What is Wide-Span Shelving?

Wide-span (also known as long-span) shelving is a type of industrial shelving that has wider shelves that enable you to store more products. It offers the longest width options out of all other industrial shelving types; allowing up to 8’ of storage space. This type of shelving is best used in heavily trafficked eCommerce facilities, or similar “single order picking” setups where flexibility is important. 

A wide-span shelving system consists of uprights, beams, and shelves. American Storage and Logistics carries heavy-duty wide-span shelving systems with uprights that are designed with tapered keyhole slots. The tapered design of the holes reduces the amount of flex in the system, making it a strong, sturdy, and reliable quick-storage solution. The beams also feature a center support that reinforces the shelves. 

The shelves in a wide-span storage rack system are usually either made of particle board or wire mesh, however, laminated board is sometimes used to add protective durability to the system.

Wide-span storage rack includes additional front-to-back supports and side-to-side supports along with shelf reinforcements, allowing up to 2,500 pounds of product to be stored on the system.

How to Determine the Needs of your System

Coming up with a practical design for your wide-span shelving system is an important process that will ensure that you have an efficient system that matches your business needs for years to come. The goal is to make sure that you can maximize your space and get the most out of your shelving system, while improving the efficiency of your operations. This process requires some thought about your business operation, the space where the shelving will be installed, your products.

Layout

The first step is to determine the area where your shelving will be installed. If you need access from both sides and are looking to maximize your storage, organizing the shelves in rows and aisles is your best bet. Determine the length of each row, the width of the aisles, the space between each aisle, and the height of your ceiling. The aisle space depends on the size of your products and the equipment you use to access them. Also, consider how many people will need access to products at the same time and whether you need to leave extra space for that. Once you have the dimensions figured out, you can see which size shelving will fit your space. Keep in mind that the posts will add extra width to the measurement of the shelves.

Capacity

Consider the type of products your shelving system is going to hold. Wide-Span shelving comes in different sizes and load capacities. American Storage and Logistics carries heavy-duty and extra heavy-duty options to fit your needs.

Depending on the height of your products, the shelves can be adjusted in 1 ½” increments. Upright posts are also available up to 16’ for buildings will tall ceilings. Make sure to consider any obstructions in your space when ordering posts. If you will be storing products on top of your shelving unit, you will need to leave some space from the top of the unit to your ceiling.

Another thing to consider is how many products will be loaded onto the shelves and if extra space will be needed to easily load and unload them.

Accessibility

Wide-span shelving features an open design that is accessible from all sides. Depending on the business needs, you may install your shelving with all sides accessible to allow for easier loading and unloading of products.

Room for Growth

When designing your shelving system, always consider your future business needs. If you think that your storage needs may increase in the future, you may want to allow for space to add additional units. In order to be able to connect additional units to your starter unit, you will need to have built it with the type of uprights that allow for units to be joined together. Taking this step at the beginning will save you from having to disassemble your existing units in the future when adding additional shelving. For more information, view the section “How to Install your Wide-Span Shelving” below.

Installing your Wide-Span Shelving

Things To Know Before Starting

Shelving should only be installed by qualified, trained personnel who are experienced in industrial shelving assembly. Two people are recommended for assembly. Review the manufacturer’s instructions and all of the diagrams before beginning the installation.

Always adhere your shelving units to the floor with anchors or bolts, and ensure that any adjoining units are secured together for increased stability.

Inspect all of your shelving units; uprights, beams, shelves, and anything else that comes with your systems for damage immediately. Do not proceed with the installation if any of the items appear damaged. Reference the packing list for the inventory of materials. Do not proceed with the installation if there are any missing items. Check your items for part numbers to double-check that all of the materials are there. If the part numbers do not match or if you notice missing parts, do not proceed with the installation.

How to Install your Wide-Span Shelving

Tools You Will Need:

• A rubber mallet for seating the shelf supports into the uprights

Step 1: Depending on if you ordered a single unit or an adder unit, you may have one or both of the styles of upright shown below. A single unit will use SUR posts for all four uprights as seen in Figure A. If you are planning on adding units, build your starter unit with two ZTP posts on one end which will join with the adder as shown in Figure B.

Step 2: With the help of an associate, or using a wall for support, connect two SUR upright using two front-to-back supports, one at the top and one near the bottom (leaving the bottom-most keyhole slot empty). Make sure that the front-to-back supports are fully seated in the keyhole slots as shown. The inset is shown from the opposite side below.

Step 3: Place a third front-to-back support in the middle slots of the two uprights (at the level you want your third shelf to be). This forms one end of the shelving unit. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to construct a second set of unit ends. If you are planning to install an additional unit, this send set of uprights should consist of ZTP uprights to act as an intermediate assembly.

Step 4: With the help of an associate, connect the two unit ends with left-to-right shelf supports. These should be placed with the flange up and at matching levels with the front-to-back support, creating a flat surface on which to place decking.

Step 5: Attach the remaining shelf supports at the desired shelf levels, making sure that all shelf supports are completely seated in the upright slots. If you have purchased additional shelf levels, the shelf support for the extra levels may also be inserted at this time.

Step 6: Attach the shelf reinforcements at each level by sliding them onto the rivets until centered. Tap down on the reinforcements until they are seated firmly.

Step 7: If particleboard decking or wire decking was ordered, place the decking on each shelving level. The decking should fit flush inside the shelf supports. If you have purchased a single unit, your shelving unit is now complete. For adding units, see the next step.

Step 8: If joining more than one unit together, your original units should have been assembled with ZTP uprights on one end as described in Step 3. Simply continue adding shelf supports and uprights to complete your additional units.

Where To Buy Industrial Shelving Near You

At American Storage & Logistics, we carry all three major types of industrial shelving: clip shelving, rivet shelving, and wide-span shelving. We have fully built systems, kits, and individual components that will allow you to customize your storage solution to fit your needs. If you are in the mid-Michigan area near Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, or Battle Creek, you can purchase your industrial shelving products online and pick them up at our warehouse the same day, or get them delivered to your business as soon as tomorrow.

Explore our industrial shelving products that are available on our website or give us a call at 616-247-9800 to chat with one of our storage specialists and we can help you find the right system to fit your needs.