There are 130 million square feet of warehousing space in the northeast of Florida. This is just a small taste of the amount of warehousing space that’s spread across this southern state.

Each of these warehouses has one thing in common. They need a racking system to keep them productive and organized.

There are several pallet racking systems available, so it’s essential to choose one that will fulfill your company’s needs.

Keep reading to learn what your options are for organizing your warehouse.

Why the Right Pallet Racking System Matters

Choosing the right pallet racking system can mean the difference between an organized and productive warehouse and one that is full of chaos. The organized warehouse will have a significantly better bottom line.

The right pallet racking system will utilize the space in your warehouse in the most effective manner. This will let you store more inventory in the same sized space. This means you can save on the expense of renting out a larger warehouse.

Structural Pallet Racks

Different types of pallet racks will use structural steel to reinforce the channels. This steel is quite thick and creates a strong construction for the storage of your inventory.

Structural pallet racks are more impact resistant and sturdier than roll-formed racking systems.

Roll Form Pallet Racks

Racks that are a roll form style use flat-rolled steel to create the frame of the racks. This type of structure gives the rack its strength and require less steel than a structural pallet rack system.

There’s more variety in the holes you’ll see in this type of build. You could have keyholes, square, or teardrop shapes.

Pallet Flow Racks

You may hear of these racks referred to as gravity flow racks. These racks work best if you need high-density storage for a lot of inventory. Your employees can then pick several different types of inventory from multiple levels at the same time.

The inventory will then have a first-in and first-out (FIFO) cycling. You would load new pallets of inventory onto the backside of the rack at the high end. Then the oldest inventory gets pulled from the lower front side of the racks.

Push Back Racks

This system uses a last-in and first-out system for inventory. This is another system that works well for high-density storage. You’ll be able to access specific products easier with this method.

A rail or roll system is used to keep the pallets in line. When you load a new pallet on the structure, the already loaded pallets move backward on the rails. As you remove pallets from the front, the pallets in the back push forward.

Drive-in Racks

This racking system uses a last-in and first-out system. This system works well in a warehouse where you have limited space. This is because it needs fewer aisles than other systems to give you the same amount of storage space.

The racks are sized so that you can drive a forklift through the aisles. Stocking and arranging additional pallets becomes easier.

Carton Flow Racks

This is a pallet racking system that uses FIFO to manage your inventory. Gravity causes your products to move from the back of the rack to the front of the rack. There are rollers on the rack to make the movement easier.

This is a similar system to the pallet flow racks. Instead of moving the entire pallets, they move individual boxes.

Cantilever Racks

These racks feature vertical spines that several horizontal arms come off of. This gives you several levels of racks to store long materials like wood beams, plywood sheets, or metal pipes.

You can adjust the height and depth of the horizontal arms. This lets you store a wide variety of materials and have easy access to all of them.

Selective Pallet Racks

This is one of the most commonly used racking systems. This is because you can have direct access to each of the pallets and can configure the system to almost any size you want.

This is also the most easily installed system. This makes it easy to change and reconfigure as your pallet sizes change.

Specialty Racking Systems

If you have a specific type of inventory, then there are racking systems designed to cater to the unique needs of your inventory.

• Tires
• Wire
• Wine barrels
• Beer kegs

These racking systems take into account the shape of the inventory to create a racking system for the systematic flow of inventory. They also take into account the unique needs of the inventory. For example, tire racking systems tend to be shorter to follow high pile permits and fire suppression concerns.

Narrow Aisle Racks

By converting to a narrow aisle system, you can increase your yield by 45-50%. This type of system can add storage space to your warehouse without having to physically move to a larger space. This is done by utilizing your unused aisle space.

You will also need to replace your antiquated forklifts to smaller and more agile models that can maneuver in the new narrow aisles.

Compare Pallet Racking Systems

Now that you have a good idea of your options, it’s time to compare the different types of pallet racking systems. Consider the size of your warehouse and your inventory needs.

Then choose the system that will work the best for your business. Once installed, periodically evaluate your warehouse and racking system. Make sure that it’s still the best system for your business.

Contact us today, and let’s work together to create the most pallet racking system for your warehouse.

Is your Warehouse Racking System Damaged?  Does your Rack System look like any of the damaged rack shown in the photos below?  Are you concerned that your racking system damages could potentially put your employees or business at risk?  If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then we strongly suggest having a visual rack inspection completed right away.

