Important Questions To Ask Your Pallet Rack Installer
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
We hear this all the time, “When can you start”? This should actually be the last question you ask a professional rack system installer. Much research should be given to this process if you want the end product to be as efficient as possible. This post explores the pieces of the dudilligence process a facilities manager should focus on to ensuring you make the correct hire.
Hiring an installation crew is more than just asking when they are available to install your racks. Warehouse pallet racking is a large capital expenditure with long-term expectations. It deserves careful consideration through the entire design, engineering, manufacturing and, yes, installation process. Meaning that your expectations for excellence from your design team has to carry through to your installation team. How do you ensure that you get such a team on board to construct your pallet racking system? Here are 5 Key Questions you should ask upfront before settling on an installer.
5 Key Pallet Rack Installation Questions
- Is the company experienced and employ professional rack installers?
- Are they a full-service materials handling systems integration company?
- What is their focus on safety?
- Are they insured & equipped to handle the build?
- How do they handle difficulties on-site?
1 – Is the company and employees professional rack installers?
High quality professional rack installers are experts at their trade. They understand the intricacies of each system which is ever more critical today as pallet racking systems have become more complex and often have multiple storage solutions within the same racking configuration.
Other rack systems must be configured with automation – whether it’s autonomously guided vehicles (AGVs), pallet shuttles, robotic picking arms, or built-in order picking technology. An experienced professional will know what to be prepared for and how to handle any on-site challenges with the installation process.
2 – Are they a full-service company?
The value of a one-company, full-service solution is that support is always readily available and job urgency is shared across every division. If difficulties come up on-site, a solid team will dedicate the necessary resources to solve the challenge and keep the rack installation progressing. In addition, a custom fabrication shop that can manufacture any special, custom parts or additional safety components such as rack or column guards, overhead protection, safety rails, etc., is important. No need to wait for a custom order from a manufacturer.
3 – What is their focus on safety?
Seems like something that should be a given but it’s not always. Workplace safety should be a top priority and your new team should know and follow OSHA guidelines and any building code and customer-specific requirements, if any.
Question 4 – Are they insured and equipped to handle the build?
Make sure your installers are fully insured, and their team brings all necessary equipment for the installation and is trained in proper use techniques. Whether heights, facility temperature, floor inconsistency, etc. our project foreman knows the questions to ask and pitfalls to watch out for to best prepare the team. They should typically perform an onsite inspection before the build to ensure that they arrive at your site with everything they need to complete the project.
Question 5 – How do you handle difficulties on-site? Even with an abundance of preparation, experience teaches us that you can plan for the unexpected but something unexpected may still happen. An experienced crew has an instinctual way to handle some matters and in general when you are well prepared you are better situated to handle difficulties quickly and reliably to keep the project moving forward. In addition, your installation team should have the support of a full-service company behind them for engineering, operations, and even sourcing if needed.
In Conclusion
Detailed research should be completed during the process of hiring a professional rack installation team if you want the end product to be as efficient as possible. From drilling into their depth of experience, to understanding their focus on safety, making the right hire can be the difference between success and disaster
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to best practices in hiring a professional racking system installer. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
Understanding Fixed Infrastructure
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
We are often asked to explain the concepts of fixed infrastructure and its impact on your operations. This blog is intended to provide an overview of what fixed infrastructure is and how you can benefit from employing these principals. Additionally, it is one of those things every warehouse has and every warehouse worker has interacted with, but not one that every warehouse worker thinks about.
What is fixed infrastructure?
“Fixed infrastructure”, in warehousing terms, refers to any installation in your warehouse that’s necessary for getting work done, but tends to remain stationary without a major warehouse overhaul or layout change.
Think about most of your warehouse shelving, pallet racking and the like. This equipment, vital to the various work and processes inside your warehouse, tends to remain static and built-in place over time – hence the name “fixed”.
And as necessary as this equipment is, its placement can tend to have a huge impact on your overall performance and operational efficiencies. Everything about your warehouse, from daily operations to the sort of automation you implement over time, will need to be built around this fixed infrastructure in order to better maximize your productivity and output.
This sounds like a tall order at first, but all you need is a little creativity, and an understanding of how your warehouse should work.
