A community for warehouse and logistics discussion. Allows like-minded practitioners to interact by sharing ideas and knowledge in the forum.
How do we decide when to use pallet racking or floor stacking? What are the things to consider?
Pallet racking is used to utilize the air space in the warehouse. Rather than placing all the pallets on the floor and wasting the air space, pallet racking will increase the storage capacity of the operations.
However, imagine if the pallets only stay in the warehouse for 2-3 days. The effort required to putaway the pallets to the racking, and subsequently picking the pallets for outbound. For such fast moving pallets (typically fast moving consumer goods), you might need to consider storing them with floor stacking.
Could I ask what's a good way to estimate floor space requirements, specifically the clearance between pallets both sideways and front-to-back.
Could I ask what's a good way to estimate floor space requirements, specifically the clearance between pallets both sideways and front-to-back.
We need to know what type of MHE operations is using. In theory, the aisle width should be wide enough for the MHE to move around.
For example, in the below picture, the aisle space is sufficient for the forklift to maneuver and fork the designated pallet in the middle. On extreme right side, you might notice it's more than the aisle width required. During the design and implementation stage, you may need to factor the column locations.
However, if the operations does not require picking in the middle of the aisle (e.g. the whole row is of the same type and expiry date of inventory), picking can be done at the beginning of the aisle, then there is no need to leave such a big aisle space for MHE. Storage can be more dense.
Another point to note is that sometimes, it depends on the inventory profile. For example, if the pallets are too heavy, it is advisable to stack them on the floor instead of placing them in the pallet racking. The same applies for the dimensions of the pallets as well.
While floor stacking makes more economical sense, the space it takes up allots for a difficult warehouse environment. Pallet racking is more costly, but the long-term benefits of being able to effectively operate a warehouse and manage inventory better can make it one of the best choices for any warehouses.
This is definitely true.
There are operations where it makes sense to use floor stacking instead. For example, if the inventory are fast moving (to be stored in the warehouse for a few days before they are picked and processed for outbound). In such operations, it may be an option to floor stack.
Leave a reply
