Custom Storage Solution to Support STEM Education Growth
60%
Reclaimed floor space after installing our pallet racking solution
15%
Increase in daily kit preparation capacity
3,000
Potential STEM educational curriculum kits leased per year
25,000
Students and 500 educators supported annually (and growing!)
Introduction
To paraphrase the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, “no matter what path in life a child chooses, every young mind should be STEM literate. The major societal problems of the 21st Century will not belong to any one discipline, instead requiring multiple approaches and perspectives of which STEM is fundamental.” We couldn’t agree more.
In late 2022, a local Green Bay non-profit organization known as the Einstein Project hit critical mass with their limited warehouse storage and operational capacity used to handle educational materials for Northern Wisconsin schools. While on the surface, it may have seemed that the Einstein Project simply needed warehouse racking to solve their challenges, we knew that their underlying mission of engaging local kids in science and technology education made the application so much more than that.
About Us
Fairchild Equipment is the Upper Midwest’s premier Material Handling Equipment and Service resource, with headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and numerous offices spread across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northern Illinois, North Dakota, and the Upper Michigan Peninsula. From complete Automated Warehouse Systems to Equipment Rentals, Spare Parts to Safety Training, Fairchild’s dedication to our customer’s success has earned us numerous awards and accolades including the prestigious Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) Most Valuable Partner (MVP) award ten years in a row.
Application Summary
Focus, Explore, Reflect, Apply – what if these four steps could amplify early childhood education way beyond our usual school format of memorizing facts? This is the core belief of the Einstein Project, a growing educational non-profit organization in Wisconsin intent on empowering educators and inspiring learners in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Over its 30+ years, the Einstein Project has supported local communities with STEM curriculum kits, educator training, and hands-on creative workshops, all serving to enrich early education. Founded by science and technology professionals, the Einstein Project was born from the interest of bringing STEM industry partners into the classroom, with the goal of assuring that children had access and support in scientific study. This mission has never waned. Today, the Einstein Project resides at the highly advanced STEM Innovation Center – a shared technology resource facility built in partnership with the University of Wisconsin Green Bay (UWGB) and the Brown County municipal government. From this prestigious facility, the Einstein team produces, stores, and ships their landmark curriculum kits as well as hosts educational and training activities, serving school districts and communities in Wisconsin and neighboring states.
Challenge
The Einstein Project (EP) moved into the new UWGB Innovation Center back in 2019, and since their initial budget couldn’t cover warehouse storage racking, the EP team made do with floor stacks for their curriculum kit containers. As demand grew into 2022, it became clear that a warehouse organization and storage solution was needed soon for the team to remain effective in managing their many kits and materials. In late 2022, they hit a tipping point, and EP directors reached out to us to discuss what could be done.
After a wonderful discovery meeting and site visit, we huddled with our engineering team to break the client’s needs down into discreet objectives, as follows:
- Organize Containers – each of our client’s curriculum kits were stored in plastic totes, and as luck would have it, these totes stacked perfectly on a standard pallet. This gave us our working unit for storage sizing – a pallet of (20) containers.
- Free Up Floor Space – up until now, our client slid their kits around at floor level, leaving little space for foot traffic, not to mention requiring a ton of effort to sort and stage kits for shipping. The storage warehouse part of the facility had tall ceilings, telling us that going vertical with racking would help tremendously.
- Shared Space – because the Innovation Center is a shared community space, EP’s warehouse area needed to be flexible for other parties to use when needed. In particular, the local 4H Youth Program used the space for indoor archery practice, which told us that we needed to lay out pallet racking with long, wide aisles to shoot down.
- Safety – because of the shared nature of this warehouse, we knew that safety was paramount. Above all else, any storage solution put into place needed to be safe for children, warehouse staff, and the general public alike to operate around.
- Low-Tech, High-Value – EP’s team was made up of mostly volunteers and academic professionals, neither of which were trained in industrial or material handling technologies. For this reason, we needed to help solve their challenges with as modest and easily approachable technologies as possible, as well as not introduce any significant ongoing costs that would stress the non-profit’s finances (such as software subscriptions or personnel certifications).
- Mission Alignment – though it might be wishful thinking, we knew that we needed to do whatever we could to ensure that any solutions recommended aligned with the Einstein Project’s mission. As a local non-profit, EP’s team had an economically challenging, limited resource footprint as it was, and anything we provided should work to remove strain and add opportunity if possible.
“[Fairchild Equipment] walked through different options with us. Nothing was cookie cutter, and they weren’t trying to sell us anything. They listened to what we needed, only gave suggestions, and we are very happy with the outcome. Fairchild’s reputation as good stewards of the community also came into our decision making. Ultimately, we wanted a quality product, and we knew we would get that through Fairchild.”
–Matt Hohner, Resource Development Director, the Einstein Project
Solution
With a thorough understanding of the Einstein Project team’s needs, our application engineering team did what they do best: we came up with multiple options, sat down to review with the client, and together agreed upon a winning solution. Safety, simplicity, scalability, and cost were prioritized, bringing us to a two-pronged approach to recommend. Half of the solution would be a physical storage system, and the other half would be strategic decisions around how the system was installed and operated.
Storage Solution
After thorough review, the team chose single-selective pallet racking to solve their storage challenge. To best optimize density while also leaving plenty of free space for community activities, we laid out the space with (5) rows of racking – (3) inner rows of back-to-back racking, and (1) row of single racking down each of the end walls. Racks were configured to fit (2) pallets side by side per bay, with (5) bays down each row, and (2) bays high. This standard racking system offered an ideal combination of competitive cost and functional density, as well as weight capacity that could handle heavier kits in the future.
Installation and Operations
With the racking selection complete, we next looked at installation nuances that would provide even more benefit to EP’s operations:
- Racking height and commodity positions were specifically selected to comply with local fire code requirements, minimizing the complexity of installation approvals and ongoing fire inspections.
- Bump guards, column protectors, and pallet stops were all installed with the system, improving warehouse safety and providing more leeway to infrequent operators.
- High-visibility paints and markings were added throughout the installation, further supporting operator and visitor safety, organization, and intuitive use.
- Racking was installed with pitch and spacing details specifically intended to allow EP to store their stacked kit containers on pallets without wrapping, banding, or strapping. The totes could be freely stacked on pallets and lifted into racking thanks to their interlocking bases, which eliminated extra time and waste material needed to secure pallets before storage.
- With these details worked into the overall solution, this allowed EP to only need the minimum level of locally required forklift operator certification, minimizing total costs of ownership. All other ongoing compliance costs were completely avoided.
Results
Through our shared love of community enrichment, Fairchild Equipment and the Einstein Project made perfect partners to execute this wonderful project. Our system was installed in early 2023, and it only took a few days for the EP team to rave about the added space, organization, efficiency, and cleanliness of their warehouse space.
Even better, with the system installed at minimal complexity and next-to-no ongoing costs, we knew we’d achieved a very high level of mission alignment between this storage solution and EP’s goals. Low costs, very easy operation, low complexity, and harmony with shared community users equated to more of the Einstein Project team’s time spent towards reaching their STEM educational outreach goals.
Fairchild Equipment’s family values and dedication to world-class material handling solutions drive us to earn customers like the Einstein Project for life. For more information or to discuss which Warehouse Optimization solution might be best for you, please send us a message, or call us at (844) 432-4724
