All businesses try to reduce their bottom line, even through their storage systems. It takes forethought and a careful look at your inventory and your current storage practices to find ways to be more efficient and effective at meeting the demands of consumers. Not only is an efficient use of space important, but it also makes it easier to retrieve products from their storage space.
Storage spaces must be reorganized to meet seasonal demands as well as to accommodate increases in business. Every business that needs storage should consider the advantages of using pallet racks. Commonly use in warehouses and retail stores, such as Costco and Sam’s Club, pallet racks can hold large amounts of products and goods stored in a relatively small space. They are designed to safely store even the heaviest load, up to 12,600 pounds per tier. They can also be adjusted and changed to meet your changing need for storage.
Supply, Store, Demand, Retrieve, Ship, Deliver
Staying at the top of your game means knowing every aspect of your inventory and how to make it flow more efficiently. Knowing how products will flow from receiving to shipping allows you to plan out what needs to be done when planning for a more productive flow. Having a professional with years of experience facilitating your warehouse needs will clue you in on the most effective and efficient racking system to use. The types of pallet racks you use can make retrieving products for staging orders much simpler. Racks can be customized for your particular storage and retrieving needs, with the guidance of experts like Speedrack West.
Types of Racks and How They Can Facilitate Your Needs
Open floor space can help in the business process by allowing workers to assemble products and orders. While the products are easily accessible to workers, parts can be assembled into the product and placed on pallets to fulfill an order. The items in an order can then be packaged for shipping. The areas for the assembly production of products, and the assembly of orders, may have tables with rows of pallets that contain the needed materials, as well as packaging equipment.
The warehouse area is mainly used for the storage of received items. These items are organized for easier retrieval, as well as finished products ready for shipment. Whether the received items are to be used to assemble products, repackaged for marketing purposes, or sent out for distribution as is, the pallet racking system should be organized and maintained for efficient and effective workflow. Choosing the right rack type for the job means asking questions including what type and size pallets will be used, how many pallets will you store at a time, how high is the ceilings and what type of fork truck will be used.
Selective Pallet Racks are the most common pallet system used and allows access to all pallets but with low storage density. The shelves in this system are created by beams connect to uprights with multiple shelves in a bay. Bays are one or two pallets deep.
Drive in and drive-through racks offer greater density with as many as 8 pallets deep per bay and allow fork trucks to drive into the steel structure. They differ from selective racks because pallets rest on side rails and the uprights are tied together at the top for more stability. Drive in and drive-through racks differ because the drive-through rack allows access to pallets from both the back and front, facilitating “first in first out” storage (FIFO). This is really important if products have an expiration date. Drive in storage racks are for a large quantity of the same product and items with low turnover. The last in first out (LIFO) order and flow is used.
Push back racks, like the drive-in, are a LIFO system. Pallets are loaded in the front, pushing the next pallet back and unloaded from the front. This racking system is suitable for bulk storage and can run from 2 to 5 pallets deep and several tiers high.
Pallet flow, also known as gravity flow, racks use gravity conveyor rollers slightly inclined so that loads are stored at the high end and removed from the low end by the effect of gravity, facilitating FIFO.
Using Effective Options for Efficiency
If streamlining your storage and business flow means adding to current rack storage system, reorganizing your current pallet system for efficiency, or changing to a mobile or automatic pallet rack storage system, there is always wisdom in consulting a professional who knows standards, the best products, and the best practices to help you reach your goals. Consider storage that supports growth.
