Six Innovative Ways of Using Cantilever Racking

Cantilever racking is a unique and fully customizable warehouse and retail hardware storage solution that’s designed to hold large and bulky items. Lumber, large pipes, sheet metal, drywall, and doors are among some of the larger products that are often stored using versatile and customized cantilever racking systems. Depending on the size, layout, and storage requirements of your facility, industrial cantilever racking may provide the appropriate productivity, safety, and space-saving solutions you need. 

Cantilever racks can be used for the following warehouse, logistics, and retail storage applications. 

Design a Cantilever Rack to Support Your Inventory

Customization is the best solution to ensuring that you get the right cantilever racking system for your warehouse or storage facility. Start by taking stock of the type of inventory you carry most often. Open-faced cantilever racking systems provide easy access to products from all angles and helps warehouse managers keep track of inventory types and levels due to better visibility. 

Single cantilever racks can be installed along back walls to preserve space in the center of the warehouse. Double cantilever racks are capable of storing items on both sides to maximize space and storage capacities. 

Add Wire Decks for High-Density Storage

Wire decks enhance the storage capacity of cantilever racking systems even further by allowing you to store small, medium, and large pallets. In fact, wire decking reinforces the durability and load capacity of cantilever racking systems so that you can combine palletized and boxed loads on the same unit without overloading it. 

Use Cantilever Racks with Particle Board Decking for Lightweight Inventory

Connecting particle boards to the arms and uprights of cantilever racking systems adds to the overall storage capacity of your facility. Lightweight items such as long corner beads, mesh, lattice fencing, baseboards, etc. can be stored on particle board decking. Particle board decking has a load capacity range of about 650 to 1,000 pounds, which means that it’s capable of storing large quantities of lightweight building materials.

Use Cantilever Racks for Storing Heavy Items

As one of the most versatile and durable racking systems used in storage facilities, cantilever racks can also be outfitted to store heavy materials such as steel beams, tubing, and pipes. Steel decking additions, which have an average load capacity of about 3,000 pounds per section, are capable of storing heavy palletized, loose, and boxed lengthy building materials. To prevent loose round items from rolling off the side of the shelving unit, steel decks also have an upward curved waterfall lip to secure them in place. This is a necessary added safety measure that prevents workplace injuries. 

The number of arms required to support the load capacity on each decking section depends on the weight of the inventory, the width of the shelf, and the load capacity of the arms. 

Use Cantilever Racks with Rails and Hangers

Horizontal rails can be attached to cantilever racking systems to act as hangers for lightweight or smaller items such as clothing. Racks can be adjusted according to the size and weight of the inventory. To prevent damages and injuries, heavier items should be stored toward or at the bottom of the rack and lighter items should be stored in the middle or at the top. 

Arms can be repositioned or moved up and down as needed by about 3” in each direction to increase or decrease the space capacity depending on the width of the items. Longer arms that protrude further outward have a much larger load capacity than shorter arms, so it’s important to choose the right length to accommodate your storage requirements. 

Use Cantilever Racks to Secure Items in Place

Since cantilever racks primarily store long round or tubular construction products and building materials, it’s important to secure these items in place to prevent damages and workplace injuries. Mesh wiring installed at the back of cantilever racking systems prevent the inventory from falling off the back of the rack and hold it place. Meanwhile, retainer pipes on the sides of the racks keep the materials secured inside the storage unit. 

Adding these mechanisms to secure the inventory in place helps reduce the risk of on-the-job worker injuries as well as the risk of incurring property and product damages. These additional safety measures can save you a lot of money in the long run and reduce liability for your company. 

Purchase Customized Cantilever Racking from Canadian Rack Technologies Inc.

When you need custom-designed and expertly crafted storage solutions for your industrial or commercial facility, you can turn to the expert engineers at Canadian Rack Technologies Inc. Contact us today to inquire about our products and services or to request a pre-health and safety review.