Your warehouse is more than just a place to store your goods – it’s your company’s supply closet. In order to run an efficient and profitable business, you need to be able to organize your merchandise, keep it safe, and find (and ship) different items quickly.
The perfect time to develop the right shelving system for your business is when you establish your warehouse. If you’re still debating whether or not to invest in a warehouse shelving solution, keep reading to find out how it can benefit your business.
Benefits of Warehouse Shelving
Let’s quickly highlight the advantages of adding shelves to your warehouse:
1. Better Use of Warehouse Space
As the owner of a warehouse, you are most likely paying per square foot. Needless to say, you need to make the most of it.
The best solution is to install shelves and racks and utilize the vertical space in your warehouse. This allows you to store more merchandise in bulk and increase the floor space of your warehouse.
2. Protect Goods
In order to store items on the shelves, you need to wrap merchandise on pallets and secure them. This helps keep your goods safe and prevents them from getting damaged. And less damaged goods translate into more profits.
3. Keep Inventory Organized
Shelves and racks help organize your warehouse by dividing the floor space into a grid-like structure of aisles and racks. Employees know exactly where to find a particular item since all merchandise is clearly visible and easily accessible.
4. Increase Revenue
Shelves increase the storage capacity of your warehouse and allow you to store more merchandise. That means you can improve turnover rates and make more sales. But besides this, inventory is more organized, and since items can be found quickly, you can save time and money. Now you can allocate more resources for other business goals, and step ahead of your competitors.
5. Enhance Productivity
Since racks and shelves keep inventory organized, goods are unloaded, stored, packed, and shipped quickly. This helps increase employee productivity, enabling them to fulfill orders more efficiently.
6. Customizable Shelving Solutions
Warehouse shelves are versatile, meaning they are completely customizable. You can select the finish and material depending on the weight and storage capacity of your inventory. Furthermore, the height of the rows can be easily adjusted to accommodate the size and dimension of the merchandise.
Companies now provide countless creative storage solutions unique to a business’s needs with custom shelving and racking products.
7. Durable Long-Term Investment
Investing in a high-quality shelving solution means you will not have to replace your equipment every few years. With proper care and maintenance, your warehouse shelves and racks can last a long time. Some manufacturers galvanize racks and shelves, then coat them with acrylic paint. This makes it easier to clean the shelves and prevents them from rusting.
8. Cost-effective Warehousing Solution
Metal shelves are an affordable storage solution that can take your warehouse to the next level – no matter what your budget is. You’re sure to find the right ones for your needs. However, do not compromise on the quality of the shelves just to save a little bit of money.
9. Offers Flexibility to Grow
As your business expands, you may need to change the current floor layout or relocate to a new facility. Since many warehouse racks and shelves can be easily disassembled and reassembled, you can modify your warehousing needs using the same equipment. This is an important aspect because it facilitates growth and helps manage costs, so your business continues to run profitably.
Types of Warehouse Shelving and Racks
By now, you clearly understand why shelves and racks are essential for your warehouse. There are numerous shelving and custom products to choose from. Here are just a few of the different types readily available in the market.
Steel Shelving is a common shelving option used in warehouses. They are robust, durable, and affordable, ideal for heavy inventory.
Rivet Rack Shelving contains shelves that can be easily adjusted. Rivets on the frame allow the racks to be moved up and down, according to the weight and size of your merchandise. This shelving solution is ideal for light and medium-weight products.
Cantilever Racks are made of long arms anchored to sturdy steel columns. They’re ideal for medium to extra heavy merchandise. Plus, the open-ended front structure offers direct pickup access to items.
Push-Back Racking supports a LIFO storage system. Each lane is three to five pallets deep and has a single SKU.
Mobile Racking Systems don’t have fixed aisles. Instead, the racking units slide laterally over guided bases.
How to Choose the Best Shelving Solution for Your Warehouse
There are a lot of warehouse storage options, so selecting the one for your facility can be overwhelming. The following factors can help you choose the right shelving and rack solution.
Your Business Needs
Choose a warehouse storage solution that aligns with the needs of your business. The type of shelves, their sizes, and the warehouse storage system will greatly depend upon the type of products you want to store. For example, perishable goods usually require wire shelves so air can easily circulate between them.
Weight of Merchandise
You may need to choose different types of shelves within your warehouse depending on the weight of the items. Install shelves that can withhold the weight of your inventory. For instance, heavy merchandise requires strong, long-span steel shelves, while lightweight goods can be stored on wire racks.
Accessibility and Mobility within the Warehouse
The accessibility to products and mobility within the warehouse will impact the size of your shelves and the type of storage system. For example, narrow aisles may require automated storage systems with mobile pallet racking or vertical lift modules. So pick a shelving solution according to the available floor space of your warehouse.
Final Thoughts
Your warehouse has a lot of storage potential. However, without shelves and racks, it’s just a huge empty space. If you want to make the most of your warehousing space, you need to invest in the right shelves and racks. Your choice can help modify warehouse space, organize goods, and streamline operations, among other things.
It’s time to optimize the vertical and horizontal space of your warehouse with custom shelves.
We hope you found this blog post on 9 Advantages of Warehouse Shelving useful. Be sure to check out our post on 5 Commercial Advantages of Engaging Warehouse Software Solutions for more great tips!
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