Every warehouse needs some storage system to store goods in an efficient and organized manner. Selecting the right warehouse storage system is crucial as your staff must find the inventory quickly and efficiently. Pallet racking is a kind of heavy-duty shelving used in most warehouses for these purposes.
There are different pallet racking systems, and they can serve various purposes based on their design. Here is some vital information about what a pallet rack used for.
Understanding Pallet Rack System
The pallet rack mainly helps store material on pallets or skids. The pallet racking system allows you to store palletized materials at multiple levels in horizontal rows.
The pallet rack beams are essential components of the storage system, determining how many pallets can be stored on each level. The specification of the pallet rack beam includes height and length.
The 8-foot long pallet beam is a standard size used in most warehouses. It allows you to store two pallets measuring 48 x 40.
Different Designs of Pallet Racking System
Several pallet shelving designs like Interlake pallet racking, deep pallet racking, deep Interlake teardrop racking, hi-line pallet racking, Schaefer pallet racking, and many more are standard in warehouses. The pallet racking design is similar; the only difference is the type and dimension of pallet beams used to build the storage structure.
Now that you know what a pallet rack is used for let’s understand the importance of shelving dimensions.
Shelving Dimensions
Before purchasing a pallet rack, you need to find out the dimensions required. Each shelving component consists of a beam, upright frame, and a wire deck; each of these components has its specifications.
Upright frame: it is measured in terms of height, depth, and column dimensions. The frame depth is counted by measuring the distance between vertical columns. The depth needed for storage is determined by considering the depth of the pallet used and subtracting 8”. The 8” is subtracted to leave the pallet edge overhang the pallet beams by 4” on each side. The accurate design and measurement provide optimal support to the pallet while allowing some room for error while unloading or loading.
Face height: it is a crucial pallet rack dimension that also determines the beam capacity. The higher the ‘beam face’ is, the higher the capacity and vice-versa. The beam face height is the vertical distance between the bottom edge and the top edge of the beam when the beam is set in a horizontal position.
Wire decks: the depth of the wire deck is calculated in the same way as the depth of the upright frame. The depth is calculated from one outside edge to the outer edge on the opposite side. If you install a wire deck in a waterfall style, it will drape over the beams after placement. If you install a wire deck in the drop-in method, it will sit on the beam step at the top beam level.
To sum up, pallet racking is a popular warehouse storage system. The nature of the pallet rack system for your warehouse depends on the type and size of inventory you plan to store in your warehouse.