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Chicago Records

Chicago Records Management makes its move with ASI by its side

In the spring of 2005, Chicago Records Management had an exciting, yet daunting task ahead of itself. The company was preparing to relocate over 500,000 boxes into its newly constructed state-of-the-art records storage facility scheduled to open September 12, 2005. Chicago Records President Michael Jurczykowski knew thorough planning would be the key to accomplishing the move successfully with minimal disruption to client services.

A Daunting Task

“To say this project required planning and thought would be an understatement,” says Jurczykowski. “We reviewed every aspect of our operation as it currently functioned and how it should function in the new facility. Determining necessary modifications to our software was at the top of the list.”

As planning began, Mike and his team relied on the experience and knowledge provided by Andrews Software. They held multiple planning meetings to ensure a critical path was clearly defined prior to the move date.

Andrews’ experience and input was absolutely invaluable on many levels, from troubleshooting our current software configuration to their first-person knowledge of a records center operations and relocation, having been a sister company to the former Andrews Records Management records center,” states Jurczykowski.

This change also drove the modification of Chicago Records’ shelving code. The current code included 5 characters and would not work with the new facility as it could not accommodate the number of locations available. One of the benefits of VCK is its flexibility, allowing changes to the shelving code as needed. The new code includes 15 characters: C-1-01-AA-1-10 and breaks down as follows: C = building; 1 = floor; 01 = row; AA = bay;1 = shelf; 10 = position. With this modification, the shelving code can grow as the company grows, either within the newly constructed facility or into new buildings.

Making the move

As the move began in June 2005, ASI also assisted by providing a temporary box location program that included a temporary floor location template and program to print temporary location labels. The move continued through the summer, with the official switch-over date from the old building to the new facility scheduled to take place on September 9th. This meant that Chicago Records’ servers would be down for a period of time.

With 48’ of shelving height, one of the first required tasks was the redesign of the physical locations of boxes within the rack system in the new building. This was accomplished during an onsite meeting with ASI Vice President, Sales & Marketing Scott Bidwell. The new shelving grid was defined in ASI’s records center software, Visual Corporate Keeper, identifying the new location format and allocating new box positions.

ASI’s support team worked hand-in-hand with Chicago Records’ IT manager on Saturday, September 10th, bringing the servers online that same day. Customers did not experience service interruptions as they could continue to request boxes and files via InfoKeeper™, ASI’s client-side, web-based software solution. Because it is hosted by Andrews Software and not the records center, clients were able to access their account information.

Success through teamwork and support

According to Jurczykowski, it was this support that enabled them to accomplish their task to the point that clients seemed to be unaware the move had even taken place.

“Staff, including some senior management, representing one of our largest clients (representing 200,000 boxes and 8-10 deliveries a day) toured the new facility. During the tour, they asked whether Chicago Records had begun to move their boxes. Imagine their surprise when we told them the move had been completed. This is a real testament to the accuracy and efficiency of the move, much of which can be attributed to ASI’s involvement.”