Kornelia Sieberin and Franz Rixgens talked to Ulrich Zenker about the development of his newly created computer aided storage solution for the “Museum der Bildenden Künste” (MDBK) in Leipzig.

Ulrich Zenker is considered a specialist for the logistics planning and handling of the removal of public art collections. His IT-solutions for the planning of art storage and logistics are considered most creative, as quite a number of reference letters can confirm.

Ulrich, tell us about MDBK project?
Within its move of 3,300 paintings the MDBK had the challenging task to create a hanging scheme for their grated wall systems. The problem was, that the paintings were supposed to be hung by specific criteria, but the grit patterns and sizes of the walls varied. Nevertheless the paintings were to be organized by genre, artistic specification and shape of the paintings. The size and the frames of the pictures were also to be considered. Because of limitations in capacity of the storage area available, the use of space was crucial and no wall space could go unutilized.

How did you utilize all available wall space?
We only had two weeks to develop software that could accommodate all specifications, the physical appearance of the paintings and the hanging grids. We had to overcome various problems and include individual requirements that only a fine art shipper can understand into the programming. We decided then to create the program in-house.
With Visual Basis of MS Office, we could utilize the standard modules and develop the specific tools needed. In addition, the list of paintings, the specifications and the hanging grids were already available in MS Office databases. This enabled us to customize the logistics tool on site. It is easy to implement special customer requests when you have created your own software.

What are the specific advantages of the storage logistics system you developed?
It is the flexibility and response time to accommodate special client requirements. We can ensure that a specific space has to be reserved for a specific painting, or it is considered that a window-space must be obeyed. Our software considers these site-specific conditions, not only two-dimensional, but also three-dimensional. Another great advantage is to use standard software that many museum-employees are familiar with.

As another advantage, databases of different formats and sizes can be applied. The planning of hanging or placement can serve as management-software for facility staff specializing in storage of paintings. One check will reveal the location of each painting. But the most important advantage is the economical utilization of available storage space. Art storage facilities are costly.

What role will individual software solutions play in the future of a fine art shipper?
I am absolutely convinced they will be extremely important tools, for technical and economic reasons. I believe that the fine art shipper will have to tackle more conceptual tasks in the future. It starts with the planning and fitting of storage facilities, the development of packaging concepts and the satellite tracking of art transports worldwide. There is still a large need of proper IT solutions.

It could also strengthen the importance of an organization like ICEFAT to take over an active role in the development of an IT-framework. There is nobody who knows our customer needs –logistics wise – better than us!

Kornelia Sieberin has a longtime experience with object-databases in her daily work for auctionshouse-services worldwide. Franz Rixgens has designed one of the first database-driven specialized software applications for the fine art shipping industry in 1990.