Filing storage in the modern office workplace

The humble office filer scarcely attracts very much thought in our busy office environment but a quality filing cabinet should give years of trouble free service. Even with the current trend towards the paperless office, filing cabinets are still extensively used as the reality is that most offices still generate huge quantities of written documentation and paperwork that needs to be filed away.

Filing cabinets are usually constructed from either metal or woodgrain effect melamine faced chipboard. Of the two materials frequently used, steel filing cabinets are lighter, more robust, more durable and usually are supplied with a manufacturer's guarantee of up to 15 years dependant upon the build quality of the filing cabinet that has been purchased. Wooden filing cabinets are still extremely functional but usually are supplied with a guarantee of 5 years or less.

Filing cabinets are designed to store tab files that hang on tracking inside each filing drawer. One critical feature to look out for when deciding upon a filing cabinet is complete drawer extension. This means that the internal drawers can be pulled out 100% so that the files located at the extreme rear of the drawer are able to be easily accessed without having to reach back into the cabinet to find the required files. Another necessary requirement is the anti tilt mechanism which operates by stopping more than a single drawer being opened at once otherwise the weight of drawers full of files could possibly cause a cabinet to tip over. Files are recommended to be loaded into the bottom drawers of the filing cabinet initially to aid stability of the unit.

There are two standard sizes of suspension file in Europe, foolscap and A4. Foolscap is by far the most commonly used size used in Britain and Ireland, whereas A4 is the most common size in continental Europe. The runner tracks that support the suspension files are usually built into the top of the drawer sides in a standard filing cabinet so the suspension files are usually designed to run from front to back. Some filing cabinets include conversion fittings to allow both foolscap or A4 sizes to be stored. Users must note that the drawer bottoms in filing cabinets (and especially in wood filing cabinets) are not usually designed to support heavy box files and so the filing cabinets must not be used as normal drawers.

Bisley cabinets are undoubtedly the leading brand for metal filing cabinets and their flagship BS range of cabinets are built to last and are usually delivered with a long manufacturer's warranty. The BS range features fully welded construction with twin skinned drawer fronts. Drawers are fitted on roller ball bearing slides which provide extra-smooth action and 100% drawer extension. The Bisley BS range includes two, three, four and five drawer cabinets and will accept either foolscap or A4 filing. The BS4E four drawer filing cabinet provides more than 2 metres of suspension file storage.