What is Pallet Racking?

Shelf-Clips.com specializes in warehouse safety – specifically pallet rack and shelving clips. But since you are here, you probably already knew that! By purchasing clips, you have taken a small – yet important step – in ensuring the safety of your storage area, workplace, and team members. But WHAT else do you know about pallet racking and similar storage systems? In this blog post, we hope to educate you on what exactly Pallet Racking is, and does. 

structural pallet racking
Structural Pallet Rack System

WHAT IS PALLET RACKING?

Pallet rack is one of the flagship pieces of the material handling industry. It is designed to store a variety of different materials that are organized on pallets, or even loose material with the aid of wire decking. Typically, you will see vertical steel frames of varying height with horizontal beams attached to the front and back of the frames to form shelves for storage. 

Pallet rack comes in a variety of different styles, and serves as the foundation for many different systems as well. Different systems include:

  • Push Back Racking
  • Drive-In Pallet Racking
  • Pallet Flow
  • Gravity Flow
  • Carton Flow Rack
  • Cantilever Racking
Warehouse storage, shelving, metal, pallet racking systems

Pallet rack began to be widely used around World War II, and has only grown in popularity since. It is a staple in modern warehouses, manufacturing facilities, retail centers, distribution facilities, and around the world. The ability to maximize space and efficiency, coupled with the ability to reduce costs has made racking more and more important in supply chain settings. 

WHY IS PALLET RACKING IMPORTANT?

Business is all about meeting the demands of the customer in the most efficient way possible. This efficiency starts from the very beginning of the process. If your company makes, distributes, or manufactures physical products of any kind, it is necessary to have the proper storage space. Not only does the space have to be large enough, it also has to be set up in a manner that allows for efficient placement, picking, and retrieval. A properly designed pallet rack system adds many benefits to a company’s operations, including:

  • Additional Space

This is overwhelmingly the #1 benefit and reason pallet racking is needed. Vertical space nearly all the way up to ceiling height (depending on presence of beams, sprinklers, ventilation, etc.) can be utilized, saving valuable floor space, and allowing more free space to navigate around the storage or warehouse floor. 

  • Increased Productivity and Efficiency

Imagine an Amazon, or any E-commerce-based warehouse without racking. Where would the product go? How would it be located? How would it be picked and placed?

A properly designed pallet rack system enables team members to find, retrieve, and place product faster and more efficiently. A well-thought-out system saves businesses time and money. 

  • Enhanced Safety and Accident Prevention

With more floor space, and cleaner aisles and walkways comes freer movement and a reduced risk of injury. In a warehouse environment where forklifts, automated retrieval systems, and other heavy machinery is used, having a fully-optimized space with properly designed pallet racking is paramount to operations. 

Pallet Rack Safety

Now that we’ve covered what pallet racking brings to a company’s overall operations and safety, we will cover how to keep the racking systems themselves safe. Over time, pallet racking can take a beating. Daily loading and off-loading of material and pallets opens up the rack to wear and tear caused by worker and forklift contact, and collisions. 

These hazards can slowly weaken or even damage racking systems over time, making pallet racking more susceptible to small-scale failure or even collapse. We recommend that regular safety checks and inspections take place to ensure your racking is stable and safe. These checks can prevent the aforementioned damage and large-scale failure, which will save time and money. 

Pallet Rack Clips: An Overview

At shelf-clips.com our goal is to make your warehouse safety simple. That’s exactly what pallet rack clips, and shelving clips accomplish. These clips are easy to install and play an integral role in rack safety by securing beams to frames. They prevent beams from becoming dislodged during normal loading and unloading activity. Other things to know about pallet rack and shelving clips are:

  • They are also referred to as beam locks, beam connectors, or beam connector locks
  • Many of these clips simply drop into, clip on to, or snap into connecting holes between the beam and frame
  • There are clips that are universal to any racking system, however, most racking manufacturers have clips specific to their product.
  • Clips are required by many racking safety ratings and guidelines, along with many local, national, and industry standards
  • Non-standard, or ‘homemade’ solutions like a nut-bolt combination generally do not offer the same protection as the manufacturers’ clips 

Why Shelf-Clips?

Shelf Clips is the premier online retailer of pallet racking and shelving clips. Our years of experience in the warehouse safety industry have given us extensive knowledge on the various types of clips, which means we can help you identify and get you the exact clips you need, fast. Our expertise extends beyond clips as well, so if you need new solutions for your pallet racking and storage layout, we can help there as well.

At Shelf-Clips.com we are constantly learning so that we can advise and educate you, the customer, on our range of products, and the implementation of your safety procedures in your warehouse or workplace. 

Browse our large catalog of pallet racking and shelving clips, and if we don’t have what you need, we can source it for you. If you have any questions or concerns, we can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 866-857-3442

Let us help you make your warehouse safety simple!

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