Rack Damages to be looking for during a rack inspection:

• Check for Frame damages, which can come in many different types of damages such as; low column frame damages, column dents, column crushing, high column frame damages above or below each beam elevation, damages to horizontal or diagonal bracing, any missing bracing, any weld concerns on bracing or at footplate, and any missing or broken anchors.
• If there are column protectors on the frames, check behind to ensure that there are not any hidden damages behind the protectors.
• End of Row Frames can be very susceptible to damages if not properly protected, so recommend closely checking row end frames for the all above damages, along with checking if these frames may be out of alignment due to any direct hits or because pallets have been placed at the ends of rows.
• Check Beams for damages; such as dents, tears, broken welds, missing load lock connectors, missing bolts.
• Check to ensure that all Beams are properly engaged and are not dislodged or loose from the frame.
• Check Beams for any signs of overloading, which can cause deflection and or bowing.
• Check Wire Decks for any broken wires, broken or bent channels, and that there is no deflection or bending on the wires from overloading or point loads.
• On Push Back Systems, check tracks to ensure that there is no debris or residues on tracks which could be causing the pallets to get stuck or hung up in the system. Check to ensure there are pallet stops on the front beams. Ensure the landing space on the push back cart is large enough for operators to be able to comfortably place pallets in the higher levels as this is a problem we commonly see and have custom designs to help solve that problem.
• On Pallet Flow Systems, check for any broken, bent or missing wheels and or rollers. Check the straightness of the tracks to ensure that pallets are flowing smoothly and ensure that all brakes are intact and working.
• Make sure when purchasing new Rack Systems that it’s made in the USA by a reputable RMI certified manufacturer.

It is highly recommended to get signed and sealed calculations when installing new racking systems, as this is an issue we commonly see where customer’s do not want to spend the extra money for these vital calculations and designs which are signed by a P.E., as sometimes down the line a local inspector or municipality may come to your warehouse years later and ask for drawings and calculations of your racking system and when you don’t have them you will have to then get this completed after the fact and when doing so you may find that the codes have changed and it may cost you a lot more money in the long run to bring all your racking up to code.

We want to reassure you that we remain fully operational and available. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will follow guidance from public health officials so we can continue to support our customers and communities. We understand that the impact of COVID-19 has affected all of us in some way.

During these tough times it may be a good time to have your warehouses inspected for rack damages as you may have limited people working in your warehouses and it makes it easier for you and us to work through these rack inspections.

Performing rack safety inspections is a very important task to protect your employees, your racking system, and your valuable assets that are housed in yourwarehouse. When we perform rack inspections, we have all the necessary safety equipment such as glasses, steel toe boots, ear plugs, safety vests, etc. As added safety during these times we will be wearing N-95 masks and rubber gloves during any rack inspections.

What kind of information do we need to give you a price for a rack safety inspections:

• Square footage of racked warehouse
• Height of Frames
• Number of beam levels approx.
• If you had a layout drawing that would be even better

Please send us the above information and we will get back to you promptly with a price for your rack inspection which includes full comprehensive report of our findings including all expenses. We can also provide costs to fix any damages, including materials, freight and installation and assist in any engineering calculations to meet code.

Please check out our link here for more detailed information https://1stoprackservices.com/warehouse-services/pallet-rack-safety-inspection/
All the above procedures will be the same for all visits to our customers moving forward.

As we move ahead through these unprecedented times, please note that the 1Stop team is here to help support our partners and customers in any way that we can. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help assist you.

We convey our solidarity and hope that everyone remains safe.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on the supply chain as companies have had to change both their storage and picking operations to get purchased goods in the hands of their customers.

This has brought on new challenges as many workers are now doing the “shopping” and there is much more material handling which requires some immediate attention to get changes implemented to efficiently address supply chain order storage and fulfillment. Many retailers especially smaller companies are implementing Ship-from-Store (SFS) systems to fulfill orders from a store closer to the customer rather than a centralized distribution center so that customer experience lower shipping costs and get their products faster.

These are some of the material handling considerations to help assist with supply chain order fulfillment:

• Material Handling Equipment – by adding some MH equipment such as order pickers, pick shelves, packing stations, powered hand trucks or gravity conveyor allows companies to do something right now as it is easy to implement(within weeks, not months), easy to adapt to handling changes and does not require additional resource burdens.
• Micro-Fulfillment – this allows the ability to shrink the footprint of a warehouse or distribution center by bringing the product closer to the picker and ultimately the consumer it serves. Some of the products and equipment that can assist in achieving micro-fulfillment and space optimization techniques are Speed Cell, Span Track lanes, Flow Cell, Roller Racks, Carton Flow tracks, Gravity Flow Racks, or Modular Picking Carts to name a few. Optimized storage spaces enhance workflow productivity, increase picking speeds, and improve accuracy which in today’s environment is critical to meet demanding turnaround times.
• Ergonomics – this is a very important area as want to ensure that workers are safely able to handle all the increased material handling needs. Adding ergonomic equipment such as pallet positioners, lift tables, turn tables or self-leveling carts can help make product moving, stacking, loading, or unloading much easier and help eliminate any worker injuries.
• ROI – when implementing the above material handling products and equipment, companies can easily measure ROI investments within months, and during these challenging times this could be a huge benefit to both companies and their customers!

Take advantage of all the benefits that Material Handling Equipment offers by increasing picking efficiencies and storage organization.