Pallet Racking is an extremely common warehouse storage feature that is far too easy to take for granted. However, the choice of racking will dramatically impact the efficiency of your warehouse operations. Getting it right is absolutely vital.

There is a wide range of solutions, but the right one for any business depends on a large number of considerations. The first is that safety should be central to all warehouse design. An optimised layout is vital to minimise the risk of accidents on-site.

Adjustable Pallet Racking

Adjustable pallet racking is the most common form of pallet racking. It offers a suitable solution for companies looking for a standard pallet racking storage system. In most cases, you will find these being used today for the purpose of storing pallets in bulk to replenish pick shelves.

Drive-In Pallet Racking

To maximise the footprint, drive-in pallet racking would probably be double the cost of APR per pallet but increases the density of the storage. Mobile pallet racking could increase the warehouse storage density at a cost of around four times the price of drive-in. the price of push-back racking would fall somewhere between these two.

Pallet Live Racking

Pallet live racking, which offers dense storage as a pick face for order picking efficiency, would also need a fourfold increase over APR investment, but it does offer vast improvements in terms of efficiency of order picking.

Narrow Aisle Racking

Warehouses all over the UK are finding themselves under the pressures of growing customer demand since the e-commerce boom. A greater need for more warehouse storage and flexibility has been triggered. Coupled with increasing costs of land, this has made expanding vertically quite a viable solution.

Narrow aisle pallet racking systems have been a popular system alternative among many retailers for a long time. The floor space can be build up as opposed to out. On top of this, less floor space is needed for aisles.

Shelving

Shelving in the warehouse is rather common. It is selected based on the environment of the warehouse storage as well as size, load and velocity of stock keeping unit held in the inventory. A typical warehouse environment is suited to pallets and pallet racking. However, with the rise in e-commerce, they also need smaller pick faces to satisfy single and smaller item orders.

Automation

The growth of automation is also having an impact on storage decisions. Currently, automation plays a large role in the logistics process. It is essential that current and future requirements are considered in this process. This because the lack of flexibility can be quite unforgiving in the long run.

With expanding SKU profiles, as well as the demands for the reduction in fulfilment times, “future-proofing” a design to potentially include some form of automation for the future should always be considered.

Such technological advancements are very much underpinning the opportunity to build pallet racking to be higher. Not to mention the opportunity to unlock vertical space, with lift ability of narrow aisle trucks continuing to rise.

When installing any form of automation, it is very important to pay attention to how the pallet racking is designed. The racking will need uprights in a variety of widths for optimum adaptation to different requirements of the load as well as building constraints.

Adjustable Beams

With careful thought and design, beams that can be adjusted in small increments can allow maximum utilisation of the full building height. If the beneficial performance of an automated system is to be seen, pallet racking that can meet the fine tolerances required (in both the manufacture and installation) for a stacker crane to run smoothly during put-away or retrieval.

Installation is only good when it works. Quality installation, regular maintenance and the ability to sort out stoppages quickly without full shut down of the system is important. This is applicable to pallet racking and shelving support structures, as well as mechanics and electrics, fitted into it.

The Costs

Automated systems can be rather costly to acquire. The ongoing cost of their maintenance and, sometimes more expensively, downtime, add up to a rather hefty investment. There is no doubt that incremental gains can be achieved by changing the design or configuration of racking and shelving systems. This alone, however, cannot deliver the required accuracy, responsiveness and efficiency in comparison to organisations that embrace a holistic and business-led approach to their warehouse storage designs.

Return on investment is, of course, an important thing for companies to consider. Until now, this has driven a trend towards mid-level automation projects that are able to demonstrate a rapid return on investment. Many businesses also choose to take on a hybrid system for partial automation. Each warehouse differs from one another. For some, this may be the perfect solution.

Get in Touch with Monarch Shelving Ltd

If you would like to get the most from your warehouse storage with the use of brand-new and second-hand pallet racking, then look no further. Contact Monarch Shelving Ltd today for more information.