Five tips for creating the ideal warehouse pallet racking system

The warehouse is an essential part of any business. You might have a great product but if your customers don’t receive it on time and in good condition, all your effort will be wasted and you’ll end up losing business. To ensure that your product flow (and therefore cash flow) is as efficient as possible, investing in the right pallet racking system is an important decision for every business.

At ARPAC, we provide businesses with forklift rental services, new forklifts, as well as warehouse equipment, racking and shelving in the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton areas. There’s no magic solution to warehouse racking systems that works for all companies. Each company is unique and their warehouse system will have to be equally unique. When you’re designing your system, be sure to have these few points in mind so you can develop the best racking system for you.

1. It’s all about the product
   The first thing you should do is to have a clear idea of what your business needs, both now and in the future. Is your business growing rapidly? Does it make or store a wide variety of different products of different sizes? If your business is growing rapidly or you store a lot of different kinds of product, you may want to focus your pallet racking system on flexibility. If you have a stable business with only a few products, pick the most efficient option for that product and stick with it.

2. Use all your space
   There are a lot of different kinds of shelving and warehouse racking available in the Vancouver and Edmonton areas. Selective pallet racking often provides the most flexibility and is the most popular choice. But for some businesses, pick racks, double deep racking, or cantilever racks might make more sense. Whatever you decide, be sure you’re taking advantage of all the space you have available, and that includes the space above you. With modern forklifts, you can use all your space.

3. FIFO, LIFO, or FISH?
   You should decide early on whether your business’s product flow works best on a first-in-first-out model (FIFO) or a last-in-first-out (LIFO) model. Businesses with perishable products tend to prefer LIFO models and non-perishable products tend to use FIFO. Be sure to consult your accountant on this choice, however, as this decision may affect how your assets are valued and have bookkeeping and tax implications.  Make sure you avoid FISH, first-in-still here!

4. Safety first
   Whatever racking system you choose, be sure to put the safety of your workers first by keeping pedestrian zones and forklift zones away from each other.

5. What kind of equipment will you have in the future?
   When considering how wide your aisles should be, take into account any future equipment purchases you might make. Will you eventually need bigger forklifts? You don’t want to have to re-design your entire warehouse to accommodate them, and remember the important dimension is goods to goods, rack to rack only works if there is zero overhang.

At ARPAC we help design unique material handling solutions for businesses. Whether that includes forklift rental or warehouse equipment, racking or shelving, we have what you need to succeed. Contact us today to speak to one of our material handling experts and find out how we can help your business in Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton become more efficient.