Maximising Industrial Storage Space

When it comes to maximising industrial storage space, the industrial sector by its nature usually requires a wide range of storage solutions. Individual business requirements may vary.  From a large volume high density pallet racking system through to innovative computer controlled small part storage systems. The advances in mechanised and computer controlled picking and production carousel storage systems have been outstanding in recent years. The many varied and more tailored storage systems require careful specification and design to maximise efficiency and return on investment.

So it is important to seek advice from an experienced storage equipment distributor or storage equipment provider.  This will ensure that you get the best storage solution for your business needs. The decrease in stock loss and labour times for picking of component parts or batch orders, can make systems very affordable and help to reduce short orders arriving with customers saving further time and money.

How to speed up your warehouse pallet racking?

There are several ways that you can speed up the turnaround and efficiency of your warehouse.  There are better warehouse layouts, forklift trucks and stock control systems, which can help. One that is often overlooked and is very cost effective is replacement and reconfiguration of your pallet racking storage system. Pallet racking is often overlooked as just a stationary item to put your pallets on. However recent advantages in both material and product design have lead to a number of advances within the pallet racking and storage industry. Pallet racking storage products as with any mature market are becoming more cost effective with faster returns on investment from your capital expenditure budget.

Advances in drive in racking, push back racking and the new pallet racking shuttle systems are providing some excellent cost effective solutions to increase warehouse efficiency and safety. In fact the introduction of the new shuttle system will dramatically increase the volume of pallets that can be dispatched from a warehouse or production facility. With the shuttle system the pallets are presented back in exactly the same position ready to be picked quickly, safely and efficiently from the end of the rack. The return on investment from the shuttle pallet racking systems is of course dependant on the volume of pallet positions in the pallet racking and the number of pallets that move through the warehouse. The payback for high volumes of product pallets leaving a warehouse or production facility can be surprisingly good.

What are the best warehouse pallet racking layouts?

There are many variables that are client and product specific that will need to be understood before the best warehouse pallet racking layouts and installations can be planned and designed. The pallet rack runs and layouts depend on the type and items being stored the different product types and pallet sizes. Some warehouses deal with a wide variety of types of product or pallet positions of differing weights and sizes while some warehouses or production facilities deal in a high turnaround of a single type of product and pallet.

There is also the more obvious issue of space, some companies have grown and require alterations to a facilities design to increase product stored or have a new product or production line that requires additional pallet racking. The two main restrictions to the number of pallet positions in an existing storage area are the height of the eves and ridge of the building’s roof. This is of course more expensive and a great challenge to alter than the other the restriction the type of fork lift truck used to move pallets.

Pallet racking isle’s main function is to allow access between the pallet racking for safe loading and unloading of the pallet racking. The type and size of the forklift truck will give the pallet racking suppliers the minimum size of the isles that are required. If you are currently using a standard fork lift truck you may be filling your warehouse or storage area with a lot of floor space that is required to move the forklift truck safely between the pallet racking.

There are a number of innovative truck designs that allow the use of much smaller isles and therefore a much larger number of racking bays and pallet positions stored. Some of these modern narrow isle trucks can be used to both load and unload pallets in a narrow isle pallet rack layout as well as unloading and loading wagons. Some warehouse managers or production managers prefer to use two different trucks but again this depends on the size and type of storage operation and what best suits the needs of that facility.

If maximizing industrial storage space is paramount for your business right now, get in touch today on 01937 585 057.