The Problem: For the University
of Wisconsin’s State Surplus SWAP Shop,
used materials are big business. The
SWAP Shop is part of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison’s SWAP (Surplus
With A Purpose) program, a multifaceted
property disposal operation that collects
and processes over 20 tons of surplus
material from university and state agencies
each week. What it doesn’t reuse or recycle
is offered for sale to other agencies, nonprofit groups, and the public, either at the
shop itself or on its online auction site. The
shop’s weekly sales draw bargain hunters
hungry for deals on everything from computers and office furniture to books and
athletic apparel.
As part of a master plan to consolidate resources and streamline operations, the state in 2007 decided to close
two smaller SWAP Shop sites and build
a new 101,000-square-foot facility in the
Madison suburb of Verona to house both
the program’s warehouse and the store.
The question then became how to make
the best possible use of the available space.
The Solution: In this case, the
answer turned out to be mezzanine work
platform systems, which would take advantage of unused overhead space while maintaining open productive space below.
In keeping with its mission of redistrib-
uting surplus property, the SWAP Shop
elected to reuse some of its own equip-
ment, relocating a Wildeck industrial steel
work platform from one of the closed facil-
ities into the new building. The platform,
which was installed in the late 1980s, had
performed well and still had several ser-
viceable years left, says Robin Nicholson,
SWAP Shop warehouse supervisor.
“The work platform, albeit more than 20
years old, works great for our needs, and
we had no reason to replace it,” Nicholson
says. “Relocating the structure was easy
and cost effective.”
In addition to the repurposed unit, the
SWAP Shop decided to invest in a second
mezzanine platform for the new facility.
Choosing a vendor proved to be easy,
according to Nicholson. “We’ve had great
success with Wildeck’s work platforms,
so we purchased another one for the new
facility,” he says.
For help with the platform’s design and
layout, Nicholson contacted Madison-based equipment supplier Storage and
Handling Systems, which came in to evaluate the application and offer recommendations. The arrangement they settled on
called for the top level to be used for
general storage, with a portion of space
being rented out to other state agencies
to accommodate their storage needs. The
lower level would serve as a library that
would include a workstation for processing
incoming book orders and transfers.
“This was a pretty straightforward design,
but it met all of the client’s needs in terms
of functionality, safety, and appearance,”
says Bill Berg, president of Storage and
Handling Systems. He notes that the work
platform not only fills the client’s immediate needs for storage space and the library,
but can also be expanded in the future to
adapt to new applications or provide additional capacity.
The new work platform, which has a
sprinkler system on the lower level to con-
form to state fire codes, was installed in
problemsolved
Problem: Making the best use of
space in a consolidated facility
THE
PLAYERS
CUSTOMER
University of
Wisconsin’s SWAP
(Surplus With A
Purpose) Shop
Primary business:
Collecting, processing,
and redistributing
surplus property
generated by
all University of
Wisconsin-Madison
departments, UW state
schools, municipalities,
and state agencies
Headquarters:
Madison, Wis.
SUPPLIERS
Wildeck Inc. and
Storage and Handling
Systems
SOLUTION
Repurposing an
existing work platform
and adding a second
platform
