What is ‘Narrow Aisle’?

Generally, within a warehouse, aisles are known as the space between the racks. These spaces allow for workers and machinery to move through the aisles – so naturally the spaces of the aisles in your racking system will have an overall impact of the flow, and efficiency, of your warehouse. The size of these aisles also impacts the machinery that can be used in your warehouse due to issues of manoeuvring.

When considering the different pallet racking solutions for your warehouse in order to make the most of your space, narrow aisle pallet racking often seems like the best solution. This is for a number of reasons: none more than it being one of the most space efficient solution of the many offered. Of course, the dimensions of your space are unique to your warehouse, so considering whether narrow aisle pallet racking is the right answer to your question may be incredibly significant for your storage space. Depending on a few factors, however, narrow aisles may not work well within your storage space.

‘Narrow aisles’ reduce the aisle width between the racks in your warehouse by as much as 50% when compared to traditional racking. Because of this, more racks can be fitted into the same amount of space, allowing for more room for storage, and ultimately allowing for flexibility in increases in demand. The structure of the narrow aisles does not have disadvantages when compared to other types of racking. This makes it a popular choice as the support for heavy pallets of various sizes still remains true.

The Right Choice?

Due to the width of the narrow aisle, specialised vehicles must be used in order to access the storage.

When buying a forklift for your warehouse, considering aisle space is essential because a forklift requires certain space in order to operate, from turning, to retrieving and placing down loads. The minimum width of the aisle in which a truck can turn 90° must be considered to ensure its safe operation.

Very narrow aisle pallet racking systems can be implemented – and as suggested by the name, can greatly maximise your storage capacity. But these types of aisles also come with disadvantages – such as the requirement to manually store goods reducing your efficiency. As well as this, having to manually store these goods means that it limits what goods types can be stored. As such, specialised equipment and vehicles can cater to the efficiency of these racking systems.

Narrow Aisle Forklift Truck

Narrow aisle forklift trucks are necessary as they are designed to work well in small spaces – essentially reducing the risks of injury and damage to products that a bigger forklift could offer. As these machines are designed to operate in narrow conditions, their manoeuvrability greatly reduces potential hazards and risks.

Narrowing aisles to create more space is a common practice in warehouses in order to be able to store more inventory. In these cases, narrow aisle forklifts are the most effective choice in this type of environment due to their design allowing for better navigation and enhanced handling – improving the overall productivity, safety and efficiency within your storage space.

Why Us?

Choosing to work with DC Space & Storage Solution comes with the guarantee of an end-to-end bespoke service: from the planning and implementing of the storage solution that is tailored to you, all the way through to the inspection and maintenance of the system.

Get a free, no-obligation estimate, and talk to our team today to discuss the storage solution for your space, with the peace-of-mind that our customer focussed solutions always priority safety and service.