5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs warehouse pallet racking？

Optimize Warehouse Function with the Right Pallet Racking Solutions

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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5 Benefits of Pallet Racking for Inventory Storage

1. Use warehouse space most efficiently – 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.
2. Keep your workers safe – 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. 
3. Efficient inventory management – 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.
4. Protect your inventory – 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. 
5. Opportunity to expand – 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.  

Types of Pallet Racking Systems

• Selective – Economical, single pallet deep storage racking. Offers 100% SKU selectivity and quick, efficient pallet storage and retrieval.
• Push-back racking – 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.
• Gravity flow storage racking – 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.
• Drive-in & drive-thru pallet racking – 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. 
• Cantilever racking – 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.
• VNA pallet racking – Optimizes space with aisles as narrow as 5’, dramatically boosting storage capacity.
• Mobile aisle pallet racking – 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. 
• Pallet Rack Accessories – 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.

Let WOI Help You to Improve Your Warehouse Efficiency

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:

1. We will listen to your needs
2. Execute your project with particular attention to your unique application
3. Stick to project timelines
4. Ensure a safe environment
5.  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

When it comes to businesses that use a warehouse, pallet racking can often be one of the biggest one off costs, but it’s also an investment. However, like so many things that may appear to be a one off purchase, they need to be replaced or upgraded, leading to another purchase.

While every business wants to minimise its costs, sometimes there’s a positive to having to spend money, especially on getting new pallet racking. Let’s explore those positives and how to get the most out of a pallet racking upgrade. You’ll see it may be a good thing.

Increase Safety With New Pallet Racking

Workplace safety always needs to be the highest priority, and new or upgraded pallet racking can help lead to a safer warehouse.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of warehouse pallet racking. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Although yearly pallet racking inspections should keep track and repair any damage, wear and tear takes it toll over time and it may be time to look at a full replacement of your pallet racking. Although this is a cost, it’s much less than having to recover from an accident that destroys equipment and hurts people.

New Pallet Racking Is An Investment

We already mentioned that the initial purchase of pallet racking is actually an investment in a business, and an upgrade can be an investment too. We’ll explore this is a little more detail in the following reasons to get new pallet racking, but all in all, and upgrade can lead to denser storage without having to sacrifice selectivity, a more efficient warehouse, and generally taking advantage of newer racking technologies.

Basically, with older pallet racking, you may not know what you’re missing out on. Although new pallet racking is an expense, it’s an expense that may actually pay for itself over time.

Increase Storage Density With New Pallet Racking

As a business grows, so does its need for storage. This means that the business needs to relocate or figure out a better solution for its existing facility. Either way, there’s going to be an expense, and that expense can often be minimised simply by installing better pallet racking.

New and upgraded pallet racking may be able to take heavier loads allowing for higher racking or heavier pallets; you may be able to find a denser storage solution; or you may just be able to afford something better now that the business has grown.

Or You’re Moving To A New Warehouse

If the time has come that a business must move to a new warehouse, either because they’ve exhausted the storage density of their current facility or a lease is ending, it may be a good time to buy new pallet racking. After all, the old pallet racking needs to be removed anyway, and it may be cost effective to buy new pallet racking, especially when you take pallet racking buy back into account. Although we offer new pallet racking, we also purchase and sell used pallet racking for more budget conscious businesses. Although selling your pallet racking to us won’t offset the entire cost of new pallet racking, it can significantly lower it, getting a business brand new pallet for a fraction of the cost.

Take Advantage Of New Racking Technology With Updated Pallet Racking

All of this is to say that technology changes over time, and this includes pallet racking. Steel gets stronger, allowing heavier loads to be used on pallets. New storage ideas are had, creating new ways to store pallets more efficiently. Computers and technology improve over time, which can lead to better ways to figure out warehouse optimisation.

It’s easy to think that pallet racking is just a bunch of steel used to stack pallets, but like everything, it improves with time and changes in technology. Pallet racking that was bought and installed 10 or 20 years ago is likely obsolete.

Talk To Us About A Pallet Racking Upgrade

Ultimately, it’s important to periodically evaluate your current warehouse storage solution and determine whether it’s the best thing for your business. Of course you shouldn’t replace or upgrade existing pallet racking for no reason at all, but if there’s a good business case for it, an upgrade can be good for a business.

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