Use, Components, and Advantages of Adjustable Pallet Racking

Adjustable pallet racking is the most common type of pallet racking due to its easy management, cost effectiveness, simplicity, and flexibility. Adjustable Pallet Racking is a great solution for businesses with diverse or ever-changing storage needs. Adjustable Pallet Racking allows for quick and efficient access and adapts to any type of unit load and forklift, saving you time and money by minimising the time needed to access and move goods. Due to the nature of this pallet racking system, it can be adjusted and adapted to suit any requirements.

When is adjustable pallet racking most useful?

Adjustable pallet racking is a selective storage solution designed to store palletised goods using forklift trucks. We recommend this system particularly for: high turnover storage spaces, storage where direct, quick access is needed to each unit, warehouses that require a combination of pallet and picking racks, storage spaces with a diverse range of unit sizes and weight requirements, and storage of non-standard unit size items such as drums and containers. This is largely because the easy adaptability of the racking makes supporting products of various sizes and volume much easier whilst ensuring capacity remains optimal at all times, particularly if a business has rotating seasonal products or rushes.

Alongside its versatility, adjustable pallet racking is also very accessible and thus the perfect solution for a high density warehouse. Adjustable pallet racking is also often designed to have a wide aisle for use with forklifts which can increase capacity and maximise efficiency of throughput. Every pallet is visible in this configuration and it allows direct access to individual pallets enabling dynamic sorting.

The components of adjustable pallet racking:

Adjustable pallet racking is made up primarily of: uprights of end frames, beams or cross bars, and safety bars, with options for adding; wire mesh decking, protective elements, and row spacers. These components can be altered and adjusted depending on your storage requirements and will be formed from industrial steel.

The uprights determine the height and depth of adjustable pallet racking units, they are the lateral structures and hold the beams in place. These further aid the versatility of the pallet racking as their heights can range from workbench size to over 25 feet tall. The depths of these frames also vary depending on the requirements, with 42” being a very common depth for warehouses as the depth that will fit a standard pallet.

Beams span horizontally between the uprights and form the tiered shelves. There is a large variety of size and length of beams, again depending on the storage needs, but it is important to know the weight that each level will be bearing before purchasing beams as the larger the beam the stronger the support. Beams are connected to the uprights via a racking safety pin.

In order to complete the shelf, components must be added to span across the beams and create shelving. There are two common options for use with adjustable pallet racking, these are safety bars or wire mesh decking. Safety bars can be used to effectively work with simple pallet storage, adding stability and holding pallets in place. Another popular choice, and also the safest choice, is wire mesh decking. Wire mesh decking allows for greater versatility of storage needs by allowing the placement of both large pallets and smaller stock items. Like safety bars, this option allows for effective fire safety procedure by not blocking the potential flow of a sprinkler system as a flat wooden decking option would do. By adding this, you’re also ensuring protection against products slipping through the racking system and causing employee injury, and damage to your stock.

There is a huge variety of safety equipment that can be added to reinforce and protect your racking system, particularly in regard to damage from forklifts and other material handling equipment.

No matter your individual needs, you can rest assured that here at DC Space & Storage Solutions, we understand the importance of finding the right pallet racking for your company, and are always on hand to help find the best and most affordable outcome for you.