The most important aspect of your warehouse might be the organization of it. This means that you are taking into account your product, your inventory, and the size of your warehouse and working with those factors to create a great organizational system. To do this, you may need the proper pallets. While it may seem like pallets are a one-and-done deal, there is so much that goes into the process of choosing your pallet racking.
What is Pallet Racking?
Pallet racking is the system that is used to organize and hold your product. Most of the time is it takes shape in horizontal shelving units with varying heights depending on the warehouse itself. Pallet racking has vertical upright frames to make it easier for forklifts to easily access the products on the shelf. There are many different types of pallet racking to be specific to the type of product you will be keeping and shipping out.
While a shelving unit may seem pretty cut and dry, there are a lot of working parts that go into it. All of these parts can be changed and adapted to what the needs of your warehouse are and the products you will be putting on those shelves. For example, you can add things to your racking such as column protectors, wire decking, row spacers, and safety guards. These options are all personalizable but they could help if you are planning to hold heavier items and want to keep them secure. Pallet racking is not cut and dry, you are able to create exactly what you need for your warehouse and assure that your shelving and storage is just what you need.
Different Types of Pallet Racking Systems
There can be different terms used for pallet racking such as bulk storage racks, drive-in racking, drive thru racking, and even storage shelving systems. While there are a lot of names for it, a lot of these names have to do with how exactly they are set up within the warehouse. The terms, rack beam, and rack upright are terms very closely involved with pallet racking as they refer to how the racking is built.
Pallet Racking Upright Frame
These are the vertical supports of the pallet racking. These can be named teardrop, structural, new style, and keystone.
Teardrop Upright Frame: A beam or pivot that keeps the beam secure.
Structural Upright Frame: These are made with thicker steel so that the shelving can hold more products.
New Style Upright Frame: These have angular holes that usually fit with the older style beams.
Keystone Upright Frame: This design has solid corners and keystone holes punched into it to ensure the best watery for the heavy product on it.
Pallet Rack Beams
These connect the upright frame on both ends to make sure that the shelving is sturdy for pallets to be put on.
Teardrop Rack Beam: This is named after the upside-down teardrop-shaped punch hole in the frame. This sized hole keeps it more secure.
Structural Rack Beam: These are bolted into the frames instead of using a rivet and slot design. Using structural beams like this are stronger and can hold heavier devices.
Rivet Rack Beam: This is a boltless design for simple pallet racking.
Keystone Rack Beam: This design uses a safety clip in the beam and the upright to make sure there are no slip ups.
Overall, there is a lot of personalization that can be done to your pallet racking system. It is important to take into account what will be going on the beams, how the product will be accessible, and how often, to really see what way could work best for your warehouse.