When most readers see the words “increase warehouse capacity”, the first thought that will come to mind is of taking on a major physical expansion project. For many businesses, aspirations for growth default to the scale of new construction, be it through adding warehouse square footage or replacing entire racking systems. While new construction projects certainly have their place, we see time and time again that companies overlook opportunities to increase capacity using the infrastructure they already own. For instance, reconfiguring existing warehouse pallet racking can offer capacity gains that beat physical expansions in terms of payback and speed. We’re big proponents of doing more with less, so would like to share ideas on how businesses can gain capacity by simply reworking their current pallet racking.
First off, let’s provide a better outline of what we mean by “adding capacity”. In a material handling warehouse, capacity can be defined (and gained) by these metrics:
- Storage Volume – at a base level, warehouse capacity is expressed in terms of static storage spaces or gross area, such as “100,000 pallet positions” or “300,000 square feet”. Reconfiguring pallet racking plays on storage volume by increasing pallet position counts and density within the same area.
- Productivity – a warehouse’s functional capacity is described as the rate or speed of materials that travel through a facility, also known as throughput. For example, if a 100,000 pallet warehouse turns over its volume three times per month, the warehouse is said to have a productivity level of 300,000 pallets/month. A pallet racking re-design can boost this productivity, increasing overall throughput capacity.
- Efficiency – while productivity solves for gross output, efficiency solves for peak performance with the fewest input resources like labor and energy. In this way, efficiency is akin to performance capacity, which can be directly improved by reconfiguring pallet racking to have higher throughput with minimal additional input resources.
Squeezing More Capacity out of Existing Warehouse Racking
Now that we understand warehouse capacity in terms of volume, productivity, and efficiency, let’s explore specific ways to gain these improvements via pallet racking reconfiguration. Across all suggestions, our specific goal is to describe ways that businesses can benefit by using assets that they already have, with limited capital expenditure (CapEx) outlay.
- Adjust Pallet Bay Sizes – perhaps the greatest opportunity to “find” warehouse capacity is to tap into under-utilized racking space. By adjusting racking cross member locations, each bay can be resized to better fit the materials being stored and create additional bays out of the recaptured space.
- Convert Pallet Bays – many warehouses struggle to manage partial pallets and loose materials, which take up valuable pallet bay space or worse, end up piled around the warehouse. Converting a handful of pallet bays to shelving, bin stacks, or sliding drawers can provide much better space utilization for loose items.
- Change Storage Orientation – some products can be stored vertically just as well as horizontally, which provides warehouses an opportunity to switch pallet racking orientations to suit. As a real example from a recent project, we rotated 80” long insulation boxes from horizontal storage in double-wide bays to single-wide, taller bays, freeing up the adjacent bay entirely.
- Replace/Reinforce Limiting Elements – every racking system has limiting factors that restrict capacity expansion, most often being either their vertical columns or horizontal beams. For many installations, simply replacing or reinforcing these members can immediately increase the weight and/or height density of the storage system.
- Catch up on Maintenance – we frequently visit warehouses that have some level of capacity impacts due to racking components that were neglected to the point of failure and removed from service awaiting repairs. This type of unexpected lost capacity can be easily avoided by keeping up on proper proactive racking maintenance.
- Adjust Aisle Widths – pallet racking aisle widths are engineered to support very specific material, fork truck, pick rate, and concurrent mission requirements. Reconfiguring racking aisle widths can unlock additional capacity. In certain cases, decreasing aisle widths and switching to narrow aisle lifts can improve overall warehouse storage volumes, and in others, increasing aisle widths to gain clearance around large materials will improve mission efficiency.
Taking an Advanced Managerial Approach to Racking Reconfiguration Projects
In helping our own customers with pallet racking change initiatives, the natural next step is to discuss managerial elements surrounding how such racking changes will impact daily operations. When thinking about a pallet racking re-design from this perspective, there are a number of considerations that warehouse managers must blend together to form a well-defined managerial approach. Let’s have a look at the most important of these considerations:
- Safety – every warehouse project should start by considering safety, and racking reconfiguration is no exception. Even minor adjustments like changing bay sizes will have a direct impact on the structure’s stability and integrity, which is why any proposed changes must be approved by the racking manufacturer and a structural engineer prior to execution. In addition, warehouse environmental, health and safety (EH&S) teams should be consulted regarding updating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and training requirements. With safety fully integrated into the plan, racking rework can reach its full potential with all risks mitigated ahead of time.
- Space Allocation – anytime pallet racking is examined for improvements, a warehouse’s overall space allocation should be evaluated as well. Very often, managers will discover underutilized space in need of a purpose, such as intermediate staging, pallet build/break activities, and additional storage racking. When considered together, space allocation improvements and racking reconfiguration can collectively squeeze out even greater operational efficiency gains.
- Code Compliance – for most racking projects, there are multiple technical codes and standards that must be adhered to including fire protection, structural, seismic, and safety. These codes fall under the jurisdiction of the local building authority, fire marshal’s office, and regional Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) office – all of which may require review and onsite inspection during the project. In addition, your insurance carrier and any applicable third-party auditors (such as FM Global) may have their own requirements as well.
- Zoning & Flow – the flow of traffic through a warehouse is a sophisticated dance of equipment and personnel which must be adjusted to match any pallet racking changes. For example, traffic paths, mission patterns, and pedestrian protection should be reviewed and updated for optimal flow as needed. Also, racking rework can be a great time to introduce or augment storage zones, which helps make racking rework decisions as a function of warehouse organization and operational flow efficiency.
- Future Planning – racking reconfiguration projects serve an interesting strategic purpose by buying time to build capital for larger expansions (should they be needed at all), which in a way, makes these projects a function of Capital Master Planning for the overall business. In this sense, warehouse managers should carefully consider future plans in any racking rework project, incorporating layout, racking selection, age, condition, and cost of ownership into the equation.
We hope that this discussion has been helpful for your commercial material handling and operational needs. Fairchild Equipment is the Upper Midwest’s premier Material Handling Equipment and Service resource, with headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and numerous locations ready 24/7 to serve your needs throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Northern Illinois. For more information or to discuss which equipment solution might be best for you, please call us at (844) 432-4724 or send us a message.
