Simply Rack

Pallet Racking, Cantilevers, and Warehouse Shelving

Cantilever racks in austin tx

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cantilever rack offers many advantages!

In this video, Tracy explains the value and use of cantilever racking! Does your business work with long, heavy items such as lumber or tubing? A cantilever racking system may be an ideal addition to your warehouse or storage space! If you’re in need of racking of any kind, call the experts at Simply Rack today to get quality merchandise and excellent service at 512-869-2803!

Thanks for checking out our video, and we hope to hear from you soon!

What You’ll Learn

  • What is cantilever rack?
  • Why is this rack ideal for the storage of lumber, tub, bars, or more?
  • Are there price advantages to using cantilever racking over traditional pallet racking?

Listen to the audio version below!

Transcript for the audio/video

Tracy Jackson: Hi, welcome to the Simply Rack video series! Today we’re going to be discussing structural cantilever. Structural cantilever rack is the ideal storage system for non-palletized material such as lumber, steel bars, pipe-tubing and other long, heavy items. Another form of cantilever specific to the furniture industry has a continuous solid surface from arm to arm, increasing the density of furniture storage, however the last few years that has decreased in popularity because of the cost when pallet racking can be used at a fraction of the cost.

Behind me is a sample of structural cantilever racking. It’s a free-standing storage unit with horizontal load arms extended from a vertical column. This particular system is single-sided. The arms and base only come off of the front of the column, however, there are holes punched in the back of the column to make it a double-sided system, which dollar-for-dollar, is much more cost effective because you’ve already purchased the x-bracing, the column, and only need the additional arms and braces. In a nutshell, this is the type of storage racking used for lumber that is used at Home Depot and Lowe’s if you’ve ever been in there.

Since cantilever rack uses arms rather than beams, it’s easy to adjust the height of the arms depending on the size of your storage load. You can even add more arms as needed, or decrease the arms as you need additional height. This reduces handling time and allows you to get more done in less time. When you configure your racks exactly as you need them for your specific stock, it’s more accessible, enhancing productivity and accuracy across the board.

If you want to discuss cantilever with us, please call us at 512-869-2803! We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Pallet Rack Column Protectors

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Column Protectors are a Valuable Addition to Your Pallet Racking System

As one of the premiere providers of pallet racking in Austin, TX, we’re frequently asked about ways to maintain existing pallet racking systems. One accessory that we like to recommend to clients, particularly those with narrow aisle space where accidents can be more common, are column protectors. This brief video explains the use of column protectors and more to help better understand this useful addition to your existing pallet racking systems.
 
What You’ll Learn 
 
  • What column protectors do.
  • Why certain pallet rack setups may be better suited to column protectors than others.
  • The two most common forms of column protectors.

Listen to the audio version below!

Transcript for the audio/video

Tracy Jackson: Hi! Welcome to Simply Rack’s video series on pallet racking. I’m Tracy Jackson of Simply Rack and Warehouse Equipment, and today we’re going to talk about accessories to your racking system.
 
We’ve talked about the components to an actual racking system that are required and necessary, which are the uprights, the beams, and the wire decking pictured in the photo. You’ll notice there’s no column protectors in this aisle, because it’s a pretty standard wide aisle and the odds of having damage are decreased because of that. However, there’s wide traffic warehouses and narrow aisle applications where there tends to be more damage to the racking, so we recommend column protectors.
 
Column protectors are a heavy piece of steel that wraps around the column and anchors to the concrete. There’s typically four anchor holes. When you install this column protector, you install it approximately 3 inches away from the face of the actual column. That way, if your operator hits the column protector, he hasn’t damaged the upright. If you place that column protector directly to the face of that column, it’s likely to go into the column, and you’ll still have damage. So proper installation is key.
 
We do offer two different types of column protectors, one for Mecalux, which have an oversized footplate, and a standard footplate as seen on this upright. So you’ll either be quoted a Mecalux column protector, or a standard footplate. It only needs to be installed in the front of the upright in this location, because you’re not gonna hit it in the flue space.
 
If you have any questions, or would like to protect your racking, give us a call at 512-869-2803.

Form Follows Function

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HOW YOUR BUSINESS DETERMINES YOUR RACKING NEEDS

In this episode, Tracy explains the concept of “form follows function” in regards to your pallet racking needs! Knowing how you’re using your pallet racking and what you’re storing on it is necessary for selling you the right material. Are you a warehouse? Looking for backroom space for your retail business? Your business will determine what sort of racking you will need, and how it will be set up. The more information you are able to provide in regards to your business and your storage needs, the more accurate your quote and order will be!

What You’ll Learn

  • The elements that make up your racking system, and how to reference them.
  • What aspects of your racking may be most important to your industry.
  • How your business can determine your racking needs.

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION BELOW!

Transcript for the video/audio

Tracy Jackson: Hi! Welcome to Simply Rack and Warehouse Equipment’s informational videos, I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Tracy Jackson from Simply Rack. I’m an owner at Simply Rack and have been in this industry for over 30 years. I absolutely love my career, this racking is just a passion of mine, but there are some specifics that, if you’re ordering for the first time, you’re going to want to know.

