Safe, Secure Storage
MDS Records Management is one of a family of companies owned and managed by three generations of the Dickinson family. The Merchants Distribution business is the 16th oldest company in the Polk County area, having made its home in Central Iowa for over 135 years.
MDS Records Management opened its doors in 1984 to provide services to Des Moines and surrounding areas. We use a state-of-the-art, web-based records management software, RS-SQL, to store and manage data efficiently and securely.
Eric Dickinson, Director of Operations for MDS Records Management, has been a professional in the records management industry for over 30 years.
What Sets Our Team Apart?
We’re built for this.
The whole MDS facility – including all our safety measures and technology - is designed and built specifically for records and information management. It’s what we do.
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Your Records Are in Great Hands.
MDS team members boast over 125 years of experience with records and information management. Our industry knowledge goes deep, and you benefit from that.
Your Records Are Your Records.
When you need them, where you need them: reliable, easy access and timely delivery or pickup of your records.
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A Solid Value Proposition.
Ask our clients. MDS gives you great value for the price: personal attention, responsive service, exceptional security, and trustworthy protection of your sensitive or confidential information.
Safety and Security at MDS
You always expect your records and media files to be safe and secure. However, at MDS, the risks to your records are very low.
Some of our best features:
📃 We’re watching. Surveillance cameras and motion detectors monitor the entire Records Warehouse and Archival Vaults.
📃 Clean and sanitary. Careful control and attention to sanitation protect your records from vermin, insects, and other pests.
📃 Even tornado-force winds don’t penetrate our 1-story facility.
📃 Minimal access. Only authorized personnel with proper identification are allowed entry into the facility, and any visitors are always escorted by MDS management personnel.
📃 You control who sees your records. For example, we’ll only allow your company records to be viewed by people with written prior authorization on file with us.
Environmentally Secure And Climate Moderated Records Warehouse
An ESFR (Early Suppression Fast Response) wet sprinkler system protects our Environmentally Secure and Climate Moderated Records Warehouse. It’s a one-of-a-kind system that quickly detects and completely suppresses fire – and it activates only in the problem area, so the rest of the facility stays dry.

Custom-designed, 24’ high shelving is stacked no more than two containers high and two containers deep – so records are accessible, and containers won’t bow and cave over time due to the weight of over-stacking.
Environmentally Controlled Archive Vaults
Your digital and magnetic media, historical and archival materials, and other critical records are sensitive to deterioration without careful humidity and climate control.
In our two Environmentally Controlled Archive Vaults, Liebert systems control all heating, cooling, humidification, and dehumidification. Each vault maintains a temperature between 63 degrees and 67 degrees year-round, with humidity kept at 45% with a 2% variance.
Each vault also has 4-hour firewalls, a backup generator, and a no-water fire suppression system that will completely suppress any fire. In addition, there is Inergen total flooding, gaseous, clean agent fire suppression system, and associated fire detection system in one vault. In the other, there is a state-of-the-art 3M Novec 1230 Fire Suppression System.
Secure Shred
The MDS shred consoles and collection containers you use at your site keep the material secure. Material is removed by MDS employees, transported to MDS under lock and key, and deposited directly into our industrial shred machine. The shred travels through a secure shaft into a fully enclosed container. Regular container pickups transfer the shred to a major recycling center.
Secure Transport
Even in transit, your records are safe. Well-trained MDS drivers and secure vehicles make sure of it, with signoffs required at every stage.
