Pros and Cons of Pallet Rack Systems
Pallet rack is a common warehouse rack type made by Nanjing rack makers. Goods cannot sit directly on the rack; they are placed on pallets and then stored by forklift into the corresponding rack positions. Pallet racks offer relatively strong stability and load capacity, and are therefore also called heavy-duty racks.
Basic structure. If goods are stacked directly on pallets, they are easily compressed or damaged; when pallets hold different goods, they can sit singly and cannot be stacked, which causes low space utilization and poor stability. The basic structure of pallet racking enables unitized storage, with each pallet taking one location; taller racks pair with stacker cranes while shorter ones use forklifts, for relatively high storage utilization.
High-bay rack requirements. By warehouse equipment industry definitions, racks above five meters are called high-bay racks, and those above ten meters may be called high-rise warehouse racks — including beam racks, drive-in racks, double-deep racks, narrow-aisle racks, shuttle racks and automated high-bay warehouses. Main parts such as uprights and beams of high-bay racks are made of quality Q235 steel; beams are usually C-channel welded box beams, 90 to 140mm wide, 50mm high and about 1.5mm thick.
Site and equipment requirements. High-bay and high-rise racks, as common forms of dense three-dimensional storage, place certain demands on warehouse floor flatness and floor load-bearing, which directly affect rack stability. Generally, high-bay racks need dedicated stacker cranes, forklifts and other handling equipment to make storage work faster and more effective.
Drawbacks. Pallet racking has relatively low storage density and needs wider aisles for people and forklifts; because single-row rack strength is limited, rack height is also limited. Pallet racks are generally 6m or below, usually with 3 to 5 levels, and cannot achieve the dense storage of high-rise racks. In actual selection, weigh the unitized-storage advantage against the density limits based on warehouse height, goods unit size and picking frequency, and choose the right rack form.