Mobile Wire Shelving Expansion for a Medical Products Company: New Horizon Medical, Las Vegas
New Horizon Medical needed more storage capacity in an existing stockroom without changing the footprint. Labs USA supplied additional chrome plated wire shelving units on mobile posts and casters, matched to the shelving already in service.
The Situation
Storage problems in a growing medical products operation almost never announce themselves as storage problems. They show up as cartons on the floor, as staging in an aisle, as a receiving area that never fully clears, and as time lost looking for stock that is technically on hand. By the time someone writes a purchase order, the room has been quietly overflowing for months.
New Horizon Medical was at that point in Las Vegas: the existing shelving was full, inventory was still growing, and the building was not. Anything added had to fit the room that already existed and work alongthe units already installed.
That is the constraint that decides the specification. Adding a different shelving system into a room means two sets of shelf sizes, two spare parts lists, and posts and shelves that do not interchange, which is precisely the situation that leaves an operation with unusable half-units two years later. Matching what is already there keeps every component pooled and interchangeable.
The second question was fixed or mobile. Static shelving is cheaper per unit, but a stockroom that is out of space usually has aisle width it cannot recover and layout it cannot revisit. Units that roll let the room be re-laid out on a Saturday instead of at capital budget time, and let a unit be pulled out for cleaning or access behind it rather than being emptied.
The Solution
Labs USA supplied additional chrome plated wire shelving in the room’s existing sizes: twenty four by sixty inch and twenty four by seventy two inch wire shelves, on plated mobile posts, with five inch casters. Braked and non-braked casters were supplied together, so each unit gets a pair that locks and a pair that swivels freely, which is the combination that rolls in a straight line and then stays put under load.
Wire shelving earns its place in medical and laboratory storage for reasons that have nothing to do with price. Open wire lets air move through the stack, so nothing sits in trapped humidity, and it lets light and sprinkler coverage through, which solid shelves obstruct. It does not collect dust the way a solid deck does, and it can be wiped clean on all sides. Shelves adjust on the post at one inch increments, so a unit can be re-pitched for cartons one year and bins the next. And because the whole system is dimensionally standardised, shelves and posts bought today interchange with the units already on the floor.
Sizing the shelves to sixty and seventy two inch widths at twenty four inches deep is a deliberate capacity choice, not a default. Twenty four inch depth takes standard cartons and bins two deep while keeping everything within arm’s reach from one side, so nothing is stored where it cannot be seen. Longer shelves put more linear storage under the same number of posts and casters, which lowers cost per usable foot and reduces the number of vertical obstructions in a room that is already tight.
Because the expansion matched the installed system exactly, the operation gained capacity without gaining complexity. Every shelf fits every post, every caster fits every unit, and the room can be reconfigured freely rather than in fixed blocks.
Features
Advantage
The decision that matters in a stockroom expansion is not brand, it is compatibility. A room with two incompatible shelving systems accumulates orphan components: shelves that fit nothing, posts of the wrong diameter, casters that will not thread. Matching the installed system keeps every part usable across every unit, which is what makes reconfiguration cheap for the next ten years.
The second decision is mobile versus static, and it is usually made for the wrong reason. Static shelving is cheaper on the quote, but the cost of a stockroom you cannot re-lay out shows up later as space you never recover. Casters convert shelving from installed infrastructure into equipment: units move for cleaning, for access to what is behind them, and for a new layout when the product mix changes.
- Interchangeable with the shelving already installed
- Rolls under load for cleaning and re-layout
- Open wire for airflow, light, and sprinkler coverage
- Reachable 24 inch depth so stock stays visible
- Adjustable shelf pitch as the product mix changes
- Capacity added inside the existing footprint
Where floor space rather than shelf space is the binding constraint, the next step up is a carriage mounted high density system that removes fixed aisles altogether. See mobile laboratory shelving systems and the wider laboratory storage range, or combine shelving with laboratory cabinets and work tables to finish a room.
Benefits
The immediate benefit is capacity inside the existing footprint. Stock came off the floor and out of the aisles, which recovers the space that was being lost to overflow and removes the trip and picking hazards that come with it.
The operational benefit is that inventory becomes visible again. Wire shelving at a reachable depth means stock is seen rather than searched for, and open shelves make cycle counting a walk rather than an excavation.
The flexibility benefit is the mobility. Units roll, so the layout can be changed as product mix changes, cleaning can happen behind and under the shelving, and a whole section can be relocated without unloading it. In a leased Las Vegas industrial suite, equipment that can be rearranged and moved is worth more than equipment that is effectively part of the building.
