Warehouse storage systems are as diverse and flexible as the old children’s toy erector sets, but often times, storage arrangements are terribly inefficient and can be restructured to gain capacity and improve workflow. Reorganizing your system doesn’t have to be a major event nor one to avoid. Most facilities can realize improvements in several ways by a simple evaluation of where the lost storage (revenue) is in your existing space, where the main flow needs to be and how your inventory may have changed over time. It’s often possible to gain storage in the current space without expanding your real estate. The cost difference there is substantial. However, it’s vitally important to enlist the guidance of a racking expert to evaluate the equipment you have before rearranging your setup so that your racking is not overstressed beyond what it was intended to do.
A Facility Manager’s Guide to Safely Reconfiguring and Relocating Pallet Rack
Areas within your system to evaluate are:
Rack Type – Perhaps revamping a portion of your storage system could gain more product slots and increase your revenue. (see our Insight “How to Determine the Appropriate Rack System for Your Needs”)
Aisles – Do you have too many open areas or aisles in wrong places? Are egress aisles separate from workflow aisles or simply routed ineffectively? (see our Insight “Warehouse Egress Requirements for Warehouse Layout Planning in Cranbury, NJ”) Aisle redundancy can rob you of potential revenue.
Building Obstructions – Do you have structural X-bracing on interior columns, or large columns on exterior walls, or perhaps an interior office in the middle of your storage area? These scenarios may seem like they would restrict storage opportunities for your business, but there are most likely some work-around designs available to improve your flow and overall storage capacity. This example shows an egress aisle from a catwalk system that works around an interior dock, without compromising travel allowance or storage capacity.
The Integrity Team works to identify all such obstacles that could impede your space from achieving its maximum efficiency and strives to implement an affective and smart design that could prevent you from a costly building addition or possibly moving to a larger footprint by simply fitting more in the space you already have. One such case successfully incorporated racking within the interior x-bracing of a 45’ clear height space, allowing the rack rows to continue through the bracing without interrupting work flow, yet maximizing the storage slots and maintaining egress routes.
All of these scenarios are quite common in non build-to-suit warehouses, so at least one of these conditions may be present in your facility. The Integrity Team is here to help analyze the design capacity of your storage system.
Summary
The investment made to improve your storage capacity and workflow is minimal compared to the gain realized in additional revenue without the very costly option to add on to your facility.