Maximizing your warehouse fixed infrastructure
Dedicate racks for conforming pallet sizes
In a warehouse where your storage is inflexible, few things can cause storage problems faster than non-conforming pallet sizes. No matter how popular or in-demand these items may be, it may be more worth your time to dedicate a pallet rack specifically to the irregularly sized pallets you get in order to make it easier to organize the more standard ones.
Create alternate carry paths
A great way to increase productivity is to provide alternate paths through the warehouse. Particularly for items that aren’t able to be moved via the conveyor belt for whatever reason, Having an alternate carrying path in place for your team can help your items get to their destination even faster.
Know what you have to work with
The first step in making your warehouse infrastructure work harder is to know exactly how much room you have to work with, and what kind of space is left over.
Above and beyond the shelving installations, think about things like gravity conveyors that work their way through the warehouse. What impact do these have on your overall footprint? Are there any areas of constant traffic or lost productivity that could be reorganized or streamlined somehow to keep things moving more quickly? Looking for these pain points early on and making sure you know how much room you have left over, will be a perfect place to start.
Reduce empty space
Even without the ability to relocate a lot of your installations, knowing what to do with your empty space will go a long way towards keeping your team productive. If you’ve got space that can be given over to more storage like wire, it could solve further organizational issues – otherwise, just make sure to keep it free and clear for traffic to flow through.
Label everything
As simple as it sounds, a fixed infrastructure can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to needing to find your inventory. The shelves may not be moving too much, sure, but if the items get relocated a lot, having clearly-defined shelving labels can save your team a lot of wasted time and effort.
Conclusion
To keep your warehouse operating as efficiently over time, understanding your fixed infrastructure can ease your burdens as you grow. If you have questions regarding capacity or replacing shelving components, contact your local shelving and pallet rack company for assistance.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to understanding your fixed infrastructure. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
5 Tips for Better Pallet Rack Safety
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
We can’t talk enough about safety. That’s why you will find many posts on our blog regarding the subject. This post is intended to provide more useful tips on best practices when it comes to pallet rack safety. You can score an A+ safety record by following these simple five tips.
The safety of your warehouse workers should be of the utmost importance to you, and one area of safety you should always keep in mind is pallet racking safety. Your storage equipment is the essence of your warehouse, and it is what takes up most of the space in your warehouse. To ensure workers’ safety, annual rack safety inspections performed by rack safety experts are not enough. Internal inspections should be done on more regular intervals such as every week, every other week, or every month. Check for damage to the racks and be sure your workers are following the safety protocols you have put in place. Here are some tips to help employees adhere to safety guidelines.
Train Your Forklift Operators
There are many reasons why pallet racks may fail and cause damage; however, one common reason is untrained forklift operators. Operating machinery can be difficult since it usually involves making tight turns and carries the risk of bumping into nearby racks. OSHA mandates that all forklift operators be trained, and that is exactly what needs to happen if you want to keep your warehouse safe and accident-free.
Pay Attention To Your Warehouse Layout
It is important that the warehouse aisles are wide enough to safely navigate with any necessary machinery. While it’s tempting to make aisles small so that the warehouse can hold more merchandise, this can result in serious trouble when it makes it impossible to avoid bumping into pallets and pallet racking systems with equipment.
Properly Placed Loads
Pallet racks are like any other piece of equipment and should be used properly at all times. This includes placing loads on pallet racks in the proper way to ensure maximum safety and function. Items which have been placed on pallet racks should be properly secured to prevent them from moving and potentially causing damage or injury. Again, it is important to know the rack’s holding capacity so it is not overloaded—especially on the upper levels. Workers also need to know how to account for the dimensions and shape of the load they are taking to be stored. They should know which types of loads go on which types of racks and how they affect the rack’s load capacity.
Label Everything Correctly
If you walk away with only one thought from this post, this is it and we put in bold…..be sure each pallet rack is labeled with its correct weight capacity. Knowing capacity of the rack is critical. It is easy for racks to become overloaded and unstable. With the correct labeling, employees know how they should position loads and how many items they can place on any given rack. Labels give warehouse workers the vital information they need to know at a glance. Make sure the labels you are using are just as durable as the racks themselves. The weight capacity of a rack will not change over time, so make sure the label lasts the lifetime of the rack.