And because the addition matched the installed system, the operation kept one parts pool. Shelves, posts, and casters interchange across every unit in the room.
Open wire, reachable depth, and casters: the stockroom can be re-laid out as the product mix changes instead of at budget time.
Return on Investment
The return here is space recovered rather than equipment bought. Overflow stock in aisles and on floors consumes floor area that is already being paid for in rent, and it consumes picking time every day. Putting that inventory on shelves inside the same footprint converts wasted area back into usable capacity without a lease negotiation or a building project.
Wire shelving is also close to permanent. Chrome plated shelves and posts in a dry indoor stockroom have a service life measured in decades, and because the system is standardised, the components stay useful through every future reconfiguration instead of being scrapped with a layout.
The avoided cost worth naming is the alternative: leasing additional square footage to hold inventory the existing room could have held with correct shelving. That is a recurring monthly cost against a one time equipment purchase, and it is the comparison that makes storage projects pay back quickly.
Project Process
Requirement
New Horizon Medical needed additional storage capacity in an existing stockroom in Las Vegas, Nevada, with no change to the footprint.
Survey of what was installed
We identified the shelf sizes, post type, and finish already in service so the addition would interchange with it.
Specification
Chrome plated wire shelves in two lengths were specified on plated mobile posts with five inch casters, braked and free, matched per unit.
Quotation
The expansion was quoted as one package with freight to Las Vegas.
Delivery
Components shipped for assembly on site, with no installation trade required.
Follow on
Labs USA remains available for further units, stainless or coated shelving for wet and clean areas, and high density systems if floor space becomes the constraint.
Supplying Laboratory and Medical Storage in Las Vegas and Nevada
Las Vegas has become a real medical products and distribution market, and most of that activity happens in leased industrial suites where the tenant controls the racking and shelving but not the building. That makes equipment mobility genuinely valuable: shelving that rolls can be re-laid out as the operation grows and moved to the next suite when the lease ends, instead of being written off with the space.
Labs USA supplies medical device companies, clinical laboratories, pharmacies, and distribution operations across Nevada from Salt Lake City, and matches additions to shelving that is already installed. Mobile laboratory shelving, laboratory storage systems, laboratory cabinets, casework, and work tables can be specified together so a stockroom and a laboratory match.
If your stockroom is full and the building is not getting bigger, call (801) 855-8560. Tell us what is installed and what is overflowing, and we will specify the expansion that fits both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why choose wire shelving over solid shelving for medical storage?
Open wire allows air circulation, light penetration, and sprinkler coverage through the stack, collects far less dust than a solid deck, and can be cleaned on all surfaces. Solid shelves make sense for small loose items or where a spill must be contained.
What does putting shelving on casters actually gain?
The ability to reposition and clean behind and under units without unloading them, and to re-lay out a stockroom as inventory changes rather than living with the original plan.
Why mix braked and non-braked casters on one unit?
Two braked and two free swivel casters give a unit that rolls in a controlled line and then locks in place under load. All-swivel units wander; all-braked units are hard to steer.
What shelf sizes were supplied on this project?
Twenty four by sixty inch and twenty four by seventy two inch chrome plated wire shelves on plated mobile posts with five inch casters, matching the sizes already in service.
Why does matching the existing shelving system matter?
Interchangeable shelves, posts, and casters mean one spare parts pool and free reconfiguration. Mixing incompatible systems strands components that cannot be reused.
Is chrome plated shelving suitable for a cleanroom?
For general stockroom and supply storage it is standard. Cleanrooms and washdown areas are usually specified in stainless steel or an epoxy coated finish, which Labs USA also supplies.
How much weight does wire shelving carry?
Capacity depends on shelf size, post type, and whether the unit is stationary or mobile. Mobile units are rated lower than the same shelf on stationary posts, so we confirm the intended load before quoting.
Can you add to shelving I bought somewhere else?
Usually yes, if the system is identified. We match shelf sizes, post types, and finishes so the addition works with what is installed, as on this project.
Do you supply high density mobile shelving as well?
Yes. Where floor space is the binding constraint, carriage mounted high density systems eliminate fixed aisles and store considerably more in the same footprint.
Out of Storage Space Without More Floor Space?
Labs USA specifies wire, stainless, and high density shelving for laboratory, medical, and cleanroom storage, matched to what you already own, and ships nationwide.