Designing the Perfect Laboratory Tables

Designing the perfect lab tables can be difficult if you don’t know where to start. Custom laboratory furniture is designed specifically for your lab to improve workflow and maximize space so that your workers can focus on what they do best.

Buying lab furniture from any old outlet store can be problematic. It may result in workers not having enough space to move around, or work will be cluttered, causing accidental spills and instrumentation breakage. All of these things disrupt the work and cost money.

You can avoid all of these complications by investing in custom lab furniture solutions so that you have the right size, shape, and features necessary for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of your lab.

Key Things to Consider When Designing Lab Tables

Safety

Cleanliness has a huge impact on the safety of your workers. Lab tables should be designed to promote cleanliness and organization. Consider a keyboard pullout feature and LDC arms to make computers less space-consuming so that scientists can keep their workspaces organized.

As scientists are working with potentially hazardous chemicals, it’s important to find ways to manage equipment, instrumentation, and other work so that it’s less likely for chemicals to be spilled.

Another feature that you may want to consider is chemical resistant surfaces. If your scientists are working with chemicals that can eat through wood tables, consider having a surface that doesn’t allow chemicals to do so when spilled. This will prevent any dangerous situations in the lab.

You may also want to consider stainless steel tables, depending on the lab environment. These are the common surfaces for lab tables:

• Stainless Steel: Non-porous and antimicrobial, stainless steel is ideal for environments where moisture and corrosion may be issues. It is most commonly used in medical labs.
• Phenolic: These panels are made with paper fibers that are stacked and soaked in phenolic acid and then heated. They are lightweight and durable and can combat most chemicals and moisture.
• Epoxy Resin: This surface is made from resins and fillers and is extraordinary at repelling moisture. It’s also great for combating heat, impact, and most chemicals.

 

Read More: The Right Furniture Materials For Your Laboratory Tables

Space

Most likely, you are designing a space that already exists and not having a new facility built. If this is the case, space will be one of your most difficult opponents. You need to consider what the facility is used for and understand the daily tasks of the scientists.

Consider putting tables next to equipment that will be used frequently so that workers already have a workspace available to them. If you know that there is a common workflow among workers, such as someone going from workspace to workspace for a certain purpose, you will need to adjust the design to make sure that people can move around easily.

You will also likely have to deal with a lack of space. This is when you will need to consider the size of your tables. Remember, people need to be able to move around in your lab and have enough space to get from one place to the next quickly. You can also design custom shapes and sizes for your tables to fit where you need and provide space for movement.

Mobility

If you believe space might be an issue, you could also opt for mobility options that allow you to move tables easily. These tables are ideal for environments where space is an issue. Instead of placing stationary tables, you can use mobile tables that easily move around the room. These tables can be made stationary, so they’re always a great option for those who aren’t sure just where every single one should go.

Storage

Most quality labs have effective storage that allows workers to put instrumentation and items that they are not using away so that they can have an organized workspace. Lab cabinets are extremely important when it comes to optimizing the space that you have. Tables can be custom designed with storage solutions to provide workers with even more storage. Also, if a specific station is designated to a worker, these in-table storage solutions can be used for just his or her items so that they can always be found again.

Features

Not only can you design custom lab tables based on size, shape, mobility, and safety, you can add features tailored for your lab and its purpose.

• Adjustability: Will you need tables at different heights?

Depending on the function of your lab, you may need tables that function at different heights. With adjustable legs, you can create custom lab benches that are able to fit your current or future needs.

• Vibration Dampening: Do you need to protect instrumentation?

Certain instrumentation, like microscopes, are prone to breakage. This is especially true if they are near other instrumentation that vibrates. The smallest vibration can cause sensitive items in a lab to break. Vibration dampening solves this problem to save time and money by avoiding unnecessary breakages.

• Sound Isolation: Will your lab have loud equipment?

It’s no secret that some equipment and instrumentation is loud. Loud noises are distracting to workers and can disrupt their work, and at the very least, irritate them. However, this noise can be muffled with sound isolation.

 

Read More: What to Consider When Buying Science Lab Tables

Collaboration with Users

When designing your lab tables, it’s important to communicate with those that will be using them. Scientists who have worked in other labs know what works and what doesn’t. Others in certain fields may require features that you wouldn’t consider, but they find them absolutely critical. Consider giving workers a survey so that they can tell you what’s most important to them in a lab table.

Create Custom Lab Tables Today

We can build custom lab furniture based on your requirements. We’ll work with you to ensure that your lab promotes productivity and efficiency.

Non-standard sized tables are not right for every lab. That’s why we’re here to help! No matter how unique your needs, we can help you determine the best solutions.

We design, build, and install custom lab tables. Discover how you can promote better workflows with your lab design by calling us today.

The post Designing the Perfect Laboratory Tables appeared first on LabTech Supply.

source https://www.labtechsupplyco.com/designing-the-perfect-laboratory-tables/

Highly Recommended Furniture and Workspace Design for Your Cannabis Lab

The booming US cannabis industry has created many opportunities for scientists and researchers to develop high-quality testing facilities to meet the demand. Cannabis testing lab revenues are expected to continue to climb through 2020. However, these labs have unique design requirements and regulations. Equipment, including everything from extraction equipment to lab tables, must be considered.

Many people are opting to convert an existing lab into a cannabis testing lab, while others are building from the ground up. No matter what you do, it’s important to work with a team of experts that know and have been successful with the process. An architecture firm specializing in cannabis labs knows the infrastructure requirements, while a lab designer may be able to create a space designed to promote workflows.

You may find yourself needing to collaborate with custom lab furniture manufacturers, so they can help you conquer design challenges. When it comes to setting up your lab, you need to consider functionality above all else. Check out these custom design solutions to help you maximize the space and efficiency of your lab. 

Custom Cannabis Lab Furniture and Workspace Design

Custom Drawers and Lab Cabinets

Every lab on the planet needs storage solutions. Workers are going to have a lot of items on their workspace, from equipment to computers, paperwork, and personal items. Custom drawers and cabinets make storing lab items easy and simple. Scientists may not need small equipment, like microscopes, out all of the time, but they shouldn’t have to run across the facility to go get them when they do.

The laboratory tables should be equipped with storage for everyday items that are necessary for completing the job. Other items that are not used daily can be stored in another location to save space.

Customer drawers and cabinets maximize workspaces by allowing workers to easily tidy up without the need to walk away from their areas. With fewer items out, it’s much easier to complete tasks and keep important work safe from bumps and spills.

Chemical Resistant Surfaces

Often, chemicals in labs are dangerous and can destroy valuable lab equipment and furniture, not to mention harm an individual. Chemical resistant surfaces mean that your lab tables deter chemicals from damaging the tables, and may also prevent workers from coming into contact with harmful substances.

Vibration Dampening 

Lab instrumentation is known to vibrate. Other instrumentation and equipment, like microscopes, are sensitive to these vibrations and can break. Since researchers know this, they can prevent such occurrences by working on lab benches equipped with vibration dampening.

Anti-vibration casters and leveling feet are an important addition to any workspace, especially since replacing damaged equipment tend to get expensive. Save your lab some time and money by investing in proactive solutions that err on the side of safety.

Sound Isolation 

As you may know, working in a lab can be extremely loud. Some instruments create uncomfortable whirrs and other such sounds. A loud environment is distracting for workers and may even result in an unhealthy atmosphere. After all, you want your workers to want to come to work, not to dread headaches by being there!

Sound isolation is a custom feature of lab furniture that promotes a better and healthier work environment. Sound isolation is achieved with a metal box and vents with a lined foam interior. Instrumentation, like rough pumps, can be put in the box while the foam reduces the decibels and makes working around the instrument much easier.

Read More: Effective Ways to Design Your Laboratory for Productivity and Safety

LDC Arms
As you know, a clean and organized workspace is ideal for enhancing the effectiveness of a lab and its workers. When you picture a lab, one item that always seems to take up a lot of space is a computer monitor.

Of course, you can’t just stop using computers for important work. However, you can maximize the workspace by reducing the amount of space a monitor takes up. LDC arms hold monitors above and away from the table so that workers have more desk real estate. LDC arms may also make working on a computer more comfortable for some since they will have more room on the table for other pieces of work.

Adjustable Legs 
Working at different heights is something that’s always been difficult for scientists. In the past, they would simply have to walk over to a different table, bringing all of their important work with them to work at the ideal height. Adjustable legs on lab benches allow them to easily adjust the height of the bench so that they don’t have to waste valuable time and energy finding a table with a different height.

Mobility

Many labs have tables that are attached to the floor. Immobile benches make it hard to rework the existing design of the lab. When someone designs a lab, they may get it right from the start. However, as a business grows and there’s a need to fit more pieces of equipment in one area, they need to be able to move any mobile furniture to make everything fit and maximize the space.

Lab tables need functionality and mobility. However, they also need to be stationary when someone is working with them to prevent spills and the destruction of equipment and work. A locking castor and a leveling castor allow workers to make the unit mobile or stationary depending on their specific needs.

Read More: 3 Pointers About Designing Your Own Laboratory

Cable Management

If you’ve worked in a lab before, you know that the cables from equipment and computers can easily get in the way. While it might seem like a small problem to an outsider, constantly having to move the cables away from experiments means that a lot of time is being wasted on frustration. Hose cutouts allow labs to manage their cables more easily. Feeding through a section of the table, cables will stay out of the way.

Keyboard Pullout Trays

Like a computer monitor, keyboards take up a significant amount of space on lab benches. It’s difficult to type when you don’t have a dedicated space for your keyboard.

With keyboard pullout trays, you can place your keyboard in a hidden space and only pull them out when needed. It’s never in the way, yet available when you want it. Also, it’s safe from liquids that can easily be spilled, sparing you from having to mop up spills or even replace keyboards.

Designing your cannabis lab with custom lab furniture solutions is easy. Call us today. 

The post Highly Recommended Furniture and Workspace Design for Your Cannabis Lab appeared first on LabTech Supply.

source https://www.labtechsupplyco.com/highly-recommended-furniture-and-workspace-design-for-your-cannabis-lab/