The Main Considerations In Warehouse Racking System Design

By Marissa Velazquez


Warehousing involves the storage of goods in a given facility as they await the availability of a ready market. Commonly stored materials include goods in process, finished goods and raw materials. Apart from waiting for demand, storage is also used to provide a steady supply of goods to the market since there will be enough stock. There are a number of important considerations that you should have in mind as you choose a warehouse racking system design

The type of design depends on the type of goods that are to be stored. Heavy machinery and equipment requires that heavy and stable racks are created. There is need to have huge amounts of free space for movement of these equipment and installation of equipment such as cranes. The storage of small goods, on the other hand, requires very little space to be left between the racks because movement can be done fairly easily.

You have to know the environmental requirements of your goods. Goods that have a high probability going bad within a short period of time require more space. They have to be stored separated from each other and with good air conditioning. This is the case for goods such as foodstuffs. The case is different when dealing with non-perishable goods. These types of goods can be stored closely packed to each other.

Pallet racking is one of the most commonly forms of designs. In pallet racking, the materials are placed on top of pellets. The arrangement may vary from one place to another but the main principle is to store the goods on horizontal pellets. This arrangement greatly helps in space utilization. Storage and retrieval is done using forklift tracks.

The selective pallet racking system is a subtype of the pellet system. There are different arrangements that exist. One of them comprises horizontal beams that are held in place by clips making it very easy to move the beams in different planes. It is possible to accommodate materials of different sizes by moving the beams vertically up and down.

The second subtype is known as the structural system. The horizontal beams are supported with bolts to the uprights. This gives them a much greater weight beating capacity. They can also be adjusted at the bolt fixings. Whenever it is necessary, racks can be dismantled and reassembled whenever such a need arises. The other major advantage is that they can be incorporated into the building structure.

The selective arrangement has a huge advantage in that it makes it very easy to access the goods stored in the facility. This is a very useful characteristic for facilities that have a quick turnover. Some of the areas in which this arrangement is used include inventory rooms for retail shops, wholesale shops, cold storage applications.

There are several precautions that one needs to take as they think of coming up with a warehouse racking system design. Loose and damaged parts of the racks should be repaired in a timely manner to minimize the risk of accidents. At the same time, fire fighting equipment should be made available in clearly visible locations.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment