Many businesses use pallet racking to safely transport and store stock and materials. Which type is right for your operation? Here is a look at the options.

No right way

There is no single “correct” answer when it comes to choosing pallet racking. The best type will depend on factors such as the available space you have, the height of your ceilings, the SKUs that you need to store, accessibility, the shelf life of your product, and the forklift truck and lift height that you will be using (Ensuring you get the right Forklift Hire).  Additionally, whether you use a FIFO or LIFO approach to managing products will have an impact, along with the actual sizes of the pallets that you need. If you can ascertain your requirements clearly before making a choice, you will be able to make a much better decision.

Typical options

Selective panel racks are the most commonly used type of pallet storage, using cross beams and uprights to make pallet storage racks. These will often have several shelves in each bay. They are a cheap investment and offer great accessibility, in addition to supporting both LIFO and FIFO systems. However, they can only be used for low storage density systems.

Floor stacking pallet storage is the most common approach that sees pallets sitting in rows across the floor. These are usually used for LIFO systems. They don’t require equipment and can support dense storage, but accessibility is hard and the approach uses up a lot of floor space. Find out more about this type of pallet racking Ireland at https://www.rackzone.ie/pallet-racking

Drive-through

These systems let fork trucks move into bays directly, with the pallets resting on a side rail to leave the bay’s face accessible. Uprights are secured together at the top to provide extra stability and rigidity. There are drive-through and drive-in racks, and the only real difference depends on whether there is one entrance or two.

These rack styles are usually arranged six to eight pallets deep for each bay. The loads are elevated by fork trucks and then loaded into the system from the back. Drive-in pallet racks use a LIFO system, while FIFO systems are usually used for drive-through racks. Again, they offer a high degree of storage density and lower costs. However, accessibility is poor and damage can occur.