To most people, racks and shelves are probably functionally identical – they’re both just storage, right? And to some extent, that is the case. Still, suppose your business has reached the point where you need warehouse or storage space. In that case, you could try Self Storage Dudley and visit a site such as https://www.anchorselfstorage.co.uk/self-storage/dudley/ The difference between racking and shelving is crucial if you’re trying to maximise the use of your space.
Using the correct solution for your actual usage can help you make the most of your space, which means making the most of your money. Here are some tips to help determine the best solution for your storage needs.
Benefits of Pallet Racking
Pallet racking looks like shelving to the untrained eye, but it is missing the solid ‘shelf’ component, consisting of only beams and uprights. Racking is usually deeper than shelving, the same depth as a standard pallet, and stacks much higher than shelving, letting you vastly increase storage space without increasing floor space.
Racking can have these benefits because it only works with pallets placed directly onto it. This means that pallet racking solutions require mechanised warehouses, as forklifts are needed to place pallets on racks, especially to take advantage of the higher tiers of racking. Pallet racking is ideal if your warehouse deals with large or bulk-packed items.
Racking is unsuitable for smaller or loose items, as there is no physical shelf to place things. Because of the added depth and height, it is unlikely to be beneficial for warehouses to rely on picking individual items ‘by hand.’
If your business deals with many pallet goods, consider investing in some pallet racking to make the most of your warehouse space.
When to Use Shelves Instead
If your warehouse or storage unit relies on manually picking individual or smaller items, shelves are the better solution. Pallet racking is not intended to be accessed ‘by hand’ and will offer little to no benefit to some types of business.
For storage spaces and loose inventory, pallet racking is also entirely unsuitable, and shelves would be required. It is guaranteed that your business will use some shelving, but you could save a lot of space, time, and money over time through a relatively small investment in pallet racking if your business deals with a lot of pallet-packed goods.
How pallet racking saves handling time
For a warehouse short on space, pallet racking makes the most of the room available. It works like shelving without the shelves. Instead, beams support the loads, and each bay is deep enough to take standard pallets. That means goods can be stacked far higher than ordinary commercial shelving would allow.
Because loads are placed and removed by forklift, racking suits products that are too heavy for a person to lift safely. The pallet itself becomes the unit of storage.
The biggest saving is in handling. Goods delivered on pallets, or made elsewhere in the business, can be moved straight into the racking and later taken back out for delivery on the same pallets. There is no need to unload everything, find room for it on shelves and then reload it onto pallets when it is time to dispatch. For high volume or heavy stock, that saves time and reduces the risk of damage at every step.
How pallet racking saves time and reduces risk
Pallet racking lets even a small warehouse use its height as well as its floor area, but its biggest advantage over shelving is how goods are handled. With shelving, staff have to unpack each pallet and place items on shelves by hand, then pick and repack them when orders go out. That takes time, and each person can only handle so many items in a day.
Racking holds the whole pallet load in one place. Forklifts lift pallets into position, so staff no longer need to unpack and reshelve stock, and their time goes into moving more pallets in and out of the building.
It is safer too. Lifting and reaching for items by hand raises the risk of back problems, and climbing ladders to high shelves brings the risk of trips and falls from height. Moving loads by forklift removes much of that.
Where pallet racking earns its place
Racking comes into its own when pallet loads arrive regularly. Lining pallets up side by side on the floor soon uses up the space you have. Pallet racking lets you store upwards instead, stacking several pallet loads over the same patch of floor and greatly increasing your capacity.
It is also flexible. You can start with a few bays and add more as the business grows or demand for your products rises, and scale back if needs change. That makes it easy to match your storage to your stock, rather than paying for capacity you do not yet need.
Shelving still has its place for smaller items, and many warehouses use both. Used racking is also available, which can make getting started more affordable.