As e-commerce raises the pressures on warehousing, with particular emphasis on fast customer fulfilment, two issues rise to the fore: the need for adequate racking protection and a more careful approach to the selection of racking and shelving based around the type of goods stored. Badly damaged racking for example, would require immediate remedial action, but depending on the nature of the racking protection, if any, the downtime to operations could vary widely and so adversely affect customer delivery times.

chazIt might seem far-fetched that much care is needed in racking protection choice but laxity over this could leave buyers disappointed. Some racking protection companies on the market today, according to Jenny Charlton, director of Rack Armour, have little or no knowledge on the subject of pallet racking.

One problem with older forms of rack protection is that remedial work to post or pillar protectors could be time-consuming and costly. Anchored to the floor, when hit by a forklift there could be concrete floor damage. Rack Armour’s plastic protectors, however, avoid such damage and can be quickly clicked onto racking uprights in seconds, thus saving hundreds of hours in installation costs. Unlike steel, they cannot rust or corrode and are easily cleaned, an important consideration in food and pharma warehouses. Racking repair costs, adds Jenny Charlton, could be cut by up to 80% with their products, saving many thousands of pounds and, perhaps, lives.

Another racking protector supplier, A-Safe, which also uses polymer-based rack guards, also warns against cheap imitators that are untested and unable to properly address the forces handling trucks possess and to watch out for short-term solutions that fail to deliver the returns on investment deserves.

There are, of course, other relatively cheap devices to protect both racking/shelving and the goods stored on them. These include safety nets/wire mesh placed at the back of the racking face, particularly useful in double-deep APR storage, to minimise damage from falling pallet loads when a particular pallet may be nudged too far. Wire mesh can also protect in-rack sprinklers.

A shelving rethink may be advisable when the stored products are awkward-shaped or items like clothing. Goods wrapped in cellophane on conventional shelving, for example, could slide off so an alternative could be Filplastic’s stackable wire baskets, which is a substantial saving on conventional shelving. Easily adjustable to cope with changing demands, they are well-suited to e-fulfilment centres.

Many leading warehouse operators have an eye to systematic sustainability and environmental protection but how many would consider building a high bay warehouse entirely from wood, including all the racking? That is what Alnatura Producktions-und Handels did in Lorsch, Germany for their fully automated warehouse, which gives the clue for wood’s viability. With no man-driven machines involved, accidents and fire risks are virtually eliminated. Built by Swisslog, the 9,000 mt2 food distribution centre has such good insulation and natural cooling that it will not require any heating or artificial refrigeration, while solar panels installed on the roof will provide ‘green’ electricity. Now there is food for thought.

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