When you’re running a business that hinges on the organization of parts or products, it is critical to invest in high-quality shelving units that can stand the test of time and support the weight of your materials. While it might seem like a simple decision to select storage units for your business, you must spend time researching the design, layout, and materials best suited to your business type and layout.
Storage Shelves & Units
Regardless of whether you run a warehouse, factory, or need storage solutions for your home or garage, there are a wide variety of shelving units to choose from. These range from inexpensive and lightweight wire shelving to heavy-duty industrial steel shelving.
Shelving Systems
The primary reason to buy a shelving system or storage rack is to save horizontal floor space using vertical shelves that extend upward. From expandable shelving and wire-shelving kits to open and closed designs, you can find the configuration that best suits your needs.
Drawer Units
Modular shelving systems often allow you to attach accessories, such as drawer units. A drawer unit can keep small, easily lost items, such as nails, screws, and hex wrenches divided for identification and retrieval.
Closet Solutions
Shelving, at its core, organizes your belongings and maximizes available space. This can be especially beneficial in the home. Closet space is often limited, and closets can become easily cluttered. The solution, then, is to install a shelving system that’s lightweight, inexpensive, and provides adequate visibility. For closets, steel wire shelving fulfills these criteria.
Garage Solutions
Garages, like closets, can easily become a mess. Tools, seasonal items — e.g., Christmas decorations — car parts, gardening supplies, sports equipment, camping gear can clutter your space. Leaving these items lying around can cause chaos and make finding what you need a challenge. Many homeowners think of wooden shelving first. While wooden shelving can be attractive, it’s also susceptible to moisture, insects, scuffing, and temperature extremes. If you want to store books, wood is also naturally acidic.
Metal shelving can increase your garage’s storage capacity while also withstanding the elements and impact. Ideally, you should select a shelving unit with a chrome-plated, galvanized, or powder-coated finish for increased corrosion resistance.
Door & Wall Racks
Door and wall racks enable you to keep small items easily organized for your kitchen or home. If you need to keep food items, including spices, canned goods, and bottles neatly organized, a door or wall rack is a cost-effective solution that anyone can install.
Alternatively, if you need additional storage space in your bathroom or laundry room for towels, clothes, cosmetics, or hygiene products, racks can help you introduce order to your setup.
Shelving Systems Designed, Built and Delivered
The shelving system that’s right for you depends on what you need it to achieve. A homeowner’s requirements may not overlap with those of a factory foreman or a warehouse manager.
Heavy-Duty, Wall-Mounted Storage
Heavy-duty shelving systems, whether freestanding or wall-mounted, allow you to meet various storage needs, increasing your options.
Walk-In Cooler & Laboratory Shelving
Wire shelving is also useful for walk-in coolers and laboratories. In cold environments, wire shelving increases air circulation, keeping perishable goods fresh and reducing condensation. The open design improves light penetration and visibility. In addition, sprinkler systems can access multiple shelves, extinguishing fires before they spread.
Although wire shelving can meet the storage needs of laboratories, other systems offering increased weight capacities may be required.
Adjustable Office Shelving Systems
The purpose of office shelving is the same as that of a factory or warehouse with two crucial differences: it must be aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the décor. Adjustability allows you to set the shelf height according to the size of the items you intend to store. Rivet shelving is one of the most versatile types of shelving on the market with regard to installation and adjustment. Rivet shelving uses a series of keyhole-shaped slots in upright posts — similar to a door chain. The shelves have rivets that enter and lock into these slots, eliminating the need for hardware or nuts.
Metal Shelving Systems for Storage, Work, and Display
Wire shelving is also beneficial in a retail environment. Lightweight and portable, wire shelving ensures maximum visibility for display. However, wire shelving is also limited in weight capacity.
Heavy-duty steel shelving units, whether closed or open, can support more weight for industrial applications. If you need to store machine parts, castings, or metal stock, the increased strength of steel can be invaluable. Furthermore, steel is more resistant to impacts from forklift collisions.
For order pickers, visibility is critical. Open shelves allow workers to identify merchandise or stock for retrieval more efficiently. Closed shelves, however, protect sensitive inventory from exposure to light and dust.
Custom Libraries & Media Storage
Sometimes a custom storage solution is the best one for your business. Libraries and other facilities can benefit from stationary or mobile high-density storage systems, which open aisles for access according to need. These systems run on carriages and rails on the floor. Mechanically or electrically operated, mobile shelving systems are ideal for books, records, files, and more.
Price and Other Details May Vary Based on Size and Color
For a complete quote on a shelving project, be sure to include all the relevant information. Your needs will vary according to the environment — e.g., home, office, retail, warehouse — what you need to store, your preferred color and style, and other factors. For example, chrome-plated steel shelving is more modern, decorative, and resistant to rust than galvanized steel and is more expensive.
Your choice of material also plays a role in pricing and longevity. Plastic shelves are lightweight, don’t rust or corrode, and are easy to clean, but don’t expect them to offer the same weight capacity as a steel system.
Struggling to Choose Between Our Different Products?
At Shelving + Rack Systems, Inc., we pride ourselves on meeting the diverse storage needs of businesses and homeowners. We manufacture shelving systems in multiple configurations, materials, and styles to accommodate every workplace and environment. If you need help choosing a shelving system that’s right for you, give us a call.
FAQs
What is the right shelving system for my facility?
The right shelving for your facility depends on specific factors, such as what you need to store, in what quantity, and the ambient temperature. You’ll need to determine the expected weight capacity, ideal footprint, clear height — the distance between the ground and the lowest hanging object — and how you retrieve orders.
What type of steel is used for manufacturing shelving systems?
Most industrial steel shelving is made from high-carbon or alloy steel. This provides the shelving with sufficient strength to support considerable loads. Since these steel alloys are susceptible to rust, companies that manufacture shelving systems usually apply a protective finish. The most common types are chrome plating, galvanizing (zinc), and powder coating — a type of durable, oven-cured paint.
Some shelving systems are also made of stainless steel, which is naturally corrosion resistant.
