Reconfiguring Pallet Racking

Reconfiguring your pallet racking sounds like a great idea, and it does provide some amazing benefits. However, if you need to do a proper reconfiguration, it’s a good idea to hire a pallet racking specialist. However, if you attempt to try this on your own, here you have a list of tips that you need to keep in mind.

What signs should you consider before making changes to the load beam elevations?

There are different things to keep in mind, such as obtaining the original design drawings and documentation from the manufacturer. You should also engage a professional engineer so he can review the racking configuration, and you should also ask him to analyze the current structure and inspect it to see if any components are damaged.

Other things you should do when you are reconfiguring pallet racking:

• We recommend measuring the space that you are working with. Document any of the clearances, doors, columns and obstructions in general. It will help you prevent any problems, while also making sure everything is configured adequately.

• Obtain your forklift details to make sure you are allowing enough room to drive the forklift around safely and efficiently – making the aisles too tight make it too slow and your staff wastes time.
• Understand the product requirements, especially when it comes to replacement. This is important because it affects the way you reconfigure your pallet racking. You also want to make sure you are creating the right material flow path.

• If possible, try to consider any new pallet racking replacements and them in your process. 
• Study the manufacturer guidelines and get an understanding of Pallet Racking integrity. In some cases, adding beams to the current bays can increase the integrity. In turn, it then can also overload your racking system, so keep that in mind.

What you should consider with Used Pallet Racking

If you are going to start with some used racking, then you do want to understand the application and rack. Used racks are not suitable for seismic areas and you simply can’t get the required load required structural reports for older racking now. The thing to note here is that you rarely know the capacity these racks were used at if they were abused or not. If they have been through an earthquake they can easily lose their integrity and become weak.

Things you want to avoid

• It’s extremely important to not change the vertical beam spacing without doing your homework properly. If you remove beam levels, this may increase the upright capacity. However, it then affects the structural elements of the unit. If you add beam levels, this reduces the upright load capacity. So you cant have as many levels. Playing around with these things is very dangerous and it will cause potential issues.
• Never change load types or loads without evaluating first. This can be an issue, since your racking system might not have enough strength for the entire load, and that can lead to disasters.
• Cutting and welding your racking without using certified professionals’ is also not recommended.

In Conclusion

Self-reconfiguration for pallet racking systems is possible, but it can also be very problematic. That’s why it’s extremely important to have professional guidance or even better, you should leave it to specialist providers like the Shelving Shop Group (SSG). We are ready to assist as quickly as possible. We can supply obligation-free quotes and assessments, and we can also assist with the entire pallet racking reconfiguration in no time!