The How-To Guide to Warehouse Organisation - aLittleBitOfAll
Warehouse pallet racking is a crucial element in any facility's storage organisation. Choose quality warehouse pallet racking solutions from MHA Products complying to all Australian standards.
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The How-To Guide to Warehouse Organisation

warehouse organization storage

The How-To Guide to Warehouse Organisation

Whenever I go into a supermarket or larger store that has an enormous quantity of many products, I’m instantly amazed and confused about how they hold it all together. And if you’re a business owner who does work with a lot of inventory, you know that good organisation is key to running your operations efficiently. Although this might sound like a simple process, proper organisation is never easy and demands a lot of planning and effort. Luckily, there is a specific industry that is concerned with making products that can aid your efforts. Manufacturers have designed many types of shelving and storage equipment with the goal of maximising efficiency.
Modern_warehouse_with_pallet_rack_storage_system

As such, this article’s goal is to be a guide to organising your warehouse. The focus will fall on the many types of pallet racking equipment and the pallet lifters that help us use them. I will explain the types and specifications of the storage equipment available and what you should look for when buying. I will also discuss their benefits, the kinds and specifications of pallet lifters, and what makes them worth it.

Shelving and Storage Equipment

If you’re wondering: “Why shouldn’t you stack things on top and be done with it?”. Well, there are many downsides to this that can be easily avoided by buying pallet racking shelves. Some of these downsides can damage your products, having to dig through to find the one thing you need, and general disorganisation. All of this can lead to a decrease in productivity and losing money. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to invest in pallet rack shelves. Here are the factors to consider when choosing pallet racking shelves.
pallet racking system

Types of Pallet Racking

There are several questions you must ask yourself first before I go into the types of pallet racking available. All of these questions will help you determine the ideal shelves and storage equipment you should get for your facility. The first consideration is the amount of space in your warehouse. How much free room do you have? How tall and wide is it? Are there any specifics to take in mind? That being said, you might not even need a shelf, but a simple workbench.
pallet racking warehouse system

Once you figure the space restrictions out, you need to account for the inventory you’re storing. If you’re working with irregular-shaped items like furniture or PVC pipes, you’ll need a specific type of racking. This applies even if you’re dealing with regular supermarket products, like many soft drinks. Finally, you need to factor in the weight of the products. Unless you’re ready to risk everything falling, it is paramount. Once you’ve answered all of these questions and have a clear idea of what you’ll be doing, you can look into the offered types.

Cantilever Racking

If you’re working with long loads such as beams, timber, PVC and steel pipes, or windows and doors, this is the racking system for you. It’s characterised by its two horizontal beams for stability and two vertical columns. This system offers security, stability and numerous levels on which you can operate. You can get both heavy-duty and medium loading racking depending on the weight and dimensions of the products you store. There are also plenty of height choices depending on your possibilities. Also, you can get single-sided or double-sided cantilever racking, and with that, you can get two vertical columns with the same frame.
cantilever racking system

There are many benefits to these racks. They’re easy to assemble, simple, durable, and allow mobility. Furthermore, you can use them with many lifting system types, whether lift trucks, mobile cranes or others.

Stillage Cage

The most common form of pallet racking shelves are stillage cages. If you’re storing long, awkward objects (such as pallets) or large quantities of one product like bottles, these are the ones for you. They come in multiple levels so that you can fully use the vertical space. They have cupped feet to ensure that no damage occurs to the floor, and they have a loading capacity of one thousand kilogrammes. Moreover, the cages can be stacked on top of each other. As such, it conserves space while guaranteeing that there’s enough room between the different levels. Therefore, they don’t require racks or any additional investment.

Drive-In

If you want to maximise your capacities with minimal space and work with homogenous products, this is the racking system for you. As the name itself states, you use it to drive something in and store it there. Accordingly, it’s also known as the first-in last-out system (FILO) because what you put first, you’ll take out last. There are many benefits to this as it’s very uniform and elegant. It ensures the safety of the products because they’re all stocked well and press against each other. In other words, this system prevents movement or shaking. Furthermore, it’s easy to reach everything as you pick out the first option in the lane, and you’re done. However, the downside of this is that you need to exclusively work with homogenous products.

Pallet Lifts

As there are many pallet racking systems for sale, you’ll need pallet lifts, and they can be instrumental in the efficiency of your workspace. Same as shelving and storage equipment, they can reduce operation time, allow more productivity and reduce damages and injuries. Consequentially, they can save money, increase safety which can motivate workers, and increase morale.
Lift_Trucks_Warehouse

Nonetheless, there are many types to choose from, and you need to consider the needs of your business. The two main types are manual and electric. Manual is the standard type, and manual pallet lifts work by you exerting force on them. You need to push and pull them, and they’re light with a great loading capacity. Furthermore, some of them come in extra long varieties or with a specialised coating. The first type allows you to carry more specific pallets, and the second type allows you to work with corrosive materials.

Electric pallet lifts, on the other hand, are more expensive and require more maintenance. But they do offer many benefits. They’re easy to use as you can control and manoeuver them with little to no effort, and you can move in tighter spaces with ease. As such, they’re less of a burden to the workers, as everything is done by the electric motor inside that they control.

Ian Tompson
iantompsonlee5@gmail.com