In many industries and businesses such as warehouses and commercial kitchens, having effective steel shelving solutions that fully utilise the available storage space is a major concern. However, there are a variety of different shelving options on the market such as longspan shelving and wire shelving which can make choosing the right storage solution difficult.
To help make this decision easier, here are the main benefits of using longspan shelving and wire shelving as an effective storage solution:
Longspan shelving –
Tidy and organised storage areas
An untidy and unorganised storage area that is littered with discarded shrink-wrap from opened pallets and leftover packaging materials can obstruct workers during their daily duties and presents many safety risks. By using longspan shelving, storage areas can be organised into spacious neat rows of shelving. Each row can be clearly labelled for easy product identification, be quickly cleaned and adjusted to accommodate various product sizes.
Great for storing heavier items
Storing heavy and bulky items can quickly become an issue when being stored in large quantities, especially if the current shelving being used is not designed with the capacity to hold a large amount of weight. This will lead to safety issues such as rows collapsing or the entire shelving system itself.
This is why for heavy-duty to medium applications, longspan shelving is ideal. Each pair of beams can support the average weight capacity of about 950kgs. The beams are also adjustable, making it perfect for storing oversized and bulkier items that won’t easily fit into traditional shelving spaces.
Intelligent picking paths
The route which warehouse staff take through a storage area to retrieve items for completing packing orders is known as a ‘picking path’. As most warehouses have teams of packers and staff all operating within the same packing area, having a well-designed picking path is crucial. Without one, it can affect the overall supply chain and even increase labour costs.
With longspan steel shelving, packers will be able to easily optimise their picking paths according to their storage areas. The open shelf design means staff can easily and quickly identify and retrieve items when packing orders, without having to zig-zag around the storage area when searching for a particular item. They can also store their most commonly packed items close to the dispatch area while allocating the least packed items to the back, cutting down on packing time.
Wire shelving –
Perfect for cold storage
Wire shelving units are the perfect choice for cold storage in areas such as medical labs and commercial kitchens. This is because the design of wire shelving allows for the ventilation of air to flow easily throughout each shelf. It provides the ideal cold storage environment due to allowing cold air to freely circulate around each stored product such as medicine and food.
Another benefit is that wire shelving can also reduce the build-up of condensation on each shelf. This is because the condensed particles between each shelf become evaporated into the air, drastically reducing pools of liquid forming on top of stored items over time. This creates an efficient and user-friendly shelving solution ideal for cold storage areas.
Hygienic shelving
Apart from reducing condensation build-up, wire shelving is also a much more hygienic storage solution due to a design that results in minimal dust build-up over time as opposed to other traditional types of shelving. Avoiding inventory collecting a build-up of dust is crucial for many industries such as healthcare, electronics and hospitality.
Commercial kitchens must use hygienic steel shelving for ensuring the safe storage of foods, and the electronic industry must avoid their extremely sensitive merchandise collecting dust when in storage.
The increased safety factor
Wire shelving also presents an increased safety factor. In the unfortunate event of a fire caused by a warehouse accident occurring, steel wire shelving can withstand the high-temperature levels. On top of this, the design of wire shelving units will not block any of the water that is dispersed from fire sprinkling systems when they get set off.
In the situation where a fire is affecting parts of the warehouse which is lower to the ground or at the bottom of the shelving, the water from the sprinkler system will be able to easily spread throughout the higher shelves and ensure the entire shelving is not damaged by the flames.
Modular design
Due to the modular design of both wire and longspan shelving, they offer a great deal of flexibility. This means businesses can store more inventory without having to sacrifice any of their available storage space. If they require more storage space, they can simply purchase additional rows which can connect to each other.
Search online for a storage systems manufacturer that offers a variety of versatile, durable and strong steel shelving solutions and explore your options today.
