Warehouse safety and efficiency are two key factors contributing to running a smooth warehouse operation. Every inch/square foot in a warehouse is precious real estate, so maximizing each bit of space – horizontal and vertical- is important. Pallet racking offers several benefits, including space optimization, increased worker safety, efficient inventory management, inventory protection, and adaptability. Learn more about each of the benefits below.
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– floor space is a precious and limited commodity in a warehouse; therefore, making the best possible use of it is functionally and economically essential. But more than maximizing your horizontal space, shift your thinking to total cube space by including vertical space as well. Picking the most efficient pallet racking system for your unique inventory and operational needs will provide you with maximum upright storage capacity and productivity.
– Decrease the number of worker injuries with pallet racking vs. floor stacking. Storing inventory in durable pallet racking creates a safer work area for pedestrians and lift equipment in a busy warehouse by minimizing clutter and improving sightlines and traffic patterns.
– Reduce travel and search time by organizing SKUs within custom-fit pallet racking. Pallet racking enables the storage of items in an organized way that creates an efficient workflow and accurate picking process.
– A pallet racking system keeps products off the floor and offers safe protection on shelves. This reduces the amount of lost and damaged inventory and decreases the associated overhead cost.
– As your business grows and or inventory specs change, your pallet racking can afford you the room to expand operations and increase inventory capacity. Pallet racking systems can be reconfigured or added onto if there is available space which may give you just the breathing room you need to remain in your existing facility.
Now that we’ve covered the major benefits of pallet racking, here is an overview of the major types of racking systems. Take a look at the different types and their ideal uses.
– Economical, single pallet deep storage racking. Offers 100% SKU selectivity and quick, efficient pallet storage and retrieval.
– Dynamic high-density LIFO storage. Single SKU lanes use wheeled enveloping carts on slightly inclined rails to store up to six pallets deep per lane. Push-back is loaded and extracted from the same aisle. Rear pallets flow forward automatically as pallets are extracted.
– There are two types of gravity flow rack: carton (case) flow and pallet flow. Carton flow rack is ideal for storing case, tote, and each items. It maximizes pick locations into a consolidated area, decreasing travel time and improving putaway and picking efficiency. Pallet flow rack is ideal for palletized or crated inventory. It’s a flexible system that can be floor-mounted or used within racking for multi-level, high-density storage. Gravity flow rack loads and extracts from separate aisles, keeping pedestrians and forklifts segregated for a safer work area.
– High-density storage for high-volume inventory with a low number of SKUs. Forklifts drive into SKU-specific storage lanes to load and extract pallets. Two cautions on drive-in are the possibility of honeycombing (empty pallet spots) if not optimized for the correct type of inventory and the high forklift impact potential. Working with a trusted rack design team can mitigate these challenges.
– A better and safer way to store long, bulky, and odd-shaped items such as pipes, timber, tubing, and furniture. Cantilever is easy to reprofile and is a good indoor or outdoor storage rack resource. Accessories such as roofing and pipe stops can help protect inventory from weather damage and falling of the ends of extended arms.
– Optimizes space with aisles as narrow as 5’, dramatically boosting storage capacity.
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Mobile pallet racking is ideal to compact and cube out warehouse space in freezers, cold storage facilities, and distribution warehouses. Mobile aisle rack utilizes all aisle space by using mobile carriages that move along rails to close the aisles between racks to maximize the cubic storage space.
– Rack guarding protects vulnerable components from forklift damage while providing an extra level of safety. Rack back netting or wire safety panels prevent material from falling off the rack levels, and backstop beams prevent pallets from being pushed through the rack.
The ability to run a more efficient warehouse awaits you. Let WOI design the custom pallet racking solution for your warehousing needs. Our full-service approach ensures innovative design and expert installation.
The WOI team offers over 180 years of combined material handling experience to make your space work for you to solve your warehousing challenges. Moreover, we are determined to deliver 100% Customer Satisfaction on each project through our Total Satisfaction Experience™ (TSE).
The Total Satisfaction Experience focuses on five essential customer experiences:
We will listen to your needs
Execute your project with particular attention to your unique application
Stick to project timelines
Ensure a safe environment
Pay close attention to the detail of the finished product
Our professional installation team ensures that the finished product meets your expectations, and while we are on the job, you can be sure that we follow strict safety protocols.
Industry Experienced Installation Team
OSHA Trained & Certified
Certified Drug-Free Workplace
Licensed General Contractor
Job Safety Analysis
Forklift, Scissor Lift, and Aerial Lift Operator Trained
Call WOI today for a free consultation and schedule a site inspection — dial (833) 336-7005 or email info@warehouseoptimizers.com.
