When you decide to start a business, storage may not be one of the components you find to be essential for your business. As insignificant as it may seem compared to other aspects like location, business strategy, and equipment, it’s not to be overlooked because like it or not it’s part of all of these aspects, more so considering the whole logistics depends on it.
In other words, storage is the basis of your business. Nowhere is this more relatable than in the warehouses. Nowadays, you won’t have much of a difficulty to come across industrial pallet racking, but the fact there are many options might make storage solution picking trickier.
Do you need single sided cantilever, a set of cantilever racking, heavy duty, drive in, or mobile racking? Sounds complicated, right? Knowing the factors can help.
Decisive Factors
While pricing is the more decisive factor when it comes to this kind of shopping, it’s necessary to look into other factors too, such as the ideal location for the racking depending on the space available in the warehouse, and storage capacity, followed by the materials the industrial pallet racking is made of.
If the pallet racking is robust and stable, versatile yet still safe to use, and moreover conforms to the international codes of practice, you can be sure of quality purchase. Another way to confirm this is to check whether the racking complies with the Australian standard AS4084-2012.
The storage capacity is related to the type of items (i.e. equipment and merchandise) it is you need to store and this doesn’t only refer to their quantity, but size and materials they are made of as well. For instance, questions you should ask yourself prior to choosing the shelving are whether what you store is fragile or not, and how much of space is required.
Single sided cantilevers aren’t meant for heavy loads, for example, but they are ideal for bulky items, differing in sizes, weights, and lengths, as are pipes, doors, windows, furniture, and pallets. Easy storing and retrieving is what this shelving system is famous for.
If it’s oversized goods you have to store, then mobile pallet racking is the answer. Need the best of both maximum storage and minimum use of space? Choose drive in pallet racking, as it’s also the solution meant for homogenous products, particularly those with long life-span.
Location, Location
Though previously mentioned as part of the essential factors, location is far too important for the choice of industrial pallet racking it deserves to be explained separately. Location isn’t merely about knowing how to choose best where you have most space to install the shelving system at, it’s more to do with suitable environment, product flow, and access.
The safety of goods is equally dependent on the shelving system and transport as it is on the environment; before installing the racking, it’s advisable to consider if the heat or humidity of a specific location are the suitable ones based on how they affect the goods. Climate control equipment is the best investment when it comes to delicate goods.
Since location is significant for the ease and efficiency of storage and transport of goods, you can’t leave out elevation, in the form of mezzanine access ladders and safety roll over gate, as well as vehicles.
The combination of small warehouses and vehicles, such as a forklift for example, aren’t ideal as the addition of vehicles might only make things complicated, which is not the case with big warehouses where efficiency is on the increase thanks to easy access, so it’s not a necessity for everyone.
Then again there’s more to this necessity having in mind it’s also connected with the height of the shelving, the weight of the goods and their quantity moved on a regular basis. In other words, you have to think wise before you invest in vehicles!
Safety is Priority
Warehouse safety is a broad term since it refers both to the goods and the staff. When forklifts are being used, it’s a risk that goods and racking are exposed to, but it’s nothing that can’t be handled with the simple addition of industrial pallet racking columns and end protector guards.
Though it might not appear so, labelling is also of great help in this aspect. Not only does it ensure the safety of your goods and equipment, it helps with accessibility which in turn has a positive result in efficiency, and the overall operation of your business.
Now, there are several things to consider for the staff safety. First of all, staff should be trained as frequently as the equipment and goods change, so they would be in the know of how to keep the operation going, or simply said be productive; lifting techniques are part of this training too. Remember, staff education has to be up to date!
In case of forklifts and elevation access to the racking system, safety equipment is a must; this can be clothing, like helmets, boots, safety ropes and belts, as well as traffic control supplies, safety barriers, racking post, corner, and cable protectors to name a few.
Safety can mean business safety too, so you might wonder how to go about it. For starters, it’s good to have risk assessment so you can have the necessary risk management process. Insurance is of immense help both to you and your business altogether, and since there are many options, think of what you most need to insure – is it your goods, equipment, staff, customers, suppliers, or all?
The suitable insurance policies are as follows: stock insurance, employers’ liability insurance, and public liability insurance. Sure, it may seem an additional cost, and you would rather spend the money on more investments, but the future of your business depends on insuring it.
So the advice to be taken is to consider storage solutions seriously, and later protect what you have invested in through adequate insurance coverage. #Warehouse safety is a broad term since it refers both to the goods and the staff. When forklifts are being used, it’s a risk that goods and racking are exposed to, but it’s nothing that can’t be handled with the simple addition of industrial pallet racking columns and end protector guards.
