“Many people think you can take pallet flow rack off inventory and forklifts, as well as truck loading and
the shelf and ship it out the door,” says Wachsmuth. shipping requirements.
“But, it must be designed to accommodate your
specific requirements: pallet types, pallet weights,
forklift capacity, facility layout and any other
of your warehouse’s full height, width, depth, and
restrictions.” floor plan,” says Wachsmuth. “Obstructions like
According to Wachsmuth, some racking columns, doors, lights, and vents must be built
distributors are willing to supply a price quote around.”
without fully understanding the requirements of
6
“It is vital to build the flow rack to take advantage
low ceilings or the location of sprinklers, building
the application. It is also important to consider the brand, lift
“Not every vendor asks questions to find out what the facility. In general, a forklift’s lift and push/pull
the user needs,” says Wachsmuth. capabilities diminish the higher it raises a pallet.
The process ideally begins by understanding “A forklift can cost as much as $100,000,” says
the facility’s dimensions, obstructions, types of Wachsmuth. “So you want to be sure your new
SZM Magazine • February ‘19
height, and weight capacity of the forklifts used at