Industrial warehouse racking
Warehouse racking design
An installation that suited the operation five years ago does not necessarily suit it now, because the range, the volumes or the picking method have moved on. Reconfiguring the racking almost always costs less than moving to a larger building, since the building, the floor and most of the steel stay where they are.
Understanding the operation before drawing anything
Every warehouse has its own constraints: what is stored, in what unit, at what rhythm, and against which delivery promise. Rejuva starts with a measured survey and a reading of the movement rather than with a proposal, because a layout drawn from a catalogue fits the catalogue rather than the building.
The survey is carried out with the people who work the floor. That is not a courtesy: the bottlenecks in a warehouse are usually known to the operators long before they show up in an analysis, and a layout those operators do not accept is worked around within the first week.
What the study produces
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A survey of what is there
The current installation measured and recorded, with the bottlenecks and the under-used volume identified. They are rarely where the operation expects them to be.
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Costed layout options
More than one configuration, with heights, depths and accessories set out and priced so they can be compared against each other rather than accepted one at a time.
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Aisle and travel rework
Picking routes shortened where the walk is paid on every line, which is where a layout change usually returns most.
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Rotation and density
FIFO or LIFO handled by the structure where it matters, and the density raised only as far as access allows.
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A compliant result
Load notices, aisle widths and clearances set to EN 15635 so the new layout passes its first inspection rather than needing a second visit.
Reconfiguring rather than replacing
A large part of this work reuses the steel already on site. Beams move levels, frames are re-pitched and lanes are re-depthed, and what gets bought is the difference rather than a new installation. That is the argument for looking at the layout before looking at a bigger building, and it is why the survey has to establish what the existing components actually are before anything is drawn.
Where components have to be replaced, they are replaced because they are damaged or because they no longer match the load, not to simplify the drawing. Rejuva sets that out in the survey, so the cost of keeping and the cost of replacing are visible side by side rather than merged into one figure.
How the project runs
Rejuva delivers the project end to end and works to keep the operation running while the layout changes around it.
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Scope
The programme, the access windows, the resources and the measures the result will be judged on, agreed before anything is moved.
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Preparation
Locations cleared, work areas made safe and the sequence coordinated with your own teams so that picking continues alongside the work.
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Installation
Assembly to the approved drawings, phase by phase, with each phase checked before the next one starts.
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Training
Operators taken through the new layout and the daily checks the installation now needs.
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Follow-up
The result measured against what was agreed at scope, with adjustments where the floor shows something the drawing did not.
Frequently asked questions
How much extra capacity can a reconfiguration find?
It depends entirely on the building and the current layout, so any figure quoted before a survey is a guess. What is worth knowing is where the gain usually comes from: clear height that is not being used, aisle widths set for a truck that has since been replaced, and beam pitches carried over from a product range that has changed.
Does the warehouse have to stop?
Not usually. The work is phased so that picking continues in the parts of the installation that are not being touched, and the sequence is part of what is agreed at scope rather than something decided on site.
Can existing racking be reused?
Often, and that is generally the point. Whether a component can be reused is a question about its condition and its load rating, which the survey establishes before the layout is drawn.
Does a new layout need a new inspection?
Yes. A reconfigured installation is a new installation as far as EN 15635 is concerned: it needs its load notices updated and its inspection regime restarted, and Rejuva hands both over at completion.
Racking services, from first survey to buy-back
Racking is not only bought. It has to be installed to the design, inspected while it is in use, repaired when it is hit, and moved or sold when the operation changes.
Racking systems we design and install
Every system sits somewhere on one trade-off: selectivity, meaning you can reach any pallet at any time, against density, meaning how many pallets fit into the same floor area.
Have a project in mind?
Describe what needs to happen in the building and we will come back with a proposed approach, the specialist who would carry it out and a budget you can work with.