Chris O'Brien
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Typically a warehouse containing pallet racking will have one sole use, to store pallets effectively and free up the floor space. One sector of the industry is textiles/carpets which utilise the pallet racking, but in a different manner.
What is Different?
The pallet racking structure remains the same in the aspect of uprights, frames and beams. The difference is all dependent upon the lengths being stored. The use of pallet racking allows the height within the building to be utilised effectively.
How Does it Look?
The below example is placed upon a customer’s requirement to store multiple 5m carpet rolls.
The span of 5m cannot be supported by a single frame and pair of beams. The 5m depth is broken down into multiple frames, usually the same depth, on this occasion all were 1,100mm deep. This allows the load supported by the uprights to not be excessive and evenly distributed. This spacing also has the same effect for the loading place upon the beams. The beams are placed at the set locations and run through the full 5m depth, 6no. beams in this instance.
Unlike pallet racking where the materials are stored directly upon the beams, carpet racking requires a level of surface for the materials to be stored on. Without the use of a deck, the materials when loaded will sit on the beams causing indentations on the materials/fabric, which mat be permanent. Some rolls of fabrics are extremely expensive so this needs to be avoided. A common solution is to fit a chipboard deck or steel deck on the beans. These provide a flat level to remove the indentations. Due to the smooth nature of both products, this allows for ease of loading/ unloading the rolls.
The rolls of carpet are usually supplied in long lengths to eliminate carpet joints in the home. This excessive length will have a requirement for an oversized aisle in the racking layout. The above system with 5m lengths incorporated a 7m wide aisle. This oversized aisle allows the forklift truck operator sufficient room for the turning circle as the product enters/exits the location. An adapted fork for the forklift truck is required as this will allow the roll to be picked up from the central card tube. This will protect the product from damage and indentations.
As with pallet racking, the design is tailored to the product so various beam lengths, frame depths, overall depth and beam level heights can be achieved. It is completely customer specific.
For more information about carpet/textile racking please call 01423 819057 or email sales@warehousestoragesolutions.com for a free visit and quotation.
