When determining how much your new pallet racking will cost, there are a variety of things to consider. When searching for accurate pricing for each type of pallet racking, it is essential to work with material handling experts like Cranston Material Handling.
Creating an Accurate Project Timeline
estimated time and the steps required to create more pallet storage
For Custom Racks: Items to take into consideration
Projected timelines
Warehouses and distribution centers play a crucial role every day in most businesses and in today’s world with the pandemic, they are becoming increasingly important. The need to store more material and products often require the purchase of additional racks. Understanding how long it may take for you to develop a layout, purchase the racks, and have them installed will allow you to develop a realistic timeline that will guide you in your planning process.
Creating an Accurate Project Timeline
With any project, knowing the steps that should be accomplished to achieve a successful outcome is very important. Once you know the steps you can develop a timeline to establish a realistic completion date. When you need more storage space the steps shown below will help ensure that you allow an appropriate amount of time to plan, order and have your new pallet rack installed. Timelines for every project will vary, but in many cases, they tend to follow a general pattern.
Estimated Time and the Steps Required to Create More Pallet Storage
1 to 2 weeks – To allow your rack professional to develop a proposal and a rack layout. Plan to meet with them again to review the proposal and the rack layout to see if it meets your objectives. Allow for additional time to make changes to fine tune the proposal after this meeting.
1 to 3 weeks – You know the speed at which your organization makes purchasing decisions. Sometimes a purchase can be approved in a matter of days, other times it takes months. This can be a wild card you cannot control, so plan for more than enough time to receive an approval to purchase from all the decision influencers.
1 week – For purchasing to process and send the order and for your rack professional’s company to receive and process the order.
3 Days to 1 week – Shipping for racks that are shipping from stock.
2 Days to 2 Weeks – The time it takes to install your pallet racking system is a function of the amount of racks to be installed and the number of installers on the installation crew. An experienced crew of 3 or 5 men can install 30 to 40 bays of new rack a day in a free and clear warehouse.
For made to order racks that are not being shipped from stock, these additional steps need to be taken into consideration.
1 week – For final measurements of the warehouse space, if the dimensions of the area where the racks are going to be installed need to be verified before the final drawings are developed.
2 – 3 weeks – For approval drawings, if they need to be developed prior to material being ordered and released to production.
4 – 14 weeks – Depending on the manufacturer’s backlog at any point in time, the time it takes for the product to be manufactured can vary widely. Currently, as we start 2021 lead times are generally 6 to 8 weeks.
Projected Timelines
Remember you don’t need to start the planning and rack selection process by yourself. The professional team at Cranston Material Handling Equipment will walk with you through the steps of determining a layout, developing a budget, and creating a timeline for the completion of your racking system. Our rack professionals will work with you to create an effective layout in order to maximize the number of pallets you can store in the space you have available. They will help you determine the production schedule and manage the installation to ensure timely delivery and completion of your pallet rack project.
Contact us today to learn more about our pallet rack services!
A warehouse mezzanine is an elevated floor that is installed in the unused open-air space between your concrete floor and the ceiling of the warehouse. A warehouse mezzanine is free-standing, which means it does not connect to or is not supported by your building. They can be easily enlarged or dismantled and moved when changes in your operation happen. Read more
Flue space is a small but essential part of fire safety for your warehousing operations. Flue space is defined by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as clear vertical lines of sight in the rack storage areas that go from the floor up to the ceiling.
The flue space on a pallet rack will not prevent a fire, but in the event of a fire, it will send heat and smoke upward to help keep the fire from spreading throughout the building. Read more
A drive-in rack system is ideal for warehouses where the pallet sizes are standardized, and large quantities of the same product SKUs are stored. When these two factors exist, you can create a very cost-effective high-density storage system. This type of rack system can be designed to fit into your existing warehouse space due to the flexibility of being able to store pallets two to ten pallets deep in each lane of drive-in rack. The pallets are accessed with a forklift entering and exiting one side of the racking system. Therefore, the back side of a drive-in rack is often placed against a wall. Read more
Pallet racking is a common and popular storage solution in distribution centers, manufacturing facilities, and warehouses of all sizes. With a wide range of pallet racking choices, it is essential to understand the flow of your pallets to and from the racks, the type of pallets you are using, and the type of loads or SKUs you are storing. This will allow you to choose the style of rack that will provide you with the best solution for your needs. Read more
For decades, pallet racks have played an important part in increasing and maximizing the storage capacity of distribution centers and warehouses. An essential part of pallet racking design is the rack decking. This decking serves as a base for storing non-palletized items or cases in conjunction with palletized products. Read more
Pallet racking is an integral part of warehouse operations and material storage throughout a plant. Damage can occur to your racking at any time and when it happens, it compromises the safety of your employees. No matter the type of business or product you store, it is important to have an inspection and maintenance plan in place for your pallet racking.
The Client
In business since 1942, Curbell Plastics, Inc. (Curbell) is one of America’s premier suppliers of plastic sheets, rods, tubes, films, tapes, adhesives, sealants, and prototyping materials. Headquartered in Orchard Park, New York, with locations across the U.S., Curbell offers custom fabrication, exceptional service, and next-day delivery of high-quality plastics nationwide.
Curbell takes its role as a leader in the plastics industry very seriously. Committed to doing the right thing for their customers, the environment and their employees – many of whom have been with them for decades.
When a safety issue occurred in their Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania location, they wanted an effective resolution and contacted Cranston Material Handling Equipment Corp. (Cranston) of Pittsburgh for a solution.
The Challenge
A forklift driver inadvertently damaged one of the rack uprights within their warehouse. The bent twisted post jeopardized the integrity of the rack and they wisely wanted to repair the damage. Curbell did not want to disassemble, replace, and reassemble due to the effect it would have on their operations, not to mention the cost of purchasing a new upright and the expense of shipping it to their location.
To resolve this situation, Cranston needed to fix the safety issue and improve the rack’s damage resistance, while causing as little disruption to Curbell’s operations as possible.
The Solution
Cranston used a heavy-duty tubular post splice kit that is designed specifically to repair damaged rack uprights. The price of a replacement splice post with shipping was substantially less compared to shipping in a brand new upright. The time and disruption to operations resulting from the repair was minimal – certainly it was far more convenient for the customer than it would have been had the rack been partially disassembled in order to replace the upright.
In addition to the repair, Cranston added bull-nosed post protectors to each upright. The bull-nose design protects the posts by working to deflect pallets or forklift forks when they accidentally hit the rack uprights. This helps minimize the likelihood of damage from a forklift or any other equipment in the future.
The Result
With very little downtime needed to install post protectors and fix the rack uprights, the rack is now less likely to be damaged, safety in the warehouse is improved, and Curbell is very pleased with Cranston’s work.
Find Out More
Cranston Material Handling Equipment Corp. looks at your material handling or storage application through the lens of decades of experience. Whatever you’re specific needs we can help you sort through options to maximize your workspace. Contact us for more information today or call us at 412-741-8060.
