6 benefits of having an efficient racking storage system for your business
Are you planning on expanding your business or transitioning towards e-commerce? Well, that means you may need a warehouse in the future.
But did you know that owning a storage facility isn’t enough? You’ll also need an efficient racking storage system to take your business to the next level.
If you’re interested in learning how storage systems can benefit your business, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll discuss how the right warehouse shelving solution can optimize your warehouse and make it more profitable. More importantly, I’ll list a couple of shelving solutions that can help you get ahead of the competition and tips to find the right racking system for your business.
Ready to get started?
What is a Racking Storage System?
A racking storage system is a storage solution that utilizes horizontal and vertical space to help store and organize merchandise in your warehouse.
Advantages of Racking Storage Systems
Investing in an efficient racking system brings a boatload of benefits for your business. Here are just a few of them.
1. Improves Organization
An efficient racking storage system keeps everything in your warehouse organized. That means every item has a designated spot, and employees know where to store or locate it quickly. This saves a considerable amount of your business’s resources and helps make your warehouse more productive.
2. Enhances Efficiency
In order to become a successful business, you need to identify high-flow and low-flow inventory and use a racking system that facilitates warehouse operations. For example, placing high-flow merchandise closer to loading and unloading docks makes them more accessible. Furthermore, utilizing an automatic storage and retrieval system can bring down costs.
3. Maximizes Storage Capacity
An efficient storage facility makes the most of its square footage, both vertically and horizontally. So implementing a good racking storage system enables you to optimize the vertical storage capacity of your warehouse and house more merchandise.
4. Scales for Growth
As your business grows, so too does your merchandise. If you currently have limited storage space, you may have to consider relocating to a bigger facility or reducing your inventory and foregoing potential revenue.
However, with the right warehouse storage solution, you can continue to use the existing space by increasing its storage capacity and helping your business grow.
5. Boosts Revenue
Organized inventory, efficient processes, and greater storage capacity are just a few factors that can improve the way your warehouse works. So, at the end of the day, they all contribute to your business’s bottom line.
6. Customizable Solutions
Racks are important infrastructure components of your warehouse that enable you to organize your inventory efficiently. Often, warehouses require customized industrial storage racks to achieve optimal storage capacity.
Customization allows you to change the material of your racks to suit your needs. For example, steel racks are ideal for heavier, bulkier items, while wire racks are better for lighter, perishable goods. Installing versatile, cost-effective racking solutions can facilitate operations and keep your business profitable.
Different Types of Racking Storage Solutions
The type of racking system you choose greatly depends upon your business’s needs and the type of merchandise you store. Some common storage racking systems are:
Drive-in Rack
Businesses that store large amounts of the same products can benefit from a drive-in rack system. It can have one or two access points. With a single entry/exit point, forklifts can only enter from one side to deliver and pick pallets, making it ideal for LIFO (last-in, first-out) inventory management systems. However, with two separate points, forklifts can access racks from both ends, making it suitable for FIFO (first-in, first-out) inventory management systems.
Push Back Rack
A push back racking system helps store merchandise on rollers resting on inclined storage rails. So when the forklift loads a new pallet onto the rack, it pushes the previous unit towards the back. And when a pallet is unloaded, the remaining pallets slowly flow to the front of the rack with the help of gravity. So this system supports a LIFO inventory management system.
Mobile Sliding Rack
In a mobile sliding rack, units with wheels at the base are mounted on tracks embedded in the floor of the warehouse. Racks are packed closely together when access isn’t needed, but they can be moved to open up an aisle when a particular product is required. This type of racking system offers high-density storage solutions allowing you to store more goods in the same area.
Invest in the Right Racking Storage System
Believe it or not, your racking system can help you remain competitive in the fast-paced business landscape. Benefits range from optimizing the storage capacity of your warehouse to streamlining internal operations to boosting the bottom line.
However, this all depends on you implementing the right warehouse racking system.
So how can you find the perfect racking solution factors?
Consider the following aspects to make a better selection:
Budget – How much can you invest in a racking system?
Durability – How durable is the system? Will it endure the weight of your merchandise?
Accessibility – Will the system allow forklifts to navigate effortlessly between the aisles? Will employees be able to store, locate, pick, and ship goods easily?
Space Optimization – How well does the system utilize your warehouse’s horizontal and vertical space? How well can the racking system use your floor without hindering warehouse processes? Will it effectively store the size, load, and quantity of your stock?
Streamline Processes– Can the system facilitate internal operations such as inventory management?
Versatility – Can the racking systems be adjusted to accommodate items with different dimensions and weights?
Keep the answers to these questions in mind when selecting a racking system for your business.
Over to You
Your warehouse needs a good rack and shelving system to optimize storage, facilitate access to inventory, and speed up processes. More importantly, it can improve operational efficiency and grow revenue. So businesses need to invest in efficient racking storage systems – sooner rather than later.
It’s time to become more competitive in your industry by investing in strategies and equipment that enable you to streamline supply chain management.