Inspection. Inspection. Inspection.
When conducting an inspection, each individual component of the rack should be taken into account. Front and rear posts, uprights, baseplates, beams, and braces can all sustain damage from forklifts. Put together a checklist of all areas which need to be regularly checked to ensure that nothing is overlooked. Even the smallest compromised area can be disasterous when it finally gives out.
Conclusion
Applying best practices to managing your warehouse pallet racks is key to ensuring worker safety and reducing your down time. Pay attention to warehouse layout, inspections and labeling. to mention a few. Ensuring your pallet rack safety protocols are being adhered to will maximize your uptime and reduce your headaches.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to pallet rack safety guidelines. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
6 Tips for Better Warehouse Management – Blog
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
This post is intended to provide useful tips on better warehouse management. We hear this frequently, as managing a warehouse is not easy, and it takes a substantial amount of work and effort. However, it can be made much easier when you take the time to explore these six tips for better warehouse management.
Our Top 6 Tips for Better Warehouse Management
1. Integrate a Warehouse Management System with Mobile Features
Managing a warehouse takes a tremendous amount of work. However, you can make your management more effective when you utilize a warehouse management system. These systems can help you understand your inventory better, make it easier for your employees to find items in the warehouse, and can even help to speed up the shipping process. Many of the best options on the market today will have mobile features, so your employees can simply use scanners when checking inventory or picking items for orders.
Be sure to put these tips for effective warehouse management into action in your warehouse sooner rather than later. You will want to be sure that you start with a WMS that can help to facilitate better control of your warehouse from the start. Learn all of the features and how to use them properly, and you will find that proper management of the warehouse is easier than you might have thought.
2. Warehouse layout is the Key
Plan the layout of your warehouse space. If you utilize dollies, forklifts, or other machines to help reach and retrieve items, there must be enough room for them to operate efficiently and safely in the warehouse. There should be a space for everything that is needed, and anything that is not needed in the warehouse should be removed.
You will also want to plan so that it will be easy to take inventory if needed. While you will have a warehouse management system that can help you keep track of your inventory, you may also need to do manual counts on occasion. It should be easy for your employees to do so.
3. Keeping Organized Keeps Your Sanity
You must keep your warehouse properly organized once you have the layout established. It can be easy for employees to put items in the wrong location which will drive you crazy. Putting items in the incorrect places will cause a lot of trouble when it comes to finding those items later. The warehouse must always be organized properly, and supervisors should check on this regularly.
4. Use Bin Locations and Labeling
To make it easier to find what is needed, the use of bin locations for certain items will be crucial. Barcode labeling is essential, too. These techniques will help to ensure that you know exactly where all of the items are supposed to be, making it faster and easier for your employees to pick the times and fulfill customer orders.
5. Focus on Safety
The safety of your employees should always be of the utmost importance. They need to understand all of the safety protocols that you have in place, and they need to follow the rules. They also need to know how to safely utilize all of the equipment that they will be using for picking items, such as forklifts, dollies, ladders, etc.
6. Training. Training. Training
In addition to training the staff on safety protocols and how to use equipment safely, they also need to be trained on how to pick properly. They need to know how to use their scanners, how to complete orders, and how to work as efficiently as possible. Human error is one of the most common problems in warehouse inventory management, and the only way to reduce these errors is with proper training.
Conclusion
Applying best practices to managing your warehouse space is key in leveraging efficiencies and lowering your overall costs. From better space planning to using bin locations and labeling, maximizing your warehouse space will save you time, money and reduce your headaches.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to understanding how best to manage your overall warehouse space. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
Warehouse Storage Strategies – Part I
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President – CBF Industries
The most common problem most warehouse owners and managers face is maximizing their warehouse storage space and minimizing their overall operating costs. It might seem like a tough challenge, but fortunately, there are many solutions to this seemingly daunting task.
Given this, we are continually asked to provide suggestions relative to leveraging warehouse efficiencies and reducing costs. We will expand on this more, but the key strategy is a proper pallet racking system. This post is intended to provide a few tips and hard learned lessons that will help you get on the right track to a more organized operation.
