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LAKEWOOD — In the early 20th century, a man had a revolutionary idea for filing large documents and rather than letting that thought die before dawn on the eve of its conception, he took action. Armed with a hefty degree of ingenuity and dedication, in 1915 Charles B. Ulrich received an official patent for the planfile, a filing cabinet like no other at the time. The planfile was originally produced by Art Metal, which was housed in Busti at what is now known as the Jamestown Engine Plant of Cummins Inc. Not too many years later, Ulrich Planfiling was established, and the company began producing folders and filing accessories at a facility on Murray Street in Jamestown. Then in the early 1970s, the company opened its own cabinet factory in Lakewood, where it remains, although updated and expanded from the initial building. A ONE-OF-A-KIND CABINET Prior to the invention of the Planfile, large documents, such as blueprints or municipal maps, were almost exclusively stored horizontally in flat file drawers which were stacked from the floor to the ceiling. The traditional cabinets tend to waste floor space compared to the planfile, and they offer very little protection to the documents that they hold. Because of the unique spring compression system and heavy-duty reinforced folders within each cabinet, planfiles have the capability of storing documents vertically, which means they can hold more documents in less space than any other filing system. Another benefit of the planfile is that all filing is done at waist height, which tends to make them easier to use than flat filing cabinets, especially ones that are on the top or bottom of a stack. The first Ulrich Planfiles were made of wood but eventually, the cabinets were converted to sheet metal as the company developed its own manufacturing capabilities. Since then, there have been years of refinements to the planfile, but each was made while keeping the overall focus on the highpoints of the original design. The result — a unique product which incorporates features that are not available with the competitors. ‘‘Our planfiles have several benefits over what is being offered by our competitors, and the features are just a standard part of our design,’’ said Daniel Berry, Ulrich Planfiling president. ‘‘Our cabinets are fire resistant, water resistant and dust resistant, and they all come on wheels, making them easy to slide through a standard-sized doorway. The flatfiles are anything but mobile and many have to be torn apart to get them through a doorway.’’ Eric Livengood, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing, said that they conducted a test to determine how a fire would affect documents stored inside a planfile versus the other choices on the market. ‘‘What we found is that our cabinets protected the files on the inside while the competition didn’t fare so well,’’ he said. ‘‘Currently, we are the only company offering fire resistant cabinets as a standard feature, and it’s just one example of the commitment to quality that you can see in each one of our products.’’

A PRODUCT WITH A PURPOSE If you were to look through the sales sheets of Ulrich Planfiling, you would see some recognizable names among the clients. In North America alone, perhaps names like NASA, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Nascar and Boeing on the commercial side would pique your interest. In addition to a slew of commercial companies, Ulrich also supplies their cabinets to every branch of the U.S. military. In fact, Livengood and Berry said that back in 1991 before Operation Desert Shield progressed into Desert Storm, the company was called on to provide support for upcoming military operations. ‘‘We got the call and the military wanted some of our planfiles in a special tan color,’’ Livengood said. ‘‘It turns out that that special color is the base for their desert camouflage and they were using our cabinets to store repair schematics for the M-1 Tanks and other military vehicles. They were loaded in Texas and shipped right to the Middle East. It was kind of cool to know about the war before it happened and our whole crew took great pride in helping out our military.’’ Ulrich Planfiling has also provided their cabinets to a wide array of universities and colleges across the country, as well as research facilities, such as one retained by National Geographic. Through the development of its Web site and international-outreach efforts, the company also has a growing number of clients in foreign countries. The company president said that when the ‘‘computer age’’ hit the nation, it was unsure whether people would continue to use their products to the same degree that they once did. The idea of a paperless office had the potential to put sales in a headlock, but what has happened is just the opposite. ‘‘When I came to the company 15 years ago, the concept of a paperless office was sure to put us out of business,’’ Berry said. ‘‘But the way things have happened, people are actually using more paper now and when it comes to the large drafts and blueprints, you really need to have a hard copy.’’ Livengood agreed, adding that a physical copy is always reliable and available when properly cared for and stored. ‘‘Digital data actually degrades over the years while a properly preserved tangible version will last longer under controlled conditions,’’ he said. ‘‘One hundred years from now, who knows if our digital data will be readable, but with a paper copy — there’s no doubt that it will.’’ In addition to the famous and various planfiles, the company also uses its capability to design and fabricate sheet metal products to supplement the business. And when a local municipality calls on them to help with a project, such as powder coating old parking meters, the crew at Ulrich Planfiling takes on the job. ‘‘Obviously the planfile is our primary product and we are definitely proud of each one we produce,’’ Berry said. ‘‘But it never hurts to dabble in other areas, and we have fun with that too.’’