If you’ve been in the warehousing or supply chain industry for more than five minutes, you’ve been around pallets. They’ve become an international industry standard when it comes to storage and shipping. But how did pallets become such an integral part of our industry? What are the advantages of them? And what’s the best way to work with them inside your warehouse? Let’s get back to basics and look at one of the fundamental parts of any warehouse or distribution center environment.

All About Pallets

Pallets are the square wooden bases upon which products are stored. Most of the time, the items on the pallet are wrapped in plastic or another material to keep everything in place. Pallets have open slots around the base that allow a forklift or pallet jack to easily move them around.

The Benefits of Pallets

• They can group a lot of inventory in a small space.
• They are easy to move around, allowing you to move a large group of inventory in a single movement.
• They are cheap because they are made from inexpensive wood.
• They are reasonably durable for the price and inexpensive to replace if they break.

All About Pallet Racking

Because most warehouses store a large number of pallets, they need to utilize a pallet racking system. Pallet racking is a fundamental component that will enable you to maximize storage space, increase productivity and have an overall positive impact on your organization. Down to basics, a pallet rack system consists of upright frames connected by horizontal beams. A pallet rack system is to a warehouse as a skeleton is to a body: they both provide support and structure to a bigger entity. If any part of the inner workings isn’t fully functional, the entire system is impacted in a negative way. These massive structures keep your products organized, maximize your space from floor to ceiling and are key in getting your products out the door safely and efficiently.

What happens if you don’t use a pallet racking system?

If a warehouse doesn’t use a racking system, they are in danger of quickly becoming overcrowded as their pallets can only be stored on the ground. If they attempt to stack the pallets on top of each other, they’ll dramatically slow down their operation as they have to move pallets around to get to merchandise on the lower pallets. By not using a racking system, you aren’t utilizing the space above the ground properly. Using a pallet racking system allows you to maximize the space, store your palletized product, and keep it out of the way when you don’t need it.

What are the benefits of using a pallet racking system?

There are compelling reasons to support either a traditional rack system or even a sophisticated rack system at your facility as both can have a major impact on your company’s operations. The proper rack system can also be the driving force in any materials handling industry and represents your company’s ability to remain a force in the global marketplace. Knowing the many advantages of a good racking system is important:

• One of the biggest and most obvious benefits of installing a pallet rack system is in the space you will save. For many types of businesses, the space you save installing a pallet rack system could very well increase your potential to store more products. By utilizing the vertical space in your warehouse, your stacking ability provides more floor space, which is invaluable. In some cases, storage can be doubled.
• Pallet rack systems are designed for durability and are built to withstand the impacts from forklifts. The pallet rack system you decide to employ in your warehouse will hold excessive weights and will be resistant to abuse. It’s important to inspect your racking frequently in order to assess any forklift-related or other damage and fix the racking as soon as possible.
• The high-quality materials used in your pallet rack system means the structure will employ optimal safety. After all, it is very important that these types of structures are built to minimize injury. The stronger and safer your racking is, the safer your employees and your inventory are, too.
• Your pallet rack system will allow for easy access to your products. Easy access to your products means pallets can be picked up faster, thus increasing productivity levels. That means you can get orders out the door quicker than ever.
• Lastly, your pallet rack system will provide you and your workers with convenience and efficiency. Your warehouse will run smoothly, and you will enjoy the increased production level. That’s a direct increase to your bottom line.

What Pallet Rack System is Right for Your Warehouse?

Generally, rack systems can be broken down into two fairly broad categories: low-density systems that enable easy access to your products, or high-density systems that offer better use of space but also limit access to stored products. Certainly, something you need to take into consideration before choosing a rack system for your facility is what kind of space you have, what you are storing, and how often you need to access those products. Once you’ve established these factors, it will be easier to determine which pallet racking system is going to be right for your warehouse.

Need help finding the right pallet racking system for your space? The RMH Systems team can help. We’d love to talk to you about the storage needs in your warehouse and help match you to the warehouse equipment that’s right for your space. Get in touch with our team today by giving us a call or contacting us through the form below.