5 Things to Consider When Choosing Storage Solutions for Your Warehouse

When you have a warehouse, it can be difficult to find the storage space you need, especially if you’re expanding your business or are looking to bring on extra inventory or introduce new stock. A working environment, especially within the material handling industry, can be fast-paced and hectic at times and so an organised premises with the right level of storage is an ideal way of making sure operations run as smoothly and as efficiently as possible. With this in mind, here are five things that you should consider if you’re thinking about implementing additional storage or if you’ve just acquired a warehouse that requires an adequate amount of storage

1. Know the dimensions of your floor space

It’s important that you know how much space you have to play with before purchasing any warehouse storage. You don’t want to buy storage that’s either way too big or too small for your premises. This is because storage solutions that are too small means that you’re not using your available space to its full potential, but if it’s too big, then you likely won’t be able to use it at all. This is why you should make sure you know all of your dimensions, including the floor space you have and the measurements from the floor to the ceiling. This allows you to purchase racking and other storage solutions that’s perfect for your warehouse in terms of making use of all the space you have.

2. Know what you need to store

The next thing you should think about is the nature of the stock you need to store. Will you be storing food in your warehouse and other perishable goods? Are you looking to house chemicals or other hazardous liquids? Depending on what it is you’re looking to store, you might need to keep it somewhere secure and safe and so simple warehouse racking might not do the trick. However, if you’re dealing with general items that aren’t perishable or hazardous in anyway, then warehouse shelving would provide the perfect solution to your warehouse storage problems.

3. How big or heavy are the goods that you need to store?

It’s paramount that you know the weight and size of the stock you need to store. This is because some types of warehouse racking will only have a certain weight capacity, so check how much weight your racking can hold before making your purchase. The same also goes for the size of the items you’ll be storing.

If the shelving itself is too short or narrow, then it might be that you won’t be able to put your stock on those shelves, rendering them useless. Before buying your warehouse racking, make sure that it’ll be able to accommodate the boxes and items you have, so measure your containers, whether they be boxes or baskets, for example, and see if it lines up with the measurements displayed on the warehouse racking.

4. Think about the type of warehouse racking you might need

This goes hand in hand with the aforementioned in terms of which types of warehouse racking would be able to take the weight of your stock as well as its size. The racking must also be compatible with the material handling equipment you have, including forklifts for instance. The different types of warehouse racking you can choose from are as follows:

Pallet racking

• Self-explanatory in the sense that it accommodates pallets of a standard size
• Designed to hold stock that are sat upon a pallet on horizontal rows that consist of multiple levels in order to maximise space as much as possible
• Forklifts and pallet trucks alike will have access to pallet racking, almost effortlessly loading and unloading stock

Cantilever racking

• This is often described as a more condensed form of warehouse racking whereby it offers more storage but requires less space initially
• Generally used for loads that vary in shape, size and weight
• They’re quicker to load and unload as they lack front columns

Long span shelving

• An ideal storage solution for warehouses that are lacking in space
• Are available in a wide range of different sizes to suit all spaces in the warehouse
• Perfect for small premises, including garage areas or storage within a commercial office space

5. Do you have a big enough budget?

Warehouse racking and other types of warehouse storage solutions come at a price. It’s important that you’ve analysed your finances and have worked out a realistic budget with which to purchase an ideal, affordable storage solution that’ll suit your warehouse as much as possible. Make sure you’ve taken your needs and your stock into consideration also before committing to purchasing warehouse storage solutions, including warehouse racking or even mezzanine flooring, both of which can be supplied to you by us here at Multy Lift.

Multy Lift has over three decades of experience in the material handling industry. We are proud to supply customers throughout the UK with warehouse equipment that’ll suit an extensive range of warehouse premises, regardless of shape or size. If you would like further information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our expert, professional team – we’re always pleased to hear from you.