When it comes to warehouse racking systems, density is king. The less air you have, the lower your annual cost to store products. If you are wondering how to increase density within your warehouse's racking system; the answer lays in using high-density warehouse racking systems. This article explores the different types of high-density warehouse racking systems and their uses.
High-Density Mobile Shelving Systems
One option is to utilize a mobile shelving system to store your smaller parts. Systems such as the one below allow you to store up to 2x as much product in a particular footprint.
However, they are really only designed to hold your smaller parts.
Carton Flow Rack
Another popular option amongst high-density warehouse racking is the carton flow rack.
Carton flow rack comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. It can be retrofit into your existing rack system or it can be built as a standalone unit. The densest use for carton flow racks is to combine them with a conveyor in the form of a pick module.
A pick module allows workers to pick and pack from cartons installed in the pallet rack. Once picked, they can send the order down a conveyor system to be loaded on to trucks.
In this pick module by SpaceRak / Heartland Steel Products, you can see how the carton flow beds are being installed in the lower half of each pallet rack upright. This lets you store pallets in the higher sections of rack while allowing workers to pick products from the slots that are closer to eye level.
Pick modules are some of the densest structures you utilize to maximize space within your warehouse racking system.
Pallet Flow Rack
A pallet flow system integrates selective pallet rack with carton flow to develop a dense solution for storing a lot of similar pallets. Pallets sit on rollers that were installed inside the pallet rack. So, when loading a new pallet, you merely push the current pallet back. When removing a pallet, the next pallet in line slides forward.
Push Back Pallet Rack System
A basic, selective pallet rack is great for its versatility but it's not very dense. A push-back rack or pallet flow system is much denser.
As you can see in the picture above, the pushback pallet rack utilizes a series of carts. You load the pallet on the cart and as each successive pallet is loaded, the previous cart moves back. Similarly, when a pallet is unloaded, the next cart slides forward. It's gravity-fed, so there isn't any need to worry about electrical systems.
Drive-In Pallet Rack
A Drive-in pallet rack is a good choice as it has a lot of similar pallets that you are looking to store in a last-in, first-out fashion. The difference between the drive-in pallet rack and the pallet-flow rack is that the drive-in doesn't "flow" forward when you remove the previous pallet.
Instead, a forklift operator drives into the rack to retrieve the next pallet.
You typically see drive-in pallet racks in industries that experience sudden influxes of inventory that quickly moves in and then moves out.
If you are looking to utilize first-in, first-out accounting in your warehouse rack system, then you can utilize a drive-through pallet rack. It's similar to drive-in but allows you to load pallets from one side and remove them from another.
By utilizing both sides, you sacrifice some density, but it might make your accounting a bit easier.
There are a lot of options available to you if you are looking to remove air and add density to your current warehouse rack system. In order of most dense to lease, they are: pick module, mobile shelving, carton flow, pallet flow, drive-in pallet rack, push-back pallet rack, and finally - drive-through pallet rack.
American Storage & Logistics has a full inventory of warehouse equipment and provides engineering, design, and consulting services for businesses. Reach out to us today, shop our catalog online, or give us a call at 616-246-8700 today!
