If you are a business that stores inventory then you certainly cannot operate without industrial storage racks, commercial shelving or warehouse storage equipment to stock everything neatly in place. Even if you have a small storage room, shelving and racking is the perfect solution. It is not just suited to large industrial warehouses or factories. In all cases, there is a large range of solutions available depending on your requirements.
Commercial shelving is a solution for lighter items being stored individually or in boxes. These are typically accessed by hand and loaded by staff at floor level or use of s step ladder. Pallet racking is a solution based on the need to store heavy-duty stock, able to withstand the weight of palletised goods. These would typically be required to be loaded and unloaded via forklift.
Choosing the Right One
When choosing the right system for your needs, you need to consider the size and weight of what you are storing.
If your inventory is comprised of small and boxed items that could be loaded via the use of a mechanical stacker, commercial shelving is the ideal option. They are sturdy and functional and offer a shelf size and separation that works perfectly for this kind of stock. They tend to have a lower maximum height which enables workers to easily access by hand.
You also need to consider the maximum height you are wanting to stack towards. This not only affects your choice of which system is preferable but also what and how you store items on them. If you don’t use any forklifts then you are limited to the height of the individuals working within the area, but with a forklift, you can stack up to the ceiling of the building or the reach of your forklift.
How You Stack and What You Pick
If you are stacking a range of items, you should always stack the lightest items at the top and heaviest at the bottom level. This not only helps with health and safety conditions but also keeps the centre of gravity of the shelves or racks low.
When designing your storage solution, evaluate how your items are used and dispatched such as if they are picked from the front of the shelf until the stock is empty, or do you cycle what is there? Figuring out how your stock is picked and moved around currently may have an insight into how you could store things much better moving forward, and if certain items could be moved to a smaller shelving system if they don’t sell that often.
Contact the team at Monarch Shelving for all your warehouse storage equipment/ shelving and racking needs.
