It’s no secret that there are warehouses all over the country. These warehouses are essential to our economy and shipping industry as a whole as warehouses provide space for product storage and processing. However, just like with anything else, warehouse storage can be done more efficiently with the help of pallet racks.
What Is A Pallet Rack
Pallet Racking is a combination of single or multi-level storage systems that help to utilize and maximize the space of a warehouse. These rack systems allow quicker access to stored materials, which can help any warehouse more efficiently pack up and ship products out the door. The faster this can happen, the more money and profit a warehouse can net.
Most pallet racks are comprised of vertical frames and horizontal load beams. These systems can differ in size, and function to be tailored to the types of materials they will be holding. For example, pallet racking systems for raw materials such as pipe can be designed very differently than systems that are holding pallets.
The load beams are horizontal support systems in a pallet rack. These beams provide the actual surface area that is used to store the items in the warehouse. There are two basic styles of beams which are step beams and structural channel beams.
It’s important to note that pallet racks can support wood, composite material, sheet metal, or wire decking between the load beams to provide a surface area for loads of all sizes to be stored.
Improved Performance
Nothing is more frustrating for a fork lift driver than not being able to easily access a pallet in a warehouse. This can not only make it hard to keep a fork lift driver at your facility, but it slows things down immensely. When things slow down at a warehouse, ultimately less money is being made. Having a slick pallet rack system can increase the profitability of your warehouse by allowing pickers to have quick and easy access to the pallets they need to pick from the rack system.
In high tech warehouses that use automated pickers, having a dialed in pallet rack system is absolutely essential. Places like Amazon have robots that pick products from shelves, so making sure there is enough clearance and room for an automated picker to operate is the difference between making or losing money. However, every warehouse need is different, but every warehouse needs quick and easy access to what they are storing in order to turn a profit.