How to Properly Choose Cold Storage Rack?

Cold storage racks are specifically designed shelves for storing goods in cold storage facilities. They are generally based on shuttle pallet rackings and push-back racks, and are meticulously crafted according to the characteristics of cold storage environments. Cold storage racks must be able to withstand low temperatures and humid conditions, which is a relatively harsh environment for steel products. Therefore, cold storage racks are a type of specialized, custom-made racks.

The items stored in cold storage are generally food and pharmaceuticals, and these two types of items have different temperature requirements. If the individual item weight is relatively heavy, heavy-duty racks can be used. 

If the weight is not too heavy and space needs to be maximized, drive-through rackings or narrow aisle racks can be used. In this case, narrow aisle forklifts should be used, which can achieve up to 8 meters in height, making full use of the height of the cold storage racks and ensuring optimal use of space.

Because the temperature in cold storage is quite low, it is not suitable for people to work inside for long periods. Therefore, we typically design heavy-duty racks or drive-through rackings for use. Both types of cold storage racks can be used with forklifts and pallets for loading and unloading goods. They have a large storage capacity and can meet the requirements for three-dimensional storage, making them common choices for cold storage racks.

Drive-Through Rackings

Drive-through rackings are one of the commonly used types of storage racks in medium to large cold storage warehouses. They are chosen as one of the cold storage racks because their structure allows for bulk storage.

Features of Drive-Through Rackings

• Drive-through rackings have a corridor-like structure, characterized by continuous storage slots;

  
  

• The forklifts used with drive-through rackings have high storage efficiency and strong reliability;

  
  

• The mode of storing and retrieving goods follows a first-in, last-out principle;

  
  

• They allow for bulk storage;

  
  

• They have high storage density and low investment cost;

  
  

• They are suitable for storing large quantities of a few types of goods and are also applicable to most handling machinery storage operations.

Shuttle Pallet Rackings

Shuttle pallet rackings use shuttles combined with drive-through racking structures to achieve goods storage and retrieval. They are automated storage racks that combine traditional racks with modern control equipment. Due to the presence and impact of the cold environment in the warehouse, the core equipment, the shuttle, must be compatible with this environment to ensure that shuttle pallet rackings run stably in the corresponding cold storage over the long term.

Features of Shuttle Pallet Rackings

• The operating principle of shuttle pallet rackings involves the shuttle transporting the palletized goods from the entry point to the exit point;

  
  

• The forklifts used with shuttle pallet rackings perform loading and unloading operations only at the ends of the rack;

  
  

• They can meet the requirements of both first-in, first-out and the need for forklifts to not enter the aisle for goods operations;

  
  

• The operating aisle of the racks and the shuttle's operating aisle are combined into one;

  
  

• The safety coefficient of the racks is relatively high, and their operational efficiency is also higher than that of drive-through rackings;

  
  

• Shuttle pallet rackings are a type of compact storage rack, with costs falling into the mid to low range;

Shuttle pallet rackings also have the characteristics of automation, cost-efficiency, minimal human intervention, and space utilization rates of over 80%!

Pallet Racks

Pallet racks are generally heavy-duty racks and are the most common types of storage racks in various domestic storage rack systems. They are applicable for both small-batch, multi-variety items and large-batch, few-variety items. These types of racks are most commonly used in high-rise and ultra-high-rise warehouses (most racks in automated warehouses use these types of racks).

Pallet racks are convenient for storing and retrieving goods, simple in equipment, easy to install and dismantle, low in cost, aesthetically pleasing in appearance, rational in structure, strong in load-bearing capacity (with a maximum single unit load of up to 5t), user-friendly design, adjustable layer height, plug-and-play combination without the need for welding or screw installation, and easy to transport.

The typical span of a single unit rack is within 4 meters, the depth within 1.5 meters, the height of low and high-rise warehouse racks is generally within 12 meters, and the height of ultra-high-rise warehouse racks is generally within 30 meters (these types of warehouses are primarily automated, with the total height of racks constructed from several segments of columns within 12 meters).