Visual Workstations
Visual workstations are a key element of any organised, efficient, and high-performing workspace, providing a structured visual management solution to keep tools, equipment, and materials organised, accessible, and ready for use. By clearly defining each workstation and its associated tasks, these solutions help teams reduce errors, save time, and maintain consistent quality across assembly, packing, inspection, and production processes.
Whether you’re looking to introduce new assembly or packing workstations, upgrade existing quality workstations, or implement production workstations that support Lean workflows, Peak VM can provide tailored solutions to meet your operational goals.
- Boost Efficiency - Reduce time spent locating equipment and ensuring items are in the correct place for use.
- Create a Standard – A key Lean Manufacturing step, workstations can be standardised across your organisation to smooth workflows and encourage versatility among workers.
- Enhance Safety & 5S – Designing and introducing an organised working space helps to reduce clutter, sets home positions and reduces potential risks.
- Improve Employee Productivity and Engagement – Places importance on the activity that is happening at the Workstation and creates a professional, high-performance work environment.
The smartest reasons to invest in tailored visual workstations today
Assembly & Packing Workstations
Our bespoke packing and assembly workstations are designed to support efficiency in build, packing, and dispatch areas. This example workstation features an integrated Shadow Board to organise essential packing tools such as tape guns, knives, scissors, tape measures, and labelling materials; ensuring tools are always within reach and clearly visible.
Branding elements, including the client logo and custom graphics, reinforce workplace identity while emphasising the importance of the work carried out in the area.
Inspection Workstations
Organisational excellence is fundamentally linked to product quality. Dedicated inspection workstations streamline defect identification and support structured quality control processes. These specialist quality workstations provide teams with the tools and visibility required for thorough and repeatable checks.
This example includes an in-built LED lighting box to support high-precision visual inspections of finished parts and components. Integrated storage areas provide designated space for items awaiting inspection, aligned to periodic requirements and workflow needs.
Multi-Purpose Visual Workstations
Many environments require flexible solutions. Multi-purpose visual workstations can combine elements such as Shadow Boards, Cleaning Stations or Visual Management Boards to create a bespoke configuration.
Whether supporting assembly workstations, quality control, or production, integrating these visual management elements reduces unnecessary movement, eliminates searching, and enables teams to complete tasks efficiently and independently.
Want to add an Alert System?
See how we can incorporate a warning light tower or andon systems.
Quality Workstations
Effective quality workstations are essential in manufacturing environments to ensure products consistently meet organisational standards and customer expectations. By embedding structured checks into the workflow, quality workstations reduce variation, prevent defects from progressing through production, and highlight issues for investigation and resolution.
In regulated industries, these workstations also support compliance with safety, quality, and performance standards, reducing the risk of non-conformance, recalls, or reputational damage.
Production Workstations
Lean-focused production workstations for CNC (Computer Numerical Control) and large machinery are designed to maximise efficiency and minimise waste.
Aligned with Lean Manufacturing principles, these workstations streamline workflow, reduce unnecessary motion, and ensure that tools, documentation, and equipment are positioned logically around the operator.
By optimising layout and visibility, production workstations support smoother processes, improved productivity, and greater operational consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Peak Visual Management has over 10 years in advising, developing designs, manufacture and supply of Shadow Boards. We can supply Shadow Boards to visually store hand tooling, specialist tooling, machine parts and more.
We thought it might be useful to share some answers to the many questions we get asked about our Shadow Boards.
What is the process for designing a Shadow Board?
– Send the tools to PeakVM – If you have tools that you can be without or are buying in new tools – you can send them directly to us or we can arrange to collect.
This gives the us the benefit of being able to check the fit of each tool on the shadow board before we despatch. We are also happy to buy in tools if you would like us to supply the tools to go with your Board.
– Send us the photo information we need. This works well if you have a relatively small and simple selection of hand tools that you wish to store on your Shadow Board.
We will send you in the post a printed grid board and instructions for how to correctly photograph the tools for accurate Board design.
– Invite PeakVM to site. Invite a PeakVM representative to your facility and we will audit the tooling to ensure we have everything we need to accurately design your Board.
Depending on your location and the time required onsite we might have to charge a little extra for this option
What materials do you use for your Shadow Boards?
We use a combination of materials for our Shadow Boards, and we choose the best material option suited to the application.
Most of our Boards are based on applying a laminated vinyl print to an Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) base. ACM is long lasting and durable whilst easy to work with, providing reassurance if your maintenance teams are to fix the Shadow Board to existing wall space. If there is to be heavier items (such as lifting tackle or large torque wrenches) to be stored on the Board then 3mm aluminium sheet provides and hard wearing and heavy-duty base material. For environments where tooling might be ‘roughly’ handled, we recommend applying a protection to the face of your Shadow Board to eliminate any potential scratches to the face of the board. Polycarbonate provides a cost effective, durable and visually pleasing option.
We use a combination of fixings to store the tools onto the Board. Hardened Steel Dowels with an applied rubber grip ensure maximum grip for your tools. Along with Dowels Spring Clips are ideal for storing hand tools and less heavy equipment, making tool removal simple and low effort. We use a combination of bolts for heavier items to provide extremes of mechanical strength.
What if we want to store very heavy tools or parts on our Shadow Board?
We have supplied Shadow Boards for many applications where very heavy parts or tools are to be stored such as machine changeover parts, lifting tackle or Rail industry tooling. We will specify appropriate fixings which will have the mechanical strength to hold the weight of the part. We often also advise mounting the Shadow Board angled onto an A Frame so that the weight of the parts is pushing into the mechanically strongest part of the fixing at the intersection with the board. The use of an A Frame and the angled fixing it provides also reduces the chance of parts falling off the Board particularly for mobile Shadow Board applications.
I’m struggling for wall space; can you supply the Shadow Board on a freestanding frame?
Yes, we can supply our shadow boards on frames. We use a 40mm aluminium profile which is extremely strong and provides the flexibility to modify or adapt for future uses. We would generally advise that a Shadow Board supplied on a free-standing frame be supplied on base plates that are mounted to the floor (for stability and safety reasons), but it is also possible for our frames to be supplied on castors.
Can you supply mobile Shadow Boards?
Yes, we can supply our shadow board on mobile frames. As many factories and depots have uneven floors so we generally advise that mobile Shadow Boards are supplied on an angled A Frame to reduce the risk of tools falling off the board.
Can you the supply the Shadow Boards in a lockable cabinet?
Yes, and we have supplied many Shadow Boards into lockable cabinets. Some common reasons for using our lockable cabinets is if there are multiple shifts, contractors working onsite or to protect calibrated or sensitive equipment. Our cabinets are constructed from an Aluminium extrusion frame and clear polycarbonate panels. These clear panels allow for full visibility of the tools. We can supply the cabinets with keypad lock so there is an option to change the security password/pin at set intervals.
What is the lead time for a Shadow Board?
The lead time of a shadow board hinges on a few factors:
- Tooling availability – the sooner we can get our hands on the tools/tooling information the sooner we can start designing.
- Complexity – complexity is added to a shadow board by either a larger number of tools or unusual/larger/detailed tools. If a Shadow Board is more complex it will take more time to both design and assemble.
- Quantity and specification – quite simply a larger project with more detailed work will take more time to design and manufacture.
Typically, a “straight forward” Shadow Board project with good tool availability, of low complexity of medium level quantity and specification will take 2-3 weeks from order.
How big can you make a Shadow Board?
The largest ACM sheet size available is 2400 x 1200mm. However, if there is specialist tooling involved or a very high number of tools that will require the layout to exceed this size we can spilt the design over multiple sheets of materials. We have done this on many occasions for specialist applications such as Rail track gauges and pipe storage.
How long will a PeakVM Shadow Board last?
This isn’t an easy one to answer, the longevity of our Shadow Boards is directly affected by several factors.
- Environment – harsh chemicals found in cleaning equipment and lubricants can, over time have a negative affect on the materials we use to manufacture our Shadow Boards.
- Behaviours– if the board is respected and tools are carefully returned then there is less risk of dents and scratches appearing. The fixings used to hold tools in place are also more likely to retain their mechanical integrity when not treated poorly.
- Usage – The number of times tools are being placed onto and removed from the Shadow Board will have an effect on how “fresh” that the board stays.
Difficult environments and heavy usage will have an effect on how well your Shadow Board lasts. However, we have seen well used PeakVM Shadow Boards in testing environments such as rail depots still in use 5-8 years after initial supply.
Will you supply the Shadow Board with our specific branding?
Yes, all our Shadow Boards are designed specific to each client so we are keen to ensure the logos and branding design elements are added to the Shadow Board design.
Proven Impact of Our Visual Workstations
Explore our case studies to see how Peak VM has helped organisations across the UK implement effective, durable, and visually clear visual workstations. Our solutions improve efficiency, support Lean workflows, enhance safety, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
