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Strategic Tips for Racking Your New Facility Efficiently

January 24, 2025

Outfitting a new warehouse is an exciting milestone for any business. However, the process can quickly become overwhelming with the many decisions that must be made. From selecting the appropriate racking system to balancing cost and long-term efficiency, each choice has the potential to impact your warehouse’s productivity, safety, and budget for years to come. This guide provides key insights to help you make informed decisions when racking your new warehouse.

Save Money With Used and Refurbished

One of the most significant factors in designing a warehouse is cost. For many businesses, the choice between new, used, or refurbished pallet racking is a pivotal decision. Opting for refurbished racking can be a smart way to save money without compromising on quality. These systems are restored to meet the same structural and safety standards as new racking, ensuring reliability and durability.

Refurbished racking can save businesses up to 20% compared to purchasing new systems. This cost-effectiveness allows for reallocating budget to other priorities, such as advanced warehouse technologies or employee training. Furthermore, choosing refurbished racking supports sustainability by reducing the demand for new manufacturing and minimizing industrial waste—an increasingly important consideration in today’s eco-conscious business environment.

Understand Your Floor and Seismic Zones

The type of floor and the seismic zone of your warehouse are critical factors that influence the selection and installation of racking systems. Your warehouse floor must have the structural integrity to support the weight of loaded racking systems, and specific racking designs may require anchoring to meet local safety regulations. Conducting a floor load analysis ensures your racking system is safe and stable under operational conditions.

In addition, warehouses located in seismic zones must adhere to stricter guidelines to withstand potential earthquakes. Seismic racking systems are designed with additional bracing and anchoring to provide enhanced stability. Ensuring your racking meets these standards not only protects your inventory but also minimizes risk to employees and equipment during seismic events.

Addressing these factors early in the planning process helps avoid costly modifications and ensures compliance with safety standards.

Optimize Your Space

Choosing the right racking system is a critical step in optimizing your warehouse’s layout and operations. The type of racking you select should align with your inventory needs, space constraints, and handling equipment. For example, if your warehouse stores a wide variety of products, selective racking might be the best option due to its versatility and ease of access to individual pallets.

For businesses that handle long or bulky items like lumber or steel bars, cantilever racking provides an open design that simplifies loading and unloading irregularly shaped materials. Alternatively, if maximizing storage density is a priority, high-density systems such as push-back or drive-in racking can store pallets more compactly, increasing pallet positions within the same square footage. This is especially advantageous for warehouses with limited space or high-volume storage needs.

By understanding your inventory type and retrieval frequency, you can identify a system that boosts efficiency and maximizes storage capacity. Optimizing your warehouse layout not only enhances day-to-day operations but also sets the stage for a seamless permitting and design process.

Racking

Ensure Proper Permitting

Designing a warehouse involves more than just selecting racking systems; it requires careful planning to account for various operational and structural considerations. One critical factor to address is permitting. Ensuring compliance with local building codes and safety regulations is essential for avoiding delays, fines, or unexpected changes during installation. Proper permitting lays the foundation for a legally compliant and efficient warehouse.

Navigating the permitting process can be complex, but addressing it early can save significant time and resources. This step ensures that your racking system meets all necessary standards for structural integrity and safety, providing peace of mind as your operations scale.

Design Services for a Seamless Process

Beyond permitting, engaging in professional design services can help you create a warehouse layout that integrates efficiency, compliance, and scalability. Design experts can evaluate your unique needs, assess space constraints, and propose solutions that align with your operational goals. From determining optimal aisle widths to planning for future expansion, a well-designed layout is critical to your warehouse’s success.

Incorporating design services early in the planning process also reduces the risk of costly oversights and ensures that every detail—from structural integrity to workflow efficiency—is accounted for. Investing in expert guidance helps you create a system tailored to your business’s long-term needs.

Protection From Impact

If your warehouse is expected to experience high forklift traffic, investing in rack protection is essential for safety and cost management. Forklift impacts are one of the leading causes of rack damage, which can lead to expensive repairs, downtime, and potential safety hazards. Fortunately, there are a variety of rack protection options to safeguard your warehouse from these risks.

One innovative option is the Rack Avenger repair kit, which is designed to withstand 14,000 pounds of impact at 14 miles per hour. Prefabricating these protective kits onto the uprights can save time and money while ensuring long-term durability. Additionally, post-protectors are another effective solution. These robust guards can be installed at the base of racking uprights to absorb the force of collisions and prevent damage.

By integrating rack protection systems into your warehouse design, you can reduce maintenance costs, improve operational uptime, and ensure a safer environment for employees. Proactive planning for forklift traffic helps protect your investment and creates a warehouse built for longevity.

Outfitting for Long-Term Success

Outfitting a new warehouse is about more than just installing shelves—it’s about creating a system that supports your operations and helps your business thrive. Cost-saving options like refurbished racking, proactive investments in rack protection, and careful selection of systems tailored to your inventory needs are critical components of this process.

Warehouses are the backbone of supply chains, and efficient racking solutions play a central role in their success. According to industry data, warehouses with optimized layouts can increase productivity by as much as 30%, while reducing operational costs by up to 20%. These statistics highlight the importance of making informed decisions during the planning and outfitting stages.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re ready to start your journey toward a safer, more efficient warehouse, Got Rack is here to assist. contact us today to learn more about our new, refurbished, and protective racking solutions designed to meet your unique needs.

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