Friday, January 17, 2014

Basics Regarding Warehouse Racking System Design

By Marissa Velazquez


Essentially, warehousing is the storage of goods such as intermediate products, raw materials, finished products either on a short term or long term. It provides a link between the suppliers or producers and the final consumers. Commonly, goods may be taken to a warehouse as they await availability of a market. It is also used to keep stock so that it can be supplied to stores at a steady rate. If you are planning to choose a warehouse racking system design, there are a number of things that you need to consider.

The choice of design will of course be determined by the types of goods that you are dealing with. If you are dealing with very huge machinery then you need to create very huge racks as well. At the same time, blocks of empty space should be left for crane installation and movement of the machines through the warehouse. When the size of the goods that are to be stored is small, on the other hand, smaller racks can be used and there is rarely any need to set aside large spaces for movement.

Different goods require different environmental requirements of storage. Perishable goods such as foodstuffs require well ventilated spaces to minimize the chances of spoilage. The goods have to be stored far from each other under a specific temperature. When dealing with the non-perishable goods, goods can be packed close together and this helps in saving on space.

Pallet racking is one of the most commonly forms of designs. In pallet racking, the materials are placed on top of pellets. The arrangement may vary from one place to another but the main principle is to store the goods on horizontal pellets. This arrangement greatly helps in space utilization. Storage and retrieval is done using forklift tracks.

One of the types of pellet type is known as selective pallet racking. Two forms of this type exist; a roll formed type which is made up of horizontal beams that are held in place by clips and a structural type. The use of clips makes movement fairly easy. The beams can be adjusted through the vertical plane so that loads of different sizes can be accommodated.

The structural system is the second subtype. Horizontal beams in this case are supported using bolts. As a result, the beams are much stronger and support greater weight. The design of the racks allows them to be dismantled and rebuilt with great ease. They can be incorporated into the building structure with the uprights supporting both the shelves and the roof.

The selective pellet type is generally preferred because of the ease of accessibility that is created. It makes it possible to receive and retrieve goods with great ease particularly in stores that have a quick turnover. Warehouses that commonly use this type include retail inventory rooms, wholesale warehouses and cold storage stores.

There are a number of safety considerations to consider when thinking of warehouse racking system design. For instance, you should ensure that any loose parts of the system are identified and repaired in time to avoid unnecessary accidents. There should be a fire escape in a clearly visible location and at no pint should there be pellets placed in the aisles.




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