A question that is often asked to us at Emaf is precisely this: “What are the right choices of industrial metal shelves for my warehouse?“. But before understanding what the right choices are regarding industrial shelving, it is always good to start from the goods that the shelving will have to store.
Is the goods small – therefore with a manual picking – or are they goods that use pallets (Epal or customized pallets)? Are the goods made up of long loads such as wooden boards, rods or sheets? It is also important to know what the weights and capacities of this material will be.
To choose the right racking, it is also crucial to know how the goods are handled: which forklift will the customer use? How high can it reach? What is the range of the trolley?
Finally, how much material will the customer have to store and with which incoming and outgoing flows?
When we have clear ideas on these three parameters (type of goods, methods of handling in the warehouse and quantity / intensity), we will be able to choose the most suitable product.
In some cases the most suitable industrial metal shelves are the interlocking metal shelves: these shelves are light shelves, designed for document archives but also for warehouses dedicated to automotive spare parts, for mechanical spare parts, hydraulic spare parts, spare parts with little capacity on the table support.
Shelving similar to interlocking metal shelving is the picking shelving: these are not interlocking, but are further strengthened. The loading and unloading of the goods is always manual, but with a higher capacity, for example tires, pumps and medium-weight mechanical spare parts.
Traveling towards the heaviest loads we get acquainted with the industrial metal pallet racks. Here the variety is so great: the shelving for the warehouses that are made in this way changes a lot depending on the type of pallet used (epal or made to measure), the size of the warehouse and the type of handling of the forklifts.
For long and heavy loads there is no better choice than cantilever racks, which can be larger or smaller, more or less extended, with a capacity suitable for the type of goods.
Finally, industrial metal shelving can transform the spaces of a warehouse in an even more radical way: this is the case of industrial mezzanines, with internal stairs and walkable floors, which allow to optimize the dimensions of a building by developing in height.