Space-saving storage is now an easy move for anyone

Published:  05 April, 2016

Adjustable Pallet Racking (APR) and sprinkler systems can now be extended, remodelled and relocated within a warehouse or distribution centre environment in significantly less time and at a fraction of the cost than was previously thought possible thanks to new rack reconfiguration technology. PWE spoke to John Maguire, commercial director of Flexi Warehouse Systems*.

Traditionally, moving racking runs to enable the width of the aisles within a logistics centre to be narrowed or, indeed, widened, has been a labour-intensive process that, in most cases, involves the dismantling and rebuilding of the existing racking system, often resulting in material damage and project delays.

But John Maguire, commercial director of Flexi Warehouse Systems explained to PWE that its new method, the time wasted relocating pallet racks has been radically reduced, minimising operational disruption and reducing the nett cost by over 50% compared to traditional methods.

In simple terms, the technology – which the company says has been successfully used across hundreds of sites in the United States – allows racking runs to be quickly and safely transported to the required location within the store where, once the structure has been positioned and secured to the floor, it is immediately ready to be restocked.

Maguire highlighted: “Remodelling racking systems to make more space-efficient use of a building’s storage cube has in the past been an expensive process that often involves on-site disruption and lengthy periods of downtime.”

He continued: “As a result, a lot of companies retain inefficient storage cubes long after their business has outgrown them because they are intimidated by the cost and upheaval that they believe adapting the system will bring. But with our low fixed cost racking reconfiguration service the finance and downtime barriers are removed.”

With good quality, or new build warehousing stock close to the UK’s major population centres at a premium, more and more companies are looking to use every square foot that they have available. John Maguire explained: “Rethinking the racking footprint and employing more space-efficient materials handling systems is one way of ensuring that a building’s storage capacity is maximised.

“For example, by reducing the aisles served by reach trucks from three metres to two metres wide and replacing outdated reach truck technology with more aisle-friendly Flexi articulated forklifts, storage capacity at most sites can be upped by some 25%.

“And a building’s pallet storage capacity can be increased by as much as 50% when reach truck-served racking configurations are reconfigured to be serviced by Flexi’s StorMAX and WMS technology.”

John Maguire concluded: “…it has never been easier for users to start enjoying the benefits of modern articulated forklift-based intralogistics systems and, of course, the return on their investment is faster than ever before, too.”

*Flexi Warehouse Systems is the warehouse planning and design consultancy services division of intralogistics solutions specialist, Narrow Aisle Ltd.

For further information please visit: www.flexi.co.uk

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