Friday, January 17, 2014

Basics Regarding Warehouse Racking System Design

By Marissa Velazquez


Warehousing is the provision storage services for various types of goods that include among others, raw materials, goods-in-process and finished goods. Such storage is required between the point of production and the point of consumption or use. The warehouse is often used when ready market for the goods is not available at the given time. It may also be used to stock goods in large quantities in an area where they can be easily obtained by retailers. There are important things to consider when choosing 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.

Pellet racking is not just a highly preferred design but is also commonly used. Although there are a number of differences that exist in the kind of installations that are used, all of them use horizontal pellets for storage. Several pellets are installed from the floor towards the roof. The biggest advantage of this arrangement is the increased utilization of space. Forklift trucks are used heavily.

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 type is the structural type. This type is made up of horizontal beams joined to uprights using bolts. This arrangement gives them great stability and they can support great heights. A common design involves the use of uprights that simultaneously provide support to the roof. They can easily be dismantled and rebuilt whenever the need arises.

The selective pellet arrangement in general has the advantage of allowing for easy accessibility of goods packed in the warehouse. This is very helpful in warehouses that have a quick turnover. They are for this reason commonly used in cold storage applications, retail inventory rooms and wholesale stores among others.

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.




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