A Pallet Rack Manufacturer’s Dilemma
When it comes to manufacturing pallet rack, there are a number of choices to be made in the design process. These choices ultimately determine the usefulness of the pallet rack to the end user — oftentimes a warehouse manager or maintenance technician.
One choice we had to make before we could even think about manufacturing & shipping FlexRack™ Pallet Rack was whether or not to use a teardrop design. There are of course pros & cons to each side of the argument when you design any new product, but the case of our pallet rack, teardrop design was a cut & dry winner. And here’s why.
Pallet Rack Teardrop Design
Our checklist on this side of the equation came down to one main point – flexibility. We surveyed & spoke to many facility managers & warehouse personnel & found a common theme from them: they needed flexibility in their storage systems.
Granted, some pallet rack shelving gets installed & never gets moved again. It sits there for decades, being used as it was originally designed, no configuration changes needed, no upgrades or maintenance required. However, the overwhelming majority of warehouses — especially in today’s world — are dynamic environments. They have existing pallet rack systems that sometimes need to be expanded or reconfigured to accommodate new product & new material handling processes.
Manufacturing a pallet rack system that was compatible with existing rack & simple to install & maintain became priorities for us in the design process.
Unique Design
Granted, there are some intriguing reasons to create a unique pallet rack design. For one, if replacement or expansion parts are needed, our customers would need to come back to us for the next part, creating a built-in repeat customer base. Doing something other than teardrop design would also allow us to flex our creative muscles & create a something that stands out immediately as ours.
However, neither of these reasons (nor any others) could outweigh the need for our customers for a simple, flexible product that just works. It works with many other pallet rack manufacturers’ designs & it’s easy to ship, install, & re-configure.
Pallet Rack Solution
We found the solution to our pallet rack design dilemma to be teardrop design. And it was a clear solution for FlexRack™. We’d love to know what you think & how it affects your day to day work. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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