The vast majority of warehouses and distribution centres organise the distribution of their storage by installing Pallet Racking. The racking designed to store pallets optimises the available space and adapts to each company’s storage needs.
We analyse below the different types of pallet racking that can be installed in a warehouse and outline their characteristics and differences.
What is pallet racking?
Pallet racking is the system of grouping goods on pallets or other auxiliary elements to create a unit load that facilitates their storage and transport in the different phases of the supply chain.
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It emerged during the Second World War to optimise transport and was originally only manufactured in wood.
Nowadays, it is about grouping the most used goods in warehouses and logistics in general, with most of the racking designed to store heavy loads specifically designed for the storage of pallet loads.
Pallet loads play a key role in almost all the logistic stages of the company, in both their handling inside the warehouse and in the transport stages.
There is a wide variety of types of pallets according to their dimensions or manufacturing material; however, the vast majority comply with standard measurements for which both industrial racking and forklifts and the rest of the tools and machinery involved in their handling are designed.
Major advantages of pallet racking
The palleting of goods for their subsequent storage on industrial racking has several advantages that can be summarised below as:
Greater safety
in transport of products
Choice between a selective or compact system
Among the wide variety of pallet storage systems set out below, there are two major types of racking in particular, firstly, selective storage systems (or with direct access) and, secondly, compact storage systems, which aim to increase the density of the racking to expand warehouse capacity.
Before weighing up the most suitable pallet racking option, the company must determine its storage characteristics and its current context. In this phase, it should be evaluated whether to prioritise the selection of a system that fully optimises the available space because our warehouse has a reduced surface area or very high per square metre floor price, or, if in its case, the available space is not a problem and the aim is to prioritise easy and quick access to the unit loads.
The type of product to store, inventory management to be performed, stock rotation, etc. must then be considered.
The most compact storage systems are the automated or semi-automated solutions (such as the AR Shuttle, the Clad-Rack Warehouses or the automated systems with stacker cranes) which we will not discuss in this list, focusing on non-automated pallet racking instead.
What are the main types of Pallet Racking?
The different types of pallet racking include the following systems:
Adjustable Pallet Racking
This is the most common and simplest pallet racking system, and is designed to mechanically store pallets using forklifts that run parallel to the rows of racking.
It is not a compact system, so it requires quite a wide surface for its installation. Its main advantage is direct and quick access to all the unit loads stored, as well as its versatility and adaptability.
Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) racking
VNA pallet racking is an adaptation of the adjustable pallet racking system, but with better use of the available space in the warehouse. The width of the work aisles is reduced so as to reduce the necessary floor space for their installation, and direct access is maintained to all the pallets stored.
It needs special narrow aisle forklifts to move about and operate in the warehouse.
Double deep pallet racking
Double deep pallet racking is another adaptation of the adjustable pallet racking system, modified to increase the storage capacity.
In this case, optimisation is achieved by adding an extra position for pallets at the back of the racking, storing the unit loads at 2 depths. The advantage is the greater storage capacity, but the disadvantage is loss of selectivity or direct access to each and all of the unit loads.
Drive In and Drive Through Compact Systems
Both Drive In and Drive Through Compact Racking are a type of high-density pallet racking system that optimise the available space in the warehouse.
In this system, work aisles are eliminated, and the forklift enters the racking structure for loading and unloading operations.
Drive In racking works according to the LIFO system with a single entry and exit aisle for the forklift, while the Drive Through system works with the FIFO method and has an access aisle for loading and the opposite end for unloading pallets.
Live Storage for pallets (FIFO)
FIFO Live Storage Pallet Racking is a storage system that has a compact structure and lines of rollers with a downward incline to move the pallets from where they are deposited at one end of the racking to the other end at the back.
It is a FIFO system, where the first pallet to be loaded is the first one to be removed, enabling perfect stock rotation in the warehouse.
Push-Back Pallet Racking
Push-Back Pallet Racking has a very similar structure to FIFO live storage systems, but here the pallets are stored according to the LIFO (Last in, First out) method.
When the forklift loads a new pallet, it pushes the previous pallet to the back. The Push-Back system also has beds of rollers or trolleys, which enable the displacement of the pallet through pushing.
Mobile Pallet Racking
In Mobile Pallet Racking systems the structure is installed next to some chassis guided by rails on the floor, which enables the lateral displacement of the racking modules.
It is a compact structure which, thanks to the displacement of the racking blocks, allows work aisles to be opened for the operation of forklifts.
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