How To Maximise Your Pallet Racking

As a company with almost 30 years’ experience in the supply and installation of pallet racking, here at West Pennine Storage Equipment, we know that storing the largest amount of product in any given space is vital so that the business can run smoothly and efficiently. Pallet racking needs to be designed and arranged correctly in order to accommodate the highest number of pallets in any given building or warehouse; whilst ensuring it will safely hold the weight of materials to be stored. Ensure Your Storage is Designed and Specific for Your Own Requirements Standardised wide aisle pallet racking is a tempting purchase as it could well initially save you time – however pallet racking comes in many types and in the long run, storage that is designed to meet your requirements ensures that you aren’t wasting any space and can also help establish the efficiency when collecting and distributing your products. Aisle Width Aisle width is very important and there are lots of things to consider. Forklifts for example – You need to think about the width of the aisle in order to drive these safely, not to forget about turning circles and if there are multiple forklifts. Do you need the ability for two forklifts to pass along a single aisle? Safety regulations from the MHE (Material Handling Equipment) Fork Lift manufacturer will make you aware of the minimum aisle requirements. If you have a smaller space and you will be collecting your products from the shelves by hand then a forklift won’t be necessary, making it possible to specify more narrow aisles to maximise the storage capacity of the racking. If you have a tall building but not so much floor space you also might want to consider narrow aisle pallet racking. This can vastly reduce the width of your aisles giving you the maximum storage space, however this does require the purchase of specialist handling equipment. Depth of the Racking and Beam Length It all depends on the items you are storing that will establish if you need deeper or more narrow aisle pallet racks. West Pennine will often recommend multiple depths of racking within one warehouse when storing a vast range of products. Leaving an empty area behind your products is a wasted space which is not good for efficiency. This can often happen in warehouses that store carpets, pipes or timber. You don’t want to be storing three metre pipes on four metre racking! Alternatively, a more bespoke solution for long or awkwardly shaped materials storage is to use cantilever racking. Reach for the Sky with High Racking A large amount of companies have exceedingly tall spaces in their warehouse, with the ceilings reaching well above their current racking; space which could be utilised with higher racking. Investing in extra high racking will allow you to take advantage of the height of your building. Extra safety measures and specialist handling equipment would be needed, but this could be money well spent when it comes to a vast increase in storage space. Multi-Tier Storage Multi-tier storage (such as Long Span Shelving), could be the solution for you when you have many different types of products that are handpicked. Using mobile warehouse safety stairs and steps to access higher platforms may reduce the need for complex equipment to reach a product every time it is needed. Mezzanine Flooring If you don’t want to spend money investing in the specialist MHE which is required to reach very high products (and specialist training is needed), but you would like to use your buildings height for extra storage space, a mezzanine floor could be the option for you. Conveyors and lifts can be used to ensure that products can be accessed easily and efficiently. Any staff member can operate these as long as basic training is given and there is no requirement for special qualifications.