Think Upward Not Outward
Industrial warehouse report data suggests that using a pallet racking system can create a safer working environment for your employees and improve the efficiencies in your warehouse operation. A pallet racking system can increase the amount of floor space that’s available for use because it stores your inventory vertically instead of horizontally, optimizing the space between your facility’s floor and ceiling. This type of system can help you keep your warehouse organized, making it look like there is an actual rhyme and reason to your storage area, because it prevents you from storing an overwhelming number of horizontal lines of product on your floor.
Most buildings calculate floor space size in two-dimensional square footage. Unless you add on and outward, you have no realistic way of expanding your horizontal area. Your warehouse space is finite unless you think outside the box. Your solution isn’t expanding outward or leasing a separate facility. That only increases your operational expenses like staffing, taxes and utilities.
The solution to maximize warehouse storage is to think vertically. Think of the excess area you have above your current storage footprint. You likely have double or more cubic feet of unused space waiting to be filled. That’s provided you have an efficient system to maximize your vertical storage.
Yes, your solution to the common storage problem is three-dimensional. It’s building upward, not outward. And there are efficient systems available for you to maximize warehouse floor space that brings an excellent return on investment.
Pallet Stacking – A Recipe For Disaster
You may own your facility outright, but likely you’re the same as most warehouse and distribution center operators — you lease your building. Based on this, many operations maximize their vertical warehouse space by stacking pallets on top of pallets. This strategy might sound simple, but it is not efficient or effective. Pallet stacking forces your warehouse workers into repeated lifting, lowering and restacking pallets to get what they need to pick and fulfill orders. That’s not the best way to take advantage of vertical warehouse space.
This stack-and-restack method is time-consuming and can create safety issues like pallet tipping and load collapses. It also exposes workers to more forklift operations. Again, stacking is not a good way to maximize vertical warehouse space.
Some warehouses rely on fixed racking to elevate inventory loads. Conventional racks are safer than simply stacking pallets, but they also need forklift assistance. You might have lighter inventory products manually stored and retrieved. However, this places strain on your employees that can lead to muscle fatigue and lost time. Injuries should not be a result of poor warehouse storage strategies.
Conclusion
Your best plan to increase storage volume at an economical and efficient cost is implementing a vertical warehouse pallet racking strategy. This approach will increase efficiencies, reduce costs and provide a safer environment for your employees. They’re simply the best invention to hit the warehouse and distribution scene in the past century.
Warehouse Storage Strategies – Part II
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President – CBF Industries
In Part II in our series of warehouse storage strategies, we will take a deeper dive into ways to optimize your operations, provide a safer worker environment and reduce your overall operating costs. From receiving to using automation, we hope this post will provide helpful information that you can employ in your operation today. Happy reading.
Regardless of the units your facility receives and stores, employing some warehouse storage strategies and tips can make getting and staying organized easier. Here are some warehouse storage ideas that can help you get started.
Technology. Technology. Technology.
Many technological advances such as hand-held product scanners have helped to make efficient inventory management possible for warehouses around the world. Using the latest technology in your facility may help you to further improve your efficiency. In addition to increasing your efficiency, tapping into resources such as the IoT can help you recognize new potential revenue streams, manage risk and improve your warehouse’s safety procedures.
Product Labeling Is The Key
The use of product labels in your warehouse can also help you to manage your inventory more efficiently while reducing picking errors. Your employees will be able to identify what they need simply by looking at or scanning the SKU on the relevant boxes with a hand-held device. If you’re using an automated inventory tracking system, the system can adjust your inventory level of individual items as they are pulled from your shelves. All of this will increase your staff’s efficiency and keep clutter and messiness to a minimum.
Only Allow Authorized Traffic
Regardless of your policies, procedures and setup, it critical to minimize unauthorized traffic in your warehouse. To keep everyone safe and ensure your inventory count is accurate, you should prevent non-employees from accessing your warehouse floor. People who aren’t authorized to be in your facility won’t be able to go through boxes or disrupt your workflow by acting as inadvertent barriers to the products your employees need to fulfill orders. A common practice is to have all your warehouse staff wear the same colorful t-shirts, ball caps or vests, as it will make it easy for you to immediately recognize a person who should not be on the floor.
