Pros and Cons of Double Deep Pallet Racking System

Time:12/7/2021

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Each shelving system has its own unique mission and is designed for unique situations. While some racking systems may be best suited for high product turnover and medium volume, others are suitable for low product turnover and high storage rack capacity. Take the example of a double-deep pallet racking system, which is ideally suited for optimal space utilization in warehouses with high storage density requirements.

Warehouse managers are always looking for new and better ways to organize their warehouses to meet new demands and improve storage efficiency - which could be

●Addition of new product lines
●Increase in the number of existing SKUs
●Further improvements in warehouse efficiency.

Before acting any or all of these will require a careful re-evaluation of your current warehouse storage and operations. As needs and imperatives change, you will need to adapt or add racking systems that are suited to changing conditions.

So, how do you find the ideal racking system? One option offered over here is the double-deep pallet racking system that is very popular today. However, popularity is not the important factor in choosing a warehouse storage system; there are more important things to consider. There are several variations of pallet rack storage systems on the market, and you need to understand the background and reasons for the popularity of the Double deep system to decide if it is right for you.

To simplify this process, we will outline a set of evaluation criteria and learn how the Double deep pallet racking system performs against each of them.

double-deep-pallet-racking-system

Things to Consider.

Before choosing a pallet racking system, you need to consider the following.

What products do you store? Product characteristics
How many different products/SKUs do you need to store?
Number of SKUs or number of SKUs in each product category?
What should the throughput rate be?
What is the target warehouse shelving capacity?

To determine if a particular racking system meets your needs and provides a good ROI, you need to understand its advantages, disadvantages and suitability for your specific needs.

Let's find out what these are in the case of a double-deep pallet racking system.

What is double-deep pallet racking?

Double deep pallet racking system is a variant of selective pallet racking and is best understood in comparison to it. In selective pallet racking, two rows of single-row pallet racking are placed back-to-back. However, in double-deep racking, four rows of single-row pallet racking are placed back-to-back. This limits the immediate accessibility of only two aisles facing the pallet rows, making double-deep pallet racking a first-in, first-out (FILO) pallet racking system.

Let us now look at the advantages of this storage system.

Benefits

●Pallet racking capacity can be increased by up to 10-15%, depending on warehouse rack layout and size. Storage capacity is 40% higher than selective pallet racking.

●Eliminates unneeded aisles and frees up storage space, increasing floor space utilization by 55%.

●Provides 50% selectivity, i.e. 50% SKU instant accessibility.

●Costs the same per pallet as pallet racking and is less expensive than two deep push racking systems with the same storage density.

●Easy to reposition and easy to convert to a single deep system.

●Multiple frame profiles and adjustable beam levels are available to reconfigure pallet sizes to meet changing requirements.

●Installing a double deep pallet racking system eliminates the need to rent or build new storage space by cost-effectively increasing cubic space utilization (storage density).

Continue to discuss the disadvantages

Disadvantages

●Storage height in the static storage system is limited to 10 mts for secure operation.

●15-20% storage loss is encountered as only a limited number of SKUs can be stored in the front storage location.

●Apply the "Last In First Out" (LIFO) inventory principle to limit the types of SKUs that can be retrieved immediately.

●Due to reduced access to SKUs, half of the inventory is placed behind another pallet when capacity utilization is full.

●Special double-deep forklifts and dedicated forklifts are required to access the pallets.

●Poor visibility of rear storage pallets, especially on the upper level, for order pickers and truck drivers

●Reduced pallet access speed and thus lower throughput rates

The most obvious disadvantage is that double-deep pallet systems require additional investment in special order picking equipment, such as new double-deep reach trucks or the expansion and balancing of existing forklifts. However, most of these additional costs are offset by the advantages conferred by the double-deep pallet system.

Best suited for

●Companies with a limited product range and large or very large quantities, i.e., a medium number of SKUs distributed in medium or large quantities.

●Inventory with medium to long shelf life. The use of the "last in, first out" (LIFO) principle makes it unsuitable for storage of items with short shelf life.

●Widely used in: cold storage, paper, food service, manufacturing, distribution centers and dry goods store industries.

Now that you have clearly outlined the pros and cons, you need to conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis, considering parameters such as product volume, turnover, available space, warehouse rack layout and available picking equipment to determine if a double-deep pallet system is right for you.

Talk to an expert

However, before deciding on any racking system, we recommend that you contact a storage systems consultant.

A storage solutions specialist will perform SKU analysis, space and operational design, ergonomics, and many more activities to recommend the most ideal rack system and order picking equipment to meet your unique requirements.

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