Many warehouse managers and company executives are faced with the challenge of finding additional space when business pick up and stock levels grow. The issue is that at some point, most companies need to expand and moving to a new facility is a very costly endeavour. In addition, a newly constructed building involves finding the right location, buying the property, actually building the new facility and relocating the infrastructure and the equipment to the new premises. As anyone can imagine, both the costs of disassembling and moving the machinery together with the entire processing line are extremely high. To that effect, when relocation is not an option, then warehouse managers need to reconsider their use of space or choice of industrial shelving systems and storage solutions implemented.
The shelving and racking industry has developed greatly and there are now so many options and designs to choose from Permanent Magnet Manufacturers that virtually make relocation redundant. Industrial shelving systems can take many forms, which is a great benefit because it means they can be chosen as to best suit your available space, but also designed around your products. For instance, if your space is quite narrow, but you have heavy or bulky items to store, which you need to hand load, then long span shelving might be the best solution, because these systems can be used to span ground level pallets or bulk storage and keep the picking levels above. Even though traditionally warehouses are built so as to handle projected volumes, they are typically expected to adjust to the demands of the business and implicitly become more efficient. In order to accomplish short-term goals, such as mixing loads to simplify customer processing, warehouses resort to customisation steps. These steps take up floor space. Limited space is also the direct result of not using low vertical space. The logical solution is to redesign the warehouse so as to accommodate this growth. Although industrial shelving systems may be very similar in appearance, there are noticeable differences between them when it comes to functionality and suitability. Industrial shelves in particular are designed to allow you to fit more into less.
Not only are they manufactured from strong material such as high resistance steel, but they also feature a modular design, which makes them very flexible and adjustable. The right kind of shelving or racking, whether we’re talking long span shelving, pallet racking or long length storage systems, can definitely improve order picking labour associated with slow movers. The bottom line is that when relocation of your warehouse or storage area is not a viable option, there are more cost effective solutions to increased storage needs and these typically refer to a better configuration and choice of shelving and racking. As the industry has developed greatly over the years, one now faces multiple options when it comes to the right type of storage systems. To learn more about industrial shelving systems and long span shelving, please visit these links!