Before we talk, to get you the right material you’ll hear me refer to form follows function a lot. I need to know how you’re using it, and what you’re storing on it, to properly sell you the right material. So just for the simple basics of getting started, for either a warehouse, a back room storage, or just your shop, of what we’re looking for to get you the proper material. If you’re storing pallets on the racking, there’s specific racking that you’ll need to buy, specific sizes with certain capacities. If you’re just hand stacking the product on there, have a lot of small pieces or a couple of large boxes, the average rule of thumb is no deeper than the average man’s, arm which is 36 inches.

Stepping back and looking at the parts that we’re talking about, on what you need. The green piece in this video is called an upright. An upright is what holds the racking in the air, and it consists of a front column and a back column combined with bracing material, and it’s anchored to the concrete floor with wedge anchors. The beams in this picture are orange, there’s a front beam and a back beam, and typically you have wire decking in the middle to help transfer the weight of the pallets to the beams or hold your hand stack materials. This also acts for fire code to separate each level in case there’s a fire, so you don’t have pallets falling from the top to the bottom and causing a larger fire. This fire suppression system can work a little better at that point.

We’ve got uprights green, beams orange and wire decking. Please don’t refer to color, because once in a while you’re going to have blue, purple, whatever color in the world there is in racking, so it’s an upright, a beam and wire deck.

These items are row spacers. Row spacers create the flue space for the back of the pallet when it’s stored to sit so it’s not overhanging in the front.

When we get into our next video sessions, we’re going to specifically talk about sizes and what sizes you need based on your product, but again, upright, beams, wire deck. You now know 90 percent of what we need to know when you need racking. Thank you!

pallet racking in central tx

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How We Determine the Size of Your Racking

In this video, Tracy walks through we help you figure out what size pallet rack you are working with presently so we know how best to fulfill your needs! We discuss the importance of determining size of pallet, width/depth/height, and the maximum weight of the pallet being stored in the racking to determine what pallet racking system would be best for your use. We work with our clients to create a pallet racking system that works best for them! Call us today to discuss our services and let us know your needs.

Thank you for watching!

What You’ll Learn:

  • The dimensions of typical pallet racking.
  • OSHA expectations of pallet racking overhang.
  • The importance of knowing your pallet and forklift sizes in designing racking systems.

Listen to the audio version of this video below!

Transcript FOR THE video/audio

Tracy Jackson: Hi! Welcome to Simply Rack’s video series on determining what type racking you need. If you’re using pallet racking, we need to know what size pallet you’re storing on it. The size which would standard would be 40 by 48 by whatever height you have, as well as the maximum weight of the pallet that you’re going to be storing in the racking. So, for instance, the system behind me was designed for a standard pallet. Standard pallet is 40 inches wide, 48 inches deep, and by whatever height, in this case around four feet. So based on that, if your pallet is 48 inches deep, your uprights are going to usually be 42. 

OSHA wants you to have overhang of the pallet on the front and back beam, so that you know that it’s secured on the beams, and the wire decking is not holding the weight of the pallet. So, for instance, this is a 42 inch deep upright, with another 42 inch deep upright, and this is called the back-to-back. This system is tied together by a row spacer in the middle to create an overall depth of 8 feet, which is 48 plus 48, the depth of both pallets, so that you don’t have a lot of overhang in the front. You don’t want the overhang in the front, because the operator needs to be able to cleanly lift the pallet in the air and put it away without obstructions in the aisle way. You also don’t want them to back into a pallet if he’s trying to load, say, this side and the back of the forklift is on this side of the aisle. So, again, you have to pay attention to what you’re doing.

When we’re designing these systems, we need the size of your pallet, what size forklift you’re using, if you’re using a traditional 5 000 pound sit-down four-wheel forklift, you usually have a 12-foot aisle. That’s industry standard, but we never assume that you’re standard, because it only takes one client to have an oversized pallet, a heavy pallet, or a slightly oversized forklift to cause problems, and you can’t just stand racking like this and tear it down in a day. We have to get it right on paper before you stand it in your warehouse.

If you ever have any questions specific to this, you need to let us know to work through that. We’ll ask you a lot of questions, but the majority of those questions are going to be size of pallet, width, depth, and height and the maximum weight of that pallet being stored in the racking. The other question is going to be where do we need to place these beam level to maximize the storage in your warehouse. For instance, if your pallet’s four feet tall, we would place the first beam level at five feet, 10 feet, and 15 feet. You’re going to be limited though by either your ceiling height or your forklift lifting height. So that question will also be asked when we’re determining what size racking you need. 

If you can call us with those details, and have that ready prior to the call, that will just expedite the process. When also referring to the size of the racking, we’ll need to know the depth of the row that you want. Do you want a hundred feet long, do you want 28 feet long, what is the start and stop maximum distance? If it’s 33 feet from a door to a wall, let us know that we can help. I’m Tracy Jackson with Simply Rack and Warehouse Equipment, and we look forward to hearing from you, 512-869-2803!