Shelving technology: Which type of shelving for a specific application?
Goods and commodities sometimes differ greatly from one another, not only in terms of their dimensions and shape, but also in terms of their use. A product intended for delivery to the end customer must be handled differently in terms of storage technology than, for example, spare parts for industrial production. Depending on this, there are various shelving techniques or types of shelves that can be used to build or structure a warehouse.
Basically, bearings in the industrial sector rely on metal as a material to combine stability and durability with stability. The most common are pallet racks.
We present selected shelving techniques below.
- Pallet racks: Designed for storage with Euro pallets, lying on suspended cross beams (= no separate shelf required) and suitable for storage and retrieval directly on the pallet. Both manual (stacker crane, etc.) and automatic operation (pallet conveyor technology) are possible. Optimal thanks to a good use of space, high capacities in a small footprint and good scalability to the company's requirements.
- Cantilever racking: Cantilever racking can be filled manually or automatically and is based on centrally mounted racking uprights and horizontally clamped beams that serve to support the load. This racking technology is particularly suitable for long goods, i.e. pipes, boards, etc.. They are used in workshops or production facilities.
- Wide span racks: When it comes to storing large-volume goods, wide span racks are often used as storage technology. They are similar to pallet racks, but have separate shelves for direct storage of goods. Due to their low load capacity, they are only suitable for light load carriers.
- Shelf racks: With this storage technology, stored goods are stored on shelves, often in small quantities or order picking storage. Articles can be stored loose, by means of cardboard boxes or so-called load carriers (KLT). No technical equipment is required to operate a shelf rack, provided that the rack height is limited to two to three meters. Suitable especially for goods of different sizes and dimensions.
In addition to these exemplary storage types or storage techniques, there are other variants that represent a combination of these or are designed for special goods.
