How to increase your warehouse shelving efficiency

Making the most out of your warehouse can be a demanding task. There are a number of things to consider when ensuring that you maximize the efficiency of your employees as well as the space available on the warehouse floor. Here at ARPAC, we offer a variety of storage and racking options to help make sure that your warehouse management system is as streamlined as possible. Let our experts in warehouse racking show you how you can pick the right storage options for your business in Vancouver.

Warehouse organization

The first step to increasing the efficiency of your warehouse is to get organized. This means more than just knowing where everything is. One of the biggest pitfalls to warehouse efficiency is travel time. You probably have pickers (on foot or on lift trucks) travelling the warehouse floor from end to end looking for items that are part of the same order. To avoid needless travel time, try racking items in an intelligently organized manner. Try to group similar items together; items that are often ordered in tandem should always be placed side-by-side and so forth.

What kind of storage is best for my business?

Let’s go through the different storage options and pick the one that’s right for you.

Shelving or pick module racking

These are both options that are great for your warehouse in Vancouver if you do not use any kind of lift truck for your business. They can store multiple different items in a small space, reducing travel time and making it easy to pick orders to manually operated carts or conveyors.

Selective Pallet Racking

Selective racking is the most popular types of storage because it is allows 100% selectivity of all your pallet faces. This is the best system if you have a large variety of SKU’s, or if your product mix varies due to your business model.

Double deep racking

Double deep racking has twice the density of Selective pallet racking. As the name suggests you have a pallet stored in front of another pallet. While Double Deep Racking provides a better use of the warehouse space, it is only practical if you have a number of SKU’s where you carry multiple pallets of them. The downfall of Double Deep Racking is “honeycombing”, this is what occurs where you have empty shelf locations to ensure the pallet behind is visible when there are no same SKU pallets that could be placed in front. While Double Deep is more efficient than Selective, you require a proper double-reach forklift that can reach the back of the racking.

Drive-In Racking

Drive-In racking is typically two to four pallets deep, but can be considerably deeper where the product mix calls for it. The benefit of Drive-In Racking is the density, the drawbacks with it are the need to empty an entire “Tunnel” to turn the stock over. Selecting Drive-In Racking requires the keen knowledge of a Storage Solutions specialist, they will take into account the product mix, whether the product requires a FIFO (First In, First Out) system, or a product mix that can work in a FISH (First In, Still Here) system. Always consult the professionals to ensure the system is designed and engineered to suit your application.

Pallet flow racking

Pallet Flow Racking is your best option where you have a FIFO requirement, with plenty of the same SKU’s, this allows you to load the back of the system and pick from the front where the pallets are gravity fed via roller conveyor. Pallet Flow provides maximum potential density, and each “lane” allows for a different SKU, as opposed to Drive-In where the whole “Tunnel” requires a single SKU.

We at ARPAC deal in warehouse equipment for companies throughout Alberta & BC. Call us today for a consultation to determine what type of pallet racking is best for you in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, or Lethbridge. Visit our website for more information regarding our different types of storage options for your warehouse.