits general supply storage, stainless suits wet and aggressively cleaned rooms, polymer suits shelves that lift out for washing. The shelving selection guide compares all three, including where each is the wrong answer.
When do we need cabinets instead of shelving?
When the contents have to be enclosed or locked rather than simply stored. That covers secure storage, catheters and scopes in some departments, and rooms where your own team wants items shielded. See medical storage cabinets.
Do you make infection prevention claims about the materials or finishes?
No. We describe materials, finishes and environments only, and we do not repeat efficacy wording from any literature. Bring the criteria your own infection prevention team sets and we design and quote to those criteria.
Are the products certified to a particular standard?
We make no certification, code or accreditation claims anywhere on this site, and we do not interpret requirements. Where you need documentation for a specific product, tell us what your team needs and we will ask the manufacturer for what they publish.
Guidance only. Everything on this page is planning guidance for discussion. Final layouts and specifications require Labs USA review with your own team, and are confirmed on the quote and field-verified before installation.
Sizing and capacity
How big does our supply room need to be?
Count it rather than benchmark it: measure the footprints of the lines that take real space, multiply by your holding quantity, convert to shelf feet, then fit runs and aisles into the room width. The supply room sizing guide shows the whole calculation with a worked example.
How deep should the shelving be?
As deep as your deepest item and no deeper. Extra depth adds dead space on every level and can cost you a whole run in the room.
How wide should aisles be?
That is a decision for your own team: measure the widest thing that has to travel down the aisle and add clearance. Each extra foot of aisle costs runs, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default.
Is mobile shelving worth it for us?
Only if floor area is genuinely short, and it brings cost, moving parts and a floor-flatness requirement with it. The space savings guide shows the aisle arithmetic and says plainly when high-density does not pay; the High-Density Calculator compares both layouts for your room width.
Can you tell us how much storage we will need before we have an item list?
We can model options, but any number without an item list is a guess and we will label it as one. An afternoon spent counting the 30 or 40 lines that take real space produces a number you can defend in a business case.
Lead time and delivery
What are the lead times?
They depend on the family, the configuration and stock at the time, so we quote a lead time with the configuration instead of publishing one. As a rule, standard shelving and stock carts move faster than accessory-heavy or custom module mixes, and high-density systems with track and carriages take longest.
Can you deliver in phases?
Yes, and on larger projects it is usually better. We phase deliveries around ward or department moves so material is not stored on site for weeks. Tell us the sequence you need and we build it into the quote.
What about delivery access?
Tell us early: dock or kerbside, lift dimensions, the tightest turn on the route, any out-of-hours restrictions and whether a goods lift has to be booked. Access constraints change the delivery plan far more often than they change the product.
Where do you deliver?
We are based in Salt Lake City and supply healthcare facilities across Utah and the wider Mountain West, with delivery further afield handled case by case. Ask us with the postcode and we will confirm. See contact.
Is there pricing anywhere on the site or in the tools?
No. Configuration drives the price — shelf sizes, finishes, accessory counts, delivery and installation — so a list price would mislead more often than it helped. The tools show quantities and footprints only, and we quote from a confirmed configuration.
Model it yourself first
Four free tools, no sign-up and no pricing: calculate high-density capacity, draw the room, configure a cart, or lay out a shelving bay. Send us the output and we will check it against the real room.
Installation
Do you install, or is it delivered flat?
Both are available. Shelving and carts are frequently assembled on site by the customer’s own team; high-density systems, track systems and wall-mounted runs are normally installed. We quote installation as a line so you can compare.
What do you need from us before installation?
Confirmed room dimensions, floor construction and flatness for anything on track, wall construction for anything wall-mounted, the location of services above the storage, access and route measurements, and a named contact on site. We field-verify dimensions before installation.
Can you install in an occupied department?
Yes, and it needs planning: work windows, dust and noise control agreed with your own infection prevention lead, a route that does not cross clinical traffic, and somewhere to stage material. We plan this with your project lead rather than assuming a free run of the room.
What happens to our existing shelving?
Tell us what you want done with it. Removal and disposal can be included in the quote, and reusing existing posts or frames is sometimes possible — send photographs and dimensions and we will say honestly whether it is worth it.
Design process and quoting
The sequence is always the same: understand the room and the workflow, model a layout, review it against available products and the criteria your teams have set, then quote. The modelling is free and so is the review.
Nothing becomes a specification until we have reviewed it and the dimensions have been verified on site.
How does a storage project usually start?
With a room and a problem. Send dimensions, photographs, an item list if you have one and the constraints your own teams have set. We come back with what we would look at first and what we need in order to quote.
What are the Design Center tools for?
Turning a rough idea into something quotable without a meeting. There are four: a High-Density Calculator, a Room Designer, a Medical Cart Configurator and a Shelving and Bin Configurator. They are free, need no sign-up and show no pricing.
Can we use the tool output as a specification?
Not on its own. Everything the tools produce is an estimate for discussion. Final layouts and specifications require Labs USA review and are field-verified before installation.
Will you tell us what the regulations require?
No. We do not interpret codes, standards or accreditation criteria. Bring us the criteria your infection prevention, safety and facilities leads set, and we design and quote to those criteria.
Who will we be dealing with?
The same person from the first question to installation. Small enough that you get one contact, and long enough in healthcare storage that the questions above are the ones we ask you. Start here.
Where to go next
- Healthcare storage hub — every product family in the cluster
- Planning resources — the buyer guides and the free tools
- Medical cart selection guide — how to choose a cart, in order
- Shelving selection guide — wire vs stainless vs polymer
- Supply room sizing guide — capacity planning arithmetic
- Sterile storage planning guide — considerations to review with your own teams
- By department — central supply, sterile processing, theatres, nursing units, imaging, pharmacy and plant operations
- Design Center — the four free planning tools
Still have a question?
Send it over with whatever detail you have — a room, a photograph, a drawing or a list. We answer planning questions whether or not there is a project behind them.