Pallet rack: all you need to know
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Pallet rack: all you need to know
May 24, 2016 General Advice Drive-In Pallet Rack, Material Handling, Mobile Pallet Rack, Pallet Flow Rack, Pallet Rack, Pallet Rack Supported Warehouses, Pick Rack Carton flow, Push Back Pallet Rack, Selective Pallet Rack Admin
When it comes to material handling products, "pallet rack" is a phrase you hear a lot. But what exactly is it and why should you choose it for your warehouse or distribution center?
What It Is
The purpose of pallet rack is to store materials on pallets (or “skids”) in horizontal rows with multiple levels that can accommodate forklifts. Although primarily used in warehouses and distribution centers, pallet rack can be used anywhere you need to store a large amount of products (and want to save on floor space).
Benefits
Pallet rack systems are specifically designed to help you arrange, organize and pull products faster and easier, thereby helping your entire warehouse operation run more efficiently. Going up is always better than spreading out—pallet rack helps you make the most all the vertical square feet you have available in your facility. These types of storage systems are made from high quality steel, making them durable and long-lasting, and they can hold a ton of weight (literally!) as long as they’re assembled properly.
There are many different kinds of pallet rack—keep reading to find out the main advantages of each type.
Selective Pallet Rack (Conventional Pallet Rack)
Conventional (or selective) pallet rack systems are the best choice for warehouses and distribution centers that need to store palletized products with a wide range of load types. They typically come in either roll formed (clip-in) configurations or structural bolt-together configurations and are generally laid out with single-entry wall racks on the outside and double-entry racks in the middle.
Benefits
- Easy to remove products—you can access each pallet without needing to shift other pallets
- Provides you with complete stock control, as each storage space is only taken up by a single pallet
- Easy to adapt to any load type, both with respect to weight and volume
Drive-In/Drive-Thru Pallet Rack
Drive-in (or drive-thru) pallet rack systems are designed to store products that are similar in nature. They make better use of the available surface and height space in your facility than other types of pallet rack systems. These types of systems consist of a set of racking units that form inner loading aisles with support rails for the pallets on both sides, arranged on different levels with pallets on top. Forklifts are able to enter the inner aisles with their load held higher than the level at which it will be unloaded.
Because forklifts drive directly into the rack, drive-in systems are sometimes subject to more abuse than other types of pallet rack. As such, they are engineered and manufactured to be more strong and durable than other racking systems. We offer a wide variety of safety options for drive-in racking, including column protectors, heavy horizontals, offset front legs, reinforcement posts, seismic designs and wider footplates.
Benefits
- Accommodate a large number of pallets (as many pallets as there are loading aisles)
- Cost-effective, high-density storage option
- Made of heavy duty materials, allowing them to store fully-loaded pallets
- Requires fewer aisles and allows you to store up to 75% more pallets than selective racking systems
Push Back Pallet Rack
Push back pallet rack systems are ideal for storing products with a medium-turnover timetable. Loading and unloading happens in a central aisle. Pallets for this type of racking system are placed by forklifts onto nested carts on inclined rails. Each pallet is then pushed back by subsequent loads, exposing the next cart. When removing products, the front pallet is removed via forklift, allowing the pallets on the carts behind it to gently roll forward to the front of the rack.
Benefits
- Saves money by storing more product in less space –stores up to 90% more product than selective rack systems
- Store pallets 2-5 deep while maintaining easy access to a variety of different SKUs
- Up to 400% more selective than drive-in racks
- Nesting carts make placement and retrieval easy and efficient and also help prevent jamming and major damage to products
- Color-coded carts allow for easy visual inventory
- Standard carts offer large target for loading and unloading
*Custom cart designs are available for non-standard pallets, weak pallet supports or other special pallets and containers.
Pallet Flow Rack
Pallet flow rack systems are perfect when you have perishable and/or time-sensitive products in high-density storage areas. These types of pallet rack systems have two parts: a static rack structure and dynamic flow rails. The flow rails are set on an incline within the rack structure, allowing loads placed at the top to smoothly roll forward to the unloading end. As a load is removed, subsequent loads behind it automatically move forward. The whole system is powered by gravity—once loaded, product rotation happens automatically, which reduces handling costs and ultimately saves you money.
Benefits
- Cost-effective and efficient–fewer aisles and forklifts reduce handling equipment costs and lower labor and fuel costs
- Provides up to 100% more product storage than selective rack systems
- Stores more product in less space, reducing overhead costs
- Useful in a variety of applications (buffer storage, cross docking, finished goods, order picking, raw materials receiving and storage, work-in process, etc.)
- Designs are easy to expand and adapt to meet future requirements for your facility
*We have custom designs to meet your specific requirements (full roller, shorter roller, skate wheel options) and our in-house testing facility will ensure that the system is designed specifically for your pallet, product and workflow. Tests are filmed and provided to you for approval in order to ensure that you’re completely satisfied.
Mobile Pallet Rack
With mobile pallet rack systems, the racking is fitted on guided mobile bases, each of which is motorized and fitted with mechanisms that enable movement and ensure efficient and safe operation. The goal for this type of pallet rack is to reduce the number
Benefits
- Can be installed to function manually, by remote control or by computer
- Eliminates the need for individual access aisles
- Increases warehouse capacity
- Versatile—any type of racking can be used with mobile bases Pallet Rack Supported Warehouses
With this type of pallet rack system, the racking itself forms part of the construction of the building, along with roof and side cladding.
Benefits
- Automated or conventional systems can be used
- Doesn’t require the existence of a building prior to construction
- Enables use of the maximum amount of available surface area without wasting space
Pick Rack Carton Flow
Pick rack carton flow systems combine dynamic pallet rack systems with conveyors and other flow components to provide enhanced productivity and cost savings. Pick rack systems essentially utilize both pallet flow and push back systems to move palletized loads that feed into carton flow units, allowing distribution operations to be consolidated into one facility that handles all of the logistics and drastically lowers fulfillment costs. Inventory is loaded onto the system on a pallet via forklift and unloaded in order by the conveyor.
Multi-level pick rack carton flow systems provide a high density storage solution that utilize first-in/first-out rotation of pallets by using gravity to bring products from the stocking aisle to the picking aisle.
Benefits
- Allows you to fulfill multiple SKU customer shipments quickly and efficiently
- Dense storage of products
- Maximizes warehouse space
- Supports miles of conveyor and product flow systems, reducing congestion and costly pick errors
Our team of experts is ready to help you figure out which type of pallet rack will work best for your specific needs–don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you have or to get a quote!
