Hi, I’m Anne Serzz and today we’re going to focus on flooring for warehouse and manufacturing facilities! In industries like these, maintaining safety, durability, cleanliness and efficient operations is essential. From working around tight production schedules to ensuring your floor can withstand heavy machinery and chemical spills, we’re here to cover it all!

Meet our QuestMark commercial flooring professionals: Brian Scanlon, Senior Vice President and Brad Newman, Vice President of the Service Division! They’re here to share some valuable strategies and best practices on managing warehouse and manufacturing facilities' flooring effectively. 

Q: What are the most common challenges you face when installing or maintaining your customers' floor in warehouses or manufacturing facilities and how do you overcome them?

Brad: For manufacturing and warehouse facilities, time is money. Essentially, we take up real estate when conducting flooring work, so our biggest challenge is working around their schedules to avoid interruptions to their operations. Working with someone, like QuestMark, who can work weekends, night shifts, during scheduled plant shutdowns or even on holidays is key.

Brian: Exactly! When we’re conducting flooring work in commercial facilities, we have to take lots of different factors into account such as ensuring low odor, safe flow of traffic and minimal downtime for their production. We want to communicate effectively and plan precisely in order to make sure our work is not interfering with their schedule.

Q: What steps do you take to minimize operational downtime when installing new flooring in a warehouse or manufacturing environment?

Brian: There are several strategic steps we typically take. First, we gather detailed information about the facility’s operations and create a site-specific safety plan based on a safety inspection. We plan everything meticulously and provide recommendations to ensure minimal disruption to the customer’s operations. Next, we implement physical barriers and signage to keep work areas isolated. In environments where every hour counts, we get creative to find the best times to complete the flooring work and customize our flooring solutions accordingly. Ultimately, our goal is to stay out of the way and keep their operations running smoothly.

Q: Heavy machinery and equipment can put significant strain on flooring in these environments. How do you ensure that your customer’s floor you install can handle such weight along with wear and tear?

Brian: To ensure the facility gets the most optimized floor for their operations, we need to learn about their day-to-day activities. With QuestMark, we want to know the weight of their equipment, frequency of impact, abrasion they typically face and overall resistance goals. As long as we learn the details of their operations, we have all of the tools available to customize a floor that improves their operational flow. For example, our plastic mortar, developed in 1968, remains a leading industry choice for high-impact and abrasion-resistant flooring. When needed, we suggest that to our customers who are looking for a robust floor to support their business’s operations.

Q: Safety is critical when working around heavy equipment. What floor safety measures do you recommend to keep workers safe from potential accidents in your customer’s facilities?

Brad: Every QuestMark associate involved in your project has been highly trained to meet all safety requirements and best practices, including OSHA training, regular safety meetings, toolbox talks and more. Additionally, we have designated safety specialists for every office conducting spot check inspections to ensure everyone on the job site operates safely and efficiently.

Q: Can you share tips on cleaning and maintaining a floor that regularly deals with chemical spills?

Brian: When looking to maintain a commercial warehouse or manufacturing floor experiencing chemical spills, you need to focus on proper drainage and protective coatings. First, ensure the concrete has proper slope towards drains because stagnant chemicals can damage both the floor and the environment. Next, look into a simple quenching system to periodically wet the floor and help direct chemicals to drains. Third, consider the safety of workers, particularly when floors are wet and sloped. Additionally, quickly cleaning up spills is always a must. If you have something that's 60% sulfuric and it sits in a puddle for three days, it's going to end up at 90% sulfuric because water evaporates.

Brad: Agreed, most facilities also contain break rooms that face frequent spills from acidic food and beverages. This section of flooring needs to be clean and pathogen-free. Proper cleaning products to keep staff members as safe as possible in environments like this is also key.

Q: Can you share a challenging flooring project you've worked on in a warehouse or manufacturing setting and how you successfully managed the installation and long-term durability?

Brian: We worked on a large pet food manufacturing facility, around 800,000 sq.ft., with flooring issues caused by old wood blocks and asphalt systems. These materials were initially flexible but with time it began to deteriorate, leading to major safety concerns. We stepped in to remove the old blocks, prep the floor and used 10,000 PSI concrete pavers, which we set into resin. We then applied a final resin layer, restoring the floor level without costly additional materials. We were able to reduce the installation cost and overall downtime, meeting their budget and ensuring long-term durability. This challenge turned into a major success because the customer shared this solution with other plants and we're continuing to work with them years later.

In conclusion, in the warehouse and manufacturing industry, finding the perfect balance between durability, safety and minimal downtime is key! Partnering with a commercial flooring contractor, like QuestMark, to work around your tight schedule is crucial to ensure flooring work goes according to plan. Whether it's ensuring 24/7 safety or tackling tough spills, prioritizing flooring will help you keep your facility running at its best.

About our panel:

Brian Scanlon:

With over 22 years of experience in the warehouse and manufacturing flooring industry, Brian brings a wealth of knowledge! From installation to sales, he has a deep understanding of the fast-paced demands of these environments and knows how to deliver effective flooring solutions.

Brad Newman: 

Brad has more than 15 years of experience in commercial flooring, having worked in various roles throughout his career. Specializing in manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and plants, Brad has extensive experience in navigating tight deadlines and working around customer schedules to ensure seamless flooring installations.