Fitting more pallets and products into the warehouse is a daily struggle for most warehouse managers. As relocating an entire warehouse can be difficult, let alone the costs involved and potential downtime, increasing storage capacity without having to move to a new premises is the best option.
So, how can you increase storage capacity to store more product in your warehouse?
Audit Your Current Storage Systems
A good place to start is by auditing your current storage needs and systems. How many pallets need to be stored for each product line and in total? Are all of your products stored on standard pallets in a pallet racking system or do you utilise a range of storage systems? Is your current storage system ideally suited for storing your products, or is there a more suitable storage solution available?
Warehouse inventories tend to grow and change over years of operation. This means that if your storage solutions and racking systems aren’t adjusted and changed to fit the new inventory, products can begin to be stored inefficiently. By taking stock of what systems you already have in your warehouse, as well as your inventory requirements, it becomes easier to identify areas for improvement.
For example, if a product range expands to include many new lines, a racking system with higher accessibility is needed to ensure all SKUs are accessible. Conversely, if you have started to store higher amounts of each product line, switching to a higher density storage system will allow you to store more pallets while still ensuring that each product line is accessible.
By identifying and installing the ideal pallet racking and storage systems based on the characteristics of your inventory, you will be able to increase the storage capacity of your warehouse, improve organisation, and boost productivity.
Choose The Optimal Storage Solution
Once you have identified your storage needs, you can choose the optimal storage solution to maximise the storage capacity of your warehouse. There are two key considerations when choosing the optimal storage solution for your inventory:
1) Choose Racking Based On Product Type
Choosing your pallet racking system based on the products to be stored will maximise storage as it will ensure that the racks are being used as intended with no wasted space.
There are a wide range of racks and storage solutions available to suit any product range, from A-Frame racking for vertical storage of long, rigid products, to carpet racking for horizontal storage of long cylindrical products. There are also a number of specialised storage systems available such as tyre racking, drum racking, cable reel racking, sheet racking, and more.
2) Choose Racking Based On Product Volume
It’s also important to choose your racking system based on the volume you want to store of each product. If you are storing bulk amounts of each product, a high density racking system, such as drive in racking or pallet flow racking, will allow you to store more products per square metre, without hindering product accessibility.
If you have a high differentiation product range and keep less of each product on hand, a high accessibility racking system, such as selective pallet racking, is more suitable.
If you’re not sure which type of pallet racking is suited to your product range and storage volume, contact your local pallet racking specialists at Macrack on 1800 048 821. We manufacture quality pallet racking systems with a lifetime guarantee. As our pallet racks are locally manufactured, we are able to provide our customers with customised storage solutions, tailored to fit their product range, with short lead times.
Increase Available Floor Space
If you’ve already audited your storage systems and installed the optimal storage system to pack as many pallets as you can into your warehouse, the next step is to increase the available floor space. Short of renovating or relocating, there is only one way to increase floor space in a warehouse and that’s by installing a mezzanine floor.
A warehouse mezzanine floor is a free standing structure that can dramatically increase the floor space of your warehouse by making use of the vertical space above your existing racking system. Additionally, mezzanine floors can be built to be multiple levels high to double or triple your existing floor space.
For example, Macrack designed, manufactured, and installed a four level mezzanine floor in a Brisbane warehouse that increased the available floor space by the equivalent of an extra 3 football fields, fully fitted out with shelving systems on each level. Click here to read the full case study.
Whether you need a new, specialised racking system, a whole new fit out or a warehouse mezzanine floor, Macrack has the perfect solution to increase the storage capacity of your warehouse. Call us today on 1800 048 821 for a free consultation with one of our warehouse storage experts. We can even meet you on site at no cost to you to provide a free quote, measure, and warehouse design.