Automation Is The Hidden Profit Center
Employing automation such as robots can significantly cut your labor costs. Although your pay back may take some time, in the end they can make a huge impact on your bottom line. You can also automate your warehouse with conveyor systems, which are an affordable automated storage and retrieval solution. The automated vertical storage solutions that are available on the market provide many benefits including increased safety and reduced product damage and theft.
Standardize Shipping Cartons
Standardizing shipping cartons is the key to speed and error reduction. Reducing the number of options your employees have to choose from can help your staff make the appropriate choice faster and fulfill orders more rapidly. Having only two or three standard box sizes for your most popular items and only a handful of custom ones for special items that are ordered infrequently will help optimize your shipping expenses, as well as reduce the amount you spend on shipping cartons.
Drive Efficiencies Through Employee Incentives
Instituting employee incentive programs is a great way to increase worker performance. This could include additional pay for fulfilling orders quickly and accurately. However, it is also important for your employees to complete the day-to-day tasks that are necessary to keep your facility organized, including cleaning and moving misplaced items to the correct location.
Don’t be too worried about an incentive program being too expensive because the rewards you provide don’t have to cost a lot of money. Instead, they can be as simple as letting someone park in a prime parking spot exclusively for a week, allowing the employee to drive a prized automobile for a day or making a small donation to the person’s favorite charity. Another key is ask your employees what will motivate them. This will make your incentive program a huge success.
Conclusion
As discussed in Part I in our series, going vertical is the key to an efficient warehouse storage strategy. In Part II, we discussed the importance of such things as automation, product labeling and carton size standardization. While these may seem obvious, most times they are overlooked.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to leveraging your warehouse storage strategies. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
Tips on Purchasing Pallet Racks
By: Larry Rausch – VP Sales and Marketing
Many times we hear from customers that pallet rack purchasing is a simple and easy project. The reality is much thought is required in purchasing racking systems if you want the end product to be as efficient as possible. This post is intended to provide facility mangager’s with the correct pathways when considering the purchase of pallet racking systems.
There is a science in the design and layout of pallet racks in a warehouse and there are different factors that have to be considered. For example, one must determine whether storage density is more important than easy access. It may seem simple, but not thinking this through in the long run can cause inefficiencies in your operation.
The Purpose of Pallet Racks
Before going further on how to buy pallet racks, it’s important to understand what is the purpose of buying them. Pallet Racks are designed to store racks also known as skids which hold products. It goes without saying that different product lines need storing in different ways to ensure safe storage and as little wasted space as possible. So to assist you with your warehouse fit-out, expansion, or re-fit, we have compiled a list of the most widely used types of racking, along with a brief outline of their relevant features. But first, let’s talk a bit about pallet rack components, capacity and space.
Pallet Rack Components
Beyond understanding the different types of racking systems, we think it is important to discuss the componentry that goes into these systems. Here is a list of the components of a pallet rack:
- Upright: Vertical beams that form the walls of the pallet rack; holes or slots are designed to interface with the load beam.
- Beams: Horizontal beams that form the shelves of the pallet rack.
- Pallet Supports: Situated between the load beams to support pallets.
- Wire Deck: Safety measure to prevent pallets or products on pallets from falling through the rack structure. Used for storing smaller products like boxes.
- Foot Plates: Also known as base-plates they are located at the base of columns and serve as anchors providing more stability for the rack.
- Shims: Are used when the uprights are going to be located on floors that might be uneven.
- Row Spacers: Are in most cases used when bays (uprights) are arranged in back-to-back rows.
Pallet Rack Capacity
The capacity of a pallet racking system depends on the beam spacing, height and beam dimension. For example, the higher the space between beam levels, the system will have less capacity.
Warehouse Space
The amount of space that you are planning to use pallet racking is essential on deciding how many rack systems you will need and what height.
Types of Pallet Racking Systems
Push Back Racking
Push Back Racking has major benefits in efficiency and accessibility. Pallets are loaded onto a series of wheeled carriers fitted along inclined guide channels, allowing the pallets to automatically drop forward when the front pallet is removed. The Push Back Racking system operates on a ‘First in, Last out’ (FILO) principle, allowing for fast and efficient packing and loading. The pallets are stored four deep, well suited to long-term bulk storage, and can be accessed by most types of forklift trucks, removing the need for specialized apparatus.
Narrow Aisle Racking
Designed to maximize floor space, Narrow Aisle Racking allows specialized forklift trucks to operate in aisles half the width in comparison to conventional racking layouts. By utilizing in-built guiding rails set at floor height, this system allows for precision movement of stock at a quick pace. The racking is height adjustable and offers access to every pallet without the need to re-arrange, adding an element of adaptability to the range.
Carton Flow Racking
Carton Flow Racking are ideal for warehouses that store and dispatch small products, parts, and components that require manual picking and packing. Carton Flow Racking uses lanes of inclined gravity rollers allowing for increased picking efficiency whereas Carton Live Storage may not use roller aisles. In both cases, cartons or boxes are loaded onto the shelves or racking from one side and automatically progress to the front ‘picking interface’ on rollers as stock is removed for packing. The roller lanes can be adjusted in terms of incline, height, and size, in order to tailor it specifically to your needs.
Cantilever Racking
Cantilever racking utilizes a series of metal ‘arms’ to support long, heavy products including timber, pipework, or beams. This system allows products to be stored loose or on a pallet, adding an element of versatility. The arms are also available in varying strengths and can be attached to either one or both sides of the rack, allowing you to tailor the racking to your requirements. The clear benefits of this form of racking are the ability to store longer-than-standard product lines, increased weights, and relatively quick construction time.
Double Deep Racking
Double Deep Racking aims to maximize the available storage space by allowing pallets to be stored in pairs, as the name implies. This cuts the amount of wasted space on aisles down to about half. A drawback to this type of storage system can be the lack of access to all pallets, although this can be minimized by a properly implemented stock rotation and management plan. For this reason, double deep racking is best used to store large quantities of the same product.
Drive-In Racking
Drive-In Racking provides a highly space-efficient storage solution, allowing for a 60-90% increase in capacity compared to conventional racking. This form of racking is typically only accessed from one end meaning it is best suited for large quantities of one product line, or products sent out in batches. Drive-In racking systems use the ‘Last in, First Out’ (LIFO) principle.
Drive-Through Racking
Drive-Through Racking, like Drive-In Racking, is highly efficient, though as its name suggests access can be gained from both ends. Typical Drive-Through racking systems use the ‘First in, First Out’ (FIFO) principle.
Mobile Pallet Racking
Mobile Pallet Racking is a movable form of racking. With this system, you only need to allow space for one operational aisle, increasing storage capacity by up to 80%. Another major benefit of mobile pallet racking, other than the increased capacity, is the ability to access any pallet individually, from any position. The high weight limit also means it can be used to store virtually any product. The racking is operated either manually or via electronic controls and should be fitted with sensors to ensure safe use.
In Conclusion
Pallet racking systems are the backbone of an industrial warehouse. From understanding capacity, space and storage, to the different types of racking systems, your next pallet racking purchase will be as efficient and cost effective as possible.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to best practices in warehouse design and management. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
Maximizing The Use Of Your Warehouse Operations
By: Larry Rausch – VP Sales and Marketing
We often see that many customers don’t fully appreciate the financial gains of maximizing their warehouse operations. There are many hidden costs in most operations and a good starting point is to understand the costs associated with storing materials in your warehouse. This post is intended to give you a few pointers on how best to maximize your storage space and help to reduce your overall costs.
To begin, If you don’t know the cost associated with storing materials in your warehouse, ask your finance department. You’ll want to look at the total value of the inventory you have on hand, such as all the inventory sitting on your loaded pallets. Then, you’ll factor in your overhead expenses associated with operating your warehouse, as well as the costs of financing the inventory on hand. Another important factor in determining your inventory carrying costs per square foot is the cost of product write-offs due to damage. There are several other costs associated with warehouse management that you’ll need to factor in as well. Lean on your finance department to help you understand your true operational costs.
Once you understand your true costs, one of the first and toughest things to address is whether you can reduce space used by focusing on the age of the inventory and liquidating overstock. Should this be the first step in your DC space study? Do you have inventory reporting that shows by SKU the weeks of supply and the inventory turnover? This will show how many weeks it will take to sell off the inventory. These are key reports when discussing space utilization with management.
