Brake Friction, specialists in aftermarket brake products, recently moved to a new site to accommodate the growth of the business. They also required a new shelving solution to meet the needs of their new warehouse – this included the storage of large volumes of small to medium parts, as well as pallet locations for the storage of hand loaded and palletised products in bulk.
Having worked with Brake Friction in the past with the supply and installation of pallet racking at their previous premises, the Safer Storage Systems team were excited to help them move into their new space. We developed a solution that not only met the client brief in terms of storage capacity, but also exceeded it with enhanced safety features and improved picking efficiency.
And that’s not all.
For Brake Friction, the shelving was to be more than just storage system – the structure would also be on show, doubling as a centrepiece for customers entering the warehouse. With that in mind, the design team went to work developing racking that was functional, and also of high quality with a clean finish.
Stage 1: The Mezzanine Floor
Stage one focused on accommodating the storage of small to medium parts, keeping in mind additional space was required for the pallet storage to be add later in stage two. To maximise the space we built a mezzanine level allowing for access to all products by multiple pickers at any one time. With the correct clearances, you can have multiple staff picking products allowing you to scale up activity during peak periods.
A mezzanine floor is a great option for anyone wanting to create a storage solution with a small footprint. It makes use of the height of the warehouse and is perfect for hand-loaded items, such as small to medium sized products, archives or spare parts.
The mezzanine structure for Brake Friction separated the small parts on top and medium parts below, which helped to better categorise the items and make it far more convenient for staff to find what they were looking for.
The addition of a mezzanine gate, meeting Australian standards, further enhanced the safety for the Brake Friction team by securing the pallet drop area and controlling the access.
Stage 2: Narrow Aisle Pallet Racking
Stage two involved converting the existing pallet racking to narrow aisle stock picker racking for bulk volumes. The narrow aisles allowed us to achieve a far greater storage density, ensuring we could make use of every millimetre of space available.
To enhance the safety of this efficient system, and protect the racking from being damaged by the stock picker, Safer Storage Systems added aisle tracks. These tracks control the stock picker access in the 1.7 metre clear aisles, maximising the storage capacity.
As the stock pickers themselves are crucial to the everyday access of this narrow aisle system, the design team liaised with Brake Friction’s forklift provider in order to fit the appropriate guide wheels on the stock pickers and to ensure they correctly fit with the aisles.
Another safety concern in any warehouse is keeping the materials handling equipment clear of pedestrians. With only a narrow space between shelves in this instance, it made sense to minimise the interaction of people and the stock pickers as much as possible. To do this, logical walkways were created and clearly defined, making it easier for forklift operators to identify anything moving out in the warehouse and safe for pickers to get around the warehouse.
This installation is a great example of how planning is one of the most important phases of any warehouse fit-out in order to really get the most out of the space.
To have a unique storage solution created for your new or existing warehouse, talk to our team today – click here to contact us.
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