When designing your pallet rack system there are many things to consider before deciding on your purchase. The basic decision involves purchasing your frames and beams. This step is usually as simple as knowing your capacity and size requirements. From there you must decide which type of support system is best for your products and if your design will require any other additional racking accessories (wall ties, row spaces, top ties, safety products, column protectors, etc.). The two most common types of support for your pallets/product are pallet supports or wire decking. If you are hand-loading you may be able to use wood as an alternative, although we do not recommend this usually in pallet rack. Wood is more commonly seen in rivet rack and bulk rack applications. Today we will strictly focus on the benefits of wire decks.

Wire decks are composed of 3-4 main supports with a grid style wire mesh that covers the entire depth of the frames. The width, as well as the depth, will depend on your pallet size/application. The wire decks can provide a great range of capacities to handle your products, which benefits both efficiency and safety in your warehouse. Below we will list the main benefits of wire decks:

Safety

In case of an emergency, the wire decks allow for your sprinkler system to work promptly and effectively. This benefits the building, the pallet rack itself, your products, and your employees’ safety. Wire decking help to increase the overall stability of one’s racking system.

Visibility

By increasing the visibility of pallets in a pallet rack system can help employees to effectively identify products and/or pallets efficiently. This will also help to increase access and knowledge of the inventory on hand.

Reliability

The design of wire decks provides for great reliability, loading racks is not always easy and wire decks make that job more manageable. The wire decks are more forgiving when loading and unloading pallets, and while you do need to do your best to center the pallet on the wire decks’ supports, they are more forgiving than pallet supports.

Price

While the price of wire decks may be more than pallet supports, the benefits will pay back your investment quickly. You will save time and labor after you have installed your pallet rack system with wire decks for your warehouse. Wire decks are stronger than other types of decking and will therefor last-longer. This means you won’t have to replace them as much causing disruption in the working environment.

Lighting

The wire deck’s design allows for light to pass through the levels in the pallet rack system. The mesh design allows workers to get enough light so that they can see clearly. This will brighten up your warehouse and eliminate a possible need for more lighting after your pallet rack is installed.