Racking up retail supply
December 1st 2003

The right racking is an essential part of any retail supply chain. Kevin Harper, sales director at Eastwood looks at some of the options available During the last ten years we have seen substantial growth in centralised distribution as a means of improving operational efficiencies, ensuring faster response to customer needs. The trend was initially spearheaded by major retail chains in the clothing industry, in a quest to get next seasons fashions on to the shop floor as quickly as possible. At the same time it gave the opportunity to reduce localised storage, enabling greater area to be used for display and sale purposes. For many organisations the practicalities of centralised warehousing operations and necessary speed would not have been possible without highly efficient order-picking schemes and the adoption of automated storage and automated retrieval (AS/AR) operations. The whole objective is to move product from store-to-shop floor as quickly as possible. Smaller retailers as well as manufacturing industries have also been able to harness some of the core benefits, enabling them to remain competitive and survive in tough economic times. For smaller plants the cost of AS/AR may be prohibitive, therefore they rely on manned narrow aisle trucks operating within the storage aisle. The tasks and final results are identical, although operational speed may have been sacrificed. Representing the glamour-end of any storage facility is the AS/AR operation with its unmanned stacker cranes and automated conveyor transfer systems. These benefit from sophisticated barcode readers, opto-sensors and control technology to govern and record the whole order process, from item pick to despatch. Backing the rack Fundamental to achieving a highly successful storage operation is having the correct choice of racking system. The majority of supply chain operations require two distinct types of racking; at a quick glance they may look the same, but the prime difference comes in material build, construction and load capacity. Bulk stores tend to hold items as palletised loads, and need heavy-duty racking that is able to support extreme weights and endure the knocks of fork trucks. Most suppliers offer pallet racking in various standard lengths of 1350 to 3300mm with a choice of different beam sections, giving a wide range of loading capacities to suit all requirements. The make-up of a typical arrangement may be using 116mm main beams which will give a unit load capacity of around 3 ton. Pallet racking is suitable for applications where fork trucks, narrow-aisle, mini-load and stacker cranes are used. Correctly programmed AS/AR schemes impose little damage to racking, whereas manned trucks rely on the skill and eye of the operator when retrieving complete pallets. Therefore high-density storage solutions can comprise either pallet racking or long-span racking, depending on load requirements. Long-span racking satisfies most applications with a manual order-picking process. Construction is from a lighter steel than pallet racking since overall loading is less and there is no risk of damage from powered vehicles. Various standard sizes exist 1220, 1840 and 2440mm beams with a choice of profiles, a 35mm beam with a maximum loading of 650kg per 1220mm length, and a larger 67mm beam with maximum loading of 1200kg. The end frames are supplied in various standard lengths up to 3.5m, and depths from 450mm to 1200mm, although Eastwood offers a tailored design service, with increased lengths to suit each specific application. Down the line Once items have left the distribution centre, major retail chains have delivery schedules structured so items can be placed directly on the sales floor. Smaller local shops and stores not able to operate a just-in-time type arrangement tend to have an intermediate store at the back of the building. Here storage requirements are much less. Palletised bulky items will remain on the pallet, with shop replenishment taking place as and when required. Many of the smaller items will be held on long-span racking. It makes stock management easier, allowing first-in/first-out replenishment of items on to the sales floor with manual control.

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