Mezzanine supports growth, production and safety

American Plumbing and Heating, headquartered in Norwell, Mass., has provided plumbing and fire protection systems to residential and commercial projects in New England for more than 31 years. Following several years of rapid growth, the company’s warehouse was nearing capacity. Instead of building a new addition, the company installed a mezzanine quickly and without disturbing production.

“It’s a great space saver, and a lot less costly and disruptive,” says president and founder Joe Clancy. “We have 250 people working for us, and we fabricate in our warehouse approximately 90% of all the piping systems that go into all those buildings in the field. We move a lot of product through our building, and the mezzanine installation didn’t affect our production at all.”

The final mezzanine (Wildeck) measured 126 x 34 feet (4,284 square feet). It features two sliding access gates, and American Plumbing and Heating was the first company to use the supplier’s audible alarm with flashing LED lights that alerts operators to an open gate.

“I was impressed by their commitment to safety and their proactive approach to going above and beyond OSHA standards,” Clancy says. “The cost of installing the access gates armed with the open gate alarm is low, especially when you consider your workers’ safety. Not to mention it lowers workman’s compensation claims.”

Following the week-long installation process, the mezzanine work platform has helped the 30,000-square-foot production space increase to 34,284 square feet.

“This really made a difference,” Clancy says. “The beauty of it is that we put in a lot of lighting beneath the mezzanine so we can do more fabrication under it and we won’t miss a beat.”