While many businesses may be fine with their pallet racks, there is a great way to improve your pallet rack space by making sure that all the space in all 3 dimensions is being used correctly. This means your pallet racks have to be strong, stable, and able to maximize every cubic inch of space. Businesses use pallet racks for the obvious, to store stock, ready to be packaged and sent to a depot and out to delivery. While others use pallet racks to store inventory, such as in a manufacturing plant where thousands of parts are used every single day and so on-site storage is needed.
What are pallet racks and what are their uses?
Industrial Pallet racks are one of the most common and most useful types of equipment for any business. They are used as shelving in warehouses but can be used for production facilities as well. They store a large quantity and variability of things, able to provide plenty of storage space in the shortest and smallest amount of area possible.
Pallet racks can be used to store heavy items such as doors, bed frames, and tools, but they can also be used to store foam mattresses and plumbing supplies. Anything you can think of, a pallet rack can store. Many of them are rated to hold up to 2,500lbs and some can hold up to 4 tons.
Tips to maximize space on pallet racks
Pallet racks being large metal structures, can provide lots of strength so don’t think of them as providing their storage ability purely by surface area. You can make pallet racks slimmer widthwise and this can help to store more items without that pesky middle area remaining unused. This will also help forklifts to get in and out of aisles with less chance of hitting something. As you have more space, this can also mean the safety of your warehouse is also improved.
Do not use your pallet racks for items that are chosen out for delivery commonly. This can seem counterintuitive, but you need pallet racks to store heavier items that are less likely to be chosen every day. Otherwise, your pallet racks will be less populated and constantly being topped up with new stock. Place stock and inventory that is commonly used closer to the packaging and loading bay areas. Pallet racks should be used for large-scale storage if possible.
Types of pallet racking systems
To make your warehouse more efficient and able to adapt to the changing situation of the day or week, make them movable. This may mean you need to have flow racks that transport products right from the racks to the loading bay using tracks. This allows for better time management and product movement throughout the storage space. It will help your loading area to meet its targets more efficiently and save employees from having to travel around.
These flow track rack styles can be designed to fit your space and purpose. You can have three single-track racks that transport items or you can have them widthways spread out for more rapid collection. Maybe you do not have a convention set up and you instead rely on employees to put the stock on the tracks. All of these are mobile, so you can move them around to fit your needs.
How to layout pallet racks
First of all, look for space that isn’t being used. Your layout might be fine but your use of space may leave something to be desired. Then when you have mapped out the space available, consider placing the lighter items towards the middle or front. The heavier items may take time to transport but they should be less frequently needed, so your heavy-duty pallet racks should be less available regarding the loading bay.
Try to place the pallet racks in an aisle fashion so you can transport the goods straight to where they need to go without needing to first clear the aisle and then take a left or right. This can also prevent injuries and disasters of pallets being hit by forklifts.
If you would like to know more about pallet racks, the various types, and the ways you can efficiently get the most out of them, contact Carolina Material Handling, today with any questions you might have. The knowledgeable sales team can provide more information and help you select a rack system for your business needs.
