Monday, August 12, 2013

Steel Shelving Makes Organization Quick And Easy

By Andrea Davidson


The organization that you have been looking for, in your plant, is made easier when you have a shelving system that works the way it should. The racking systems that have been in your plant may be old and worn out. They may have been there for a while and stained or dirty. All of this can be all but eliminated when you look into a steel shelving system.

Wood shelves are not the best in food processing plants as they can not be cleaned the right way. The stains or leaks from containers will simply set there contaminating the entire area. They can be painted, however, a true stain will bleed through after a fairly short amount of time and you are back to that mess. Metal of this type is very cleanable.

When considering the organization of your racking system you will need to have a set of these that will withstand all that you can throw at them. Steel has a much better durability record. It can also be painted to establish a color coded system for material handling. This can aid your personnel in many ways.

Most of the racking that is designed for plants have either a open or closed system. The open racking system will allow items to be placed onto or removed from the back or the front of the space. If this space is on the aisle, workers will have access to it through the open side as well. This provides better access as some systems need to rotate their stock and this open space makes this easy.

A closed shelving system will not be able to present access to all spaces from more than one side. This is a stronger unit because of the cross braces or bars, however the lack of accessibility will hinder organization in some cases. These are popular for heavier than normal pallets and some of the more dangerous chemicals. Some of the pallets that are popular will not be able to be used in these systems depending on the load configuration and for other reasons.

Since the strength of this material depends, largely, on its gauge, there are a number of different thicknesses out there. Getting the best steel of each application is important because of this. The professionals you depend on for the design and construction of this system will help you discover what type and thickness of steel you need.

Most heavy duty shelving, made from steel, use the 18 to 20 gauge material. This has been identified as being the easiest to work with and will withstand the abuse these units sometimes get. The placement of these shelves, as self standing units, will also fare well when moved to obtain the best work flow during that next reorganization.

The best steel shelving are those that do the job you need done. The designing and installation should be done through the offices of a company who has been doing this for a long time. The suggestions they make about placement, material and whether open or closed will be invaluable during that planning stage.




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