Pallet Rack Mezzanines: Design, Safety, and Benefits - Quality Material Handling Inc.

Is your existing warehouse beginning to run out of space? If so, a pallet rack mezzanine may be the ideal solution if you want to add more storage to your warehouse. Once installed, you’ll no longer need to contemplate moving to a new facility.

If you’re able to install a mezzanine that supports pallet racks into your current work area, you would increase pallet storage without reducing the amount of workspace you have. There are several reasons why this is a solid investment for any warehouse owner or manager, the primary of which involve better floor space utility and low installation costs.

If you don’t use your warehouse space efficiently, you’ll end wasting time and money. Using space efficiently maximizes your profits and boosts productivity. Installing a pallet rack mezzanine can effectively double your floor space in the area where the structure is installed. This guide offers a comprehensive overview of the safety features, design elements, and benefits of pallet rack mezzanines.

What is a Pallet Rack Mezzanine?

There are two kinds of warehouse mezzanines, which include rack-supported and free-standing ones. Free-standing mezzanines are structures that need to be tied directly to the surrounding structure through the floors or walls. In comparison, rack-supported mezzanines gain the necessary support with racks that are solely used for structural reasons.

If you want to save a considerable amount of space, pallet racking mezzanines are the way to go. Otherwise, you would be tasked with increasing rental costs or building out horizontally, the latter of which is much more expensive than buying a pallet rack mezzanine.

How Pallet Rack Mezzanine Systems Benefit Warehouses

The main benefit of using pallet rack mezzanine systems in your warehouse is that you’ll save an ample amount of space and can avoid moving to a larger warehouse or adding on to your current one. You’ll be able to increase the vertical storage in your facility as well.

Components of a Pallet Rack Mezzanine Safety System

Pallet rack mezzanine safety systems come with numerous components, which include everything from staircases and high-quality flooring to handrails and safety netting.

Staircases – There are numerous features you can customize when selecting your mezzanine, which include the angles, tread, step width, risers, and number of rails.

Flooring – The flooring you can choose for your mezzanine includes corrugated decking, resin board, open steel planking, concrete, and bar grating. Each floor type comes with its own advantages and operational features.

Handrails – Handrails are oftentimes implemented to make sure that employees don’t fall.

Safety netting – This netting ensures that your employees and stored materials are kept safe. It can keep stored items from falling to the lower level.

Gates – You can have gates installed onto your mezzanine to make sure that materials are correctly handled. Some of the options at your disposal include sliding gates, double swing gates, single swing gates, safety pivot gates, and lift-out safety gates.

Kick plates – These plates can be positioned along the upper levels of a mezzanine to keep personnel from tripping. Make sure that you install kick plates on all main aisles and aisle row ends.

Flue keepers – These items are attached to uprights to make sure that the proper transverse flue space is maintained. Once installed, the flue keepers should prevent cartons and pallets from getting into this space.

Moving Items From Upper Levels to Ground Level

When you’re moving from a single-level system to a multi-level approach, you’ll need to determine how your items will be moved to the ground level to be distributed. There are several technologies that are designed to make material handling easier when placed into a pallet rack mezzanine system. The one that works best in your facility depends on your picking process as well as your budget. The main material handling solutions you should consider include:

Conveyor – This system can be equipped in a catwalk system for the transportation of items from the highest levels of your mezzanine.

Vertical reciprocating conveyor – These conveyors are similar to elevators and are designed to bring cartons or pallets to the uppermost levels of your mezzanine system.

Pallet drop area – This solution involves placing platforms on all levels of your mezzanine system. The pallets will be positioned on the platform by lift trucks. Pallet drops usually come with safety gates to make sure that employees are unable to fall.

Chute – This option allows pickers to quickly move products from the highest floor down to the floor level.

What are the Benefits of Pallet Rack Mezzanines?

Since pallet rack mezzanines automatically add vertical storage space to warehouses and similar facilities, there are many benefits of these systems that you’ll gain access to after they’ve been installed.

Product Space Utility

The most significant advantage of adding a pallet rack mezzanine to your warehouse is that it provides more storage space than conventional mezzanines. These structures have small footprints, which ensures that you can stack storage high without using a considerable amount of space in your facility.

Conventional mezzanines require supports to prevent sagging issues or a collapse. Pallet rack mezzanines offer the same amount of support while also using the space