The industrial work place has many storage needs. Depending on the department there is a need to store everything from tiny parts to large tools and parts. There is a storage cabinet, storage rack, or bin storage to meet just about every need.
Starting with industrial storage cabinets. Most industrial strength storage cabinets are an all welded cabinet. These cabinets offer a variety of shelf options as well as interior bin storage. There are cabinet designs that have bin and shelf storage in the doors as well. Most of the heavy duty storage cabinets that offer storage in the doors will also have wheels or casters on the bottom of the door to make it easier to open with the weight of the additional items. All of these cabinets have handles that either have built-in locks or have a padlock hasp to secure the cabinet. There is a wide range of sizes and capacities, as well as units that have wheels to make the cabinet mobile.
Pallet racking and cantilever racks are the two most common types of racks. Pallet rack is for the obvious pallet storage. However you can also get decking for pallet racks that enable you to store part, tools and other large items. Pallet rack comes in a variety of sizes and capacities ranging from 96" wide up to 120" wide, and 36" deep to 48" deep. Pallet rack comes in heights ranging from 96" up to 144". Pallet rack is generally set up as three high units, however the height of each layer is adjustable. Capacities for pallet rack can range from 4,000 pounds to 30,000 pounds. The main thing to look for when deciding if pallet rack meets your needs is if the capacity is rated per beam or for the unit as a whole. Another great safety feature available for pallet rack is steel pallet rack guards. These are expanded metal gates that are mounted on the front of the pallet rack and keep items stored from falling down if the rack is bumped or shaken. Cantilever rack is used to store lumber, metal bars, pipes, and other long materials. Cantilever rack is made up of two basic components, the uprights and the arms. When choosing cantilever rack be sure you get both with matching capacities. The capacity can range from 300 pounds to over 12,000 pounds. There are two different types of arms for these racks as well. There are straight arms that extend out straight from the upright, and angled arms that tilt upward from the upright to keep round items from rolling off.
Bin storage comes in four basic storage options. There are just the bins themselves, bin cabinets, bin shelving and bin racks. The bins themselves come in a wide variety of sizes and made mostly from plastic, however there are fiberglass and steel bins also. If you want more organization of your bins you can use a bin storage cabinet, bin shelving, or bin racks. Bin storage cabinets are designed to hold different layouts with a variety of bin sizes. Bin shelving is designed like the cabinets to hold a variety of layouts of common bin sizes. and bin racks can either be free standing or wall mounted. Bin racks are more commonly used to display or store smaller items or parts. The bins hand on the racks by a small lip on the back, so it isn't advised to try to use this style for heavier or larger bins.
These are just some of the options for industrial storage. If you have specific storage needs consult a material handling and storage specialist to help you choose the type of equipment that will best fit your needs.