Beyond the initial step of addressing your costs and potential overstock, below outlines a few ways to improve your operational efficiencies.
Consider an Off-Site Location for Overstock
If you store a large quantity of excess inventory for a few items, consider some type of offsite storage for the excess, thus freeing up space for supporting the fulfillment operation.
Employ Drop Shipping As An Option
If you store and ship large items, consider utilizing some form of drop shipping to reduce your in-house inventory and costs. How wide are your warehouse aisles? Try to design the minimum width required to match the material handling equipment used without compromising operating efficiency.
Vertical Space is Key
Look up and make sure you’re using all the vertical space available. Investigate storage media to take advantage of your clear span height. How much cubic feet of vertical space is not being used? Be sure to know how your design might impact your sprinkler design and fire code.
Assess Your Department Space
Identify functions that do not require high ceilings in areas where lower stacking heights are dictated by the clear height. We often see unused overhead space where large departments like packing and shipping are performed.
Depth of Storage
Review not only the effective use of the height of locations, but also the depth of storage; for example, consider double-depth racking.
Supply Storage
If you have to store supplies or packing materials, try to manage the inventory to avoid overstocks. See if your corrugated supplier can keep some inventory at its site for you, and take delivery every few days.
Consolidate Locations
If you have multiple locations for storing the same item, consider combining them to create better warehouse space utilization. This can be done during the put away process and as a standalone function.
Match and Right-Size Your Slots
Match the size and sales of the item to the right sized pick slot to maximize the utilization of the picking slot cube. Having various sizes of picking slots can facilitate this process. The same logic applies to locations where you store reserve or overstocks. In forward picking, keep 4-7 days of sales by SKU to reduce replenishment.
Consider Cross Docking
If possible, consider cross docking large releases of back orders or single-line orders to reduce the amount of inventory requiring storage locations.
Maximize Your Building Utilization
Make sure you study your building to determine how it can best be utilized from a space standpoint. Consider clear stacking height, column spacing, building impediments and overall process flow. Try to match vertical space needs with the building characteristics.
Consider a Mezzanine Installation
If your building layout permits, consider the use of a mezzanine to house functions that do not require high-bay storage. These can be expensive and are fairly permanent, but will maximize warehouse space utilization.
Conclusion
Warehouse space can often represent up to 15% of your cost per order. It is critical for you to understand your true warehouse operational costs and ways to reduce overstock. From considering aisle widths to double depth racking, you can maximize your operational efficiencies.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to best practices in warehouse management. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
Important Tips For Keeping Your Pallet Racks Safe
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Most of our customers assume that pallet racks, once installed, are good to go forever. It is no fault of their own as many racking suppliers simply don’t explain the importance of on-going maintenance and repair. This post is intended to provide an overview of the key areas you need to look for to keep your racks safe over the long haul. In addition, this post will provide a basic overview of checks that every storage facility manager should include in their regular inspections to ensure that pallet racks are safe. The majority of pallet rack structural failures result from common mistakes. Let’s take a look at the areas we run across on a frequent basis.
First things first, create a checklist
Creating a checklist and setting aside a schedule for these rack inspections is key to maintaining your rack system and increasing your warehouse safety.
Load placement
Drivers should be trained to deposit pallets correctly on the rack beams. They should be square and if possible should overlap uniformly on front and back. This helps you maintain evenly-distributed loads, which are vital to maximizing rack capacity and saving wear on your beams. Also, pallets out of square can cause accidents in 2-deep rows when the other side is being loaded. Placing the load only onto wire decks, where the pallet isn’t supported by rack beams, can greatly reduce capacity.
Install netting or wire guards
These safeguards are relatively inexpensive solutions and can be invaluable in particular in areas where there is foot traffic, order picking, or other human activities in the aisles below.
Understand your rack usage prior to specification
The two main rack safety points are the proper initial design of the structure, so it doesn’t collapse and proper training of personnel to ensure a clear understanding of the structure’s operational characteristics. If you inherited the pallet rack in your operation from someone else, find out the details of the rack system and its design. Keep a copy on file so everyone has access to the information.
Ensure proper installation & maintenance
If your uprights are not properly bolted to the floor, or have loosened over the years, rack accidents can occur. Check them regularly to be sure. Boltless beams should always be secured to the rack. Check the rivets after installation to be sure they fit snugly and that safety clips are utilized. Monitor them over time to be sure they haven’t been knocked out of place.
Don’t overload
Well, that is obvious, but how do you enforce it in a large warehouse? It’s a matter of documentation, product distribution and training. Train your warehouse staff to understand what the capacities of your racks are, and what each load might weigh. Post capacities on the racks so anyone using them can understand at a glance how much weight the beams can take. Beam capacity is much easier to understand than upright capacity. Basically, though, if you have heavy, tall loads that result in spaces more than 48″ between beam levels, you should call a professional to certify that your rack can take the load. The rule of thumb is that the greater the vertical space between beam shelves, the lower the upright capacity.
Replace damaged racks
This is another no-brainer, but it’s amazing the battered and beaten uprights we’ve seen. We understand that it is a pain to unload racks, take them down and put in new uprights or beams. But if something is damaged and it’s carrying thousands of pounds of inventory, it can trigger collapse in entire rows, endangering people and costing much more than simple replacement.
Conclusion
To keep your warehouse racking safe, you will need to perform preventative maintenance on a weekly basis. If you have questions regarding capacity or replacing shelving components, contact your local material handling company for assistance.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to understanding best practices in pallet rack safety. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.
Tips For Leveraging Space On Your Pallet Racks
By: Larry Rausch – Vice President of Sales and Marketing
After completing a client installation, we are often asked for tips that can help the customer leverage the space on their new pallet racking system. Maximizing space can go a long way in saving time and money. This post is intended to provide useful tips on maximizing your overall storage capacity.
While a lot of warehouses are content to just place things on pallet racks and call it a day, we will show you that there is actually a lot you can do to maximize your existing pallet rack space and make sure everything is stored as carefully as possible. In addition, if done properly, you can be assured there’s extra room in the warehouse for other goods as well.
Pallet Racks are one of the most useful types of warehouse shelving available thanks to their versatility and storage capacity—but are you using yours to their full potential?
If your warehouse relies on pallet racking to store items and you want to make sure your storage is being used as wisely as possible, take a look at our tips for leveraging your pallet racking space:
Make racks more mobile: For faster-moving products, it may be more worth it to move some inventory from your stationary pallet racks onto gravity flow racks to encourage product movement. This can help free up space on pallet racks for items that are accessed infrequently and may produce a ripple effect where handling times and product movement are improved through mobile storage.
Look for unused room space: It might not always be possible, but a good way to improve storage space and free up room elsewhere in an area is to look for lesser-used space in rooms. Try to make sure every corner has a rack in it, look for spaces between aisles that aren’t being utilized, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box – look over doors, under mezzanines and in other areas that might not be the most common spot for pallet racks.
Reduce aisle space: One of the best ways to maximize the space around your pallet racks is to reduce the width of aisles between them. Many warehouse aisle widths are determined by guidelines put forth by forklift manufacturers, local safety regulations, and the like, but in a lot of cases for pallet racks you can reduce these widths to the minimum required size to increase the amount of warehouse shelving you can include while maintaining a steady traffic flow.
Reconsider their usage: A lot of warehouses use pallet racks for standard daily tasks like picking or shipping/receiving, but in many cases you can actually repurpose some of your less-populated racks for case flow and/or full-carton processing instead of individual item picks. This obviously depends on a lot of factors such as inventory density and carton flow, but if you have pallet racks with room to spare, converting them to overflow storage and using smaller shelves for daily picking could help make the most of your available space.
Use safety panels to set limits: Pallet rack safety panels are a good call in general to protect your workers and your inventory from accidents, but they can also help better measure the amount of product currently on a shelf by providing a hard backstop against which product can sit and act as a guide to how much space you still have to use.
Conclusion
Leveraging your storage space for your pallet racking systems can be driven by making racks more mobile and such other things as reducing your aisle space. Maximizing space is the hidden gem in saving you time and money.
We hope this post provided you helpful information as it relates to understandinghow best to leverage your pallet racking storage space. To speak with one of our technical experts, please call 1-216-229-9300. And thank you for reading our post.