Regaining Storage Capacity: A Structured Tidy-Up Campaign at CERN

2023-08-04

Storage capacity

 

The Storage service offers short- and long-term central storage of material and equipment via the EDH SIT document. SCE department is responsible of space optimization (~10’000 m2), handlings (inbound and outbound, including B.947) and registration in CERN’s Asset Management System.

In 2022, connected to CERN’s Masterplan 2040, a Storage Management Roadmap was developed defining long-term objectives, strategy elements and tasks for the Service in the next 3 years.

The Service is currently facing a critical challenge as its central storage facilities have become saturated over the years, leaving limited floor space available. This issue restricts the Storage Service's ability to accommodate new requests. To address this pressing matter, an in-depth inventory has been performed over the last two years. It revealed a significant quantity of non-radioactive equipment stored in buildings for decades, underscoring the urgency to address storage space limitations and optimize resource utilization. To overcome the storage capacity challenge, the Storage Service calls for a collaborative effort from all concerned Departments/Units.

The structured tidy-up campaign aims to categorize and identify equipment based on the duration of storage years. Equipment pictures and visits will be made available on demand to facilitate the identification and categorization process. The campaign's success will result in the regaining of at least 300 m2 of floor space and 1000 pallet racks of storage capacity, providing a solution to the current saturation and accommodating future storage needs effectively.

This collaborative effort is crucial for CERN to optimize storage operations, realign with the objectives outlined in the Storage Management Roadmap, and identify obsolete equipment and infrastructure, ensuring increased efficiency and readiness for the future.