Storage Solutions

Storage remains a critical need for households and businesses in 2023. We require storage for food, household goods, inventory and equipment, data backups, and more. Our storage needs are also evolving with changes in technology, commerce, and lifestyles.

Here below are some Key Storage Categories discussed:

Food Storage

Advanced Canning/Preservation

Specialized canning and food preservation allows for long-term storage of foods at room temperature. Vacuum sealing and advanced pressure canning methods can give home preserved foods a shelf life up to 10-30 years. For example, companies like Harvest Right sell freeze dryers and vacuum sealers that extend meat and produce preservation duration. Wise Company sells ready-to-go bulk ingredients in cans that last 25+ years. These technologies help households stock up in case of emergencies or food shortages.

Smart Fridges and Freezers

New smart refrigerator and freezer appliances have cameras, sensors, and mobile apps for remote monitoring. Cameras inside show the fridge contents so users can check supplies while grocery shopping. Sensors track temperatures, send expiration date alerts, and notify users of power failures or doors left open. Apps create digital inventories of food items. For example, the Samsung Family Hub has a 21.5” touchscreen with a view inside the fridge, playlists, and communication features. These innovations prevent food spoilage and waste.

Meal Kit Services

Meal kit delivery services like HelloFresh, BlueApron, and HomeChef are changing home cooking. These subscriptions send pre-portioned fresh ingredients and recipes to make home-cooked meals. They reduce household food waste by only delivering what’s needed for each recipe. Meal kits contain handy chopping and storage containers too. AI-powered apps learn user food preferences for better meal recommendations. Meal kit services make home cooking and storage more convenient.

Goods Storage

Self-Storage Facilities

Self-storage facilities offer secure locker spaces to store household goods and personal items. These storage units come in a range of sizes to accommodate different needs. Climate-controlled units help protect temperature-sensitive items. Storage facilities are adding enhanced security like 24/7 video monitoring, gated access, and individual access codes for each unit. Online portals allow customers to pay bills, track inventories, and reserve units remotely. For example, Public Storage has an online monthly rental platform to browse, select and manage storage units.

On-Demand Storage

On-demand storage caters to short-term storage needs during moves, renovations, or other transitions. Companies like Clutter and Omni provide storage bins, pick-up, transportation, and delivery of items to local warehouses while customers need extra space. It offers flexible plans from 1 month to over 1 year. For example, someone relocating to a new apartment could request on-demand storage for furniture they don't need right away in the new place. The items get safely stored offsite during their move.

Mobile Apps

Apps like Sortly, SORT, and Smart Storage allow homeowners to catalogue, track, protect, and organize personal items. They facilitate entering details like purchase info, product manuals, maintenance records, product warranties etc. Users can then track locations of household goods and valuables. The apps help with insurance claims and police reports in case of theft or damage. Sortly even provides workflow tools like barcode scanners to simplify inventory audits. These apps bring organization and peace-of-mind for personal possessions.

Business Storage

Climate-Controlled Warehouses

Climate-controlled warehouses allow businesses to store products, materials, and equipment in regulated environments. Temperature, humidity, and ventilation controls protect goods sensitive to light, moisture, or degradation. For example, cold storage warehouses (+2 to -20 degree C) store fresh and frozen foods like produce, meats, and ice cream. Other warehouses have validated cleanrooms that meet regulatory standards for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and chemicals. These specialized spaces prevent spoilage and damage.

Logistics Software

Logistics software integrates ordering, inventory tracking, shipping preparation, and distribution workflows. For example, Fishbowl integrates analytics, order management, inventory tracking, manufacturing, purchasing, and accounting in a single unified platform. Another system called 3PL Central helps 3rd party logistics firms manage warehouse tasks like receiving, put away, picking, and shipping among a distributed network of fulfilment centres. RFID tags, barcode scanning, sensors, and mobile devices feed data into these systems in real-time.

Shared Distribution Centres

Ecommerce businesses can opt to store inventory in shared distribution centres near urban areas to offer faster ground shipping and same-day delivery. For example, a handmade jewellery online store could position items in a fulfilment centre 200 miles from a major city vs. 2000 miles across the country. When an order comes in from that city, the item goes from the local centre to the customer in 1 day instead of 5. Startups leverage these distributed logistics networks to compete with big retailers on speed.

Data Storage

Cloud Backups

Cloud backups provide offsite protection of data in case of hardware failure, theft, or disaster. They allow faster restoration since data exists offsite ready to retrieve. Solutions like Carbonite, IDrive, and Backblaze offer unlimited backups for a low monthly fee without storage capacity limits. Advanced services have features like open file backup to protect in-use files, geo-redundant backup across multiple data centres, and private encryption keys for added security. For example, a real estate agency can back up all listing photos and documents to the cloud for reliability.

Data Security

Data security remains critical as cyber-attacks grow. Solutions provide perimeter defenses like firewalls, endpoint monitoring, access controls and user permissions to restrict data access. Encryption of data in transit and especially data at rest protects from unauthorized viewing if devices are lost or stolen. For example, healthcare organizations encrypt patient records to comply with HIPAA regulations. Multifactor authentication adds layers by requiring codes from a separate device to login. Data masking anonymizes sensitive customer data.

Big Data Analytics

Big data analytics help businesses gain insights from massive sets of stored consumer data to improve marketing, operations, and innovation. Retailers analyse buyer behaviour based on timestamps and geo-location data associated with transactions. Recommendation engines serve up tailored suggestions to website visitors based on their interests. Manufacturers embed sensors in products to feed usage data back and improve future product redesigns. Big data reveals trends and opportunities that traditional small samples cannot.

Key Recent Innovations:

- Storage facilities are becoming more sustainable, adding solar, efficient lighting, and green building materials.

- Storage units and shipping containers are being designed with flexibility and modularity to adapt to multi-use spaces.

- Automation technologies like robot pickers and drones are enhancing large-scale warehouses.

As lifestyles, demographics, and shopping habits evolve, so too will our storage needs. This website aims to be an evolving guide to the latest solutions for protecting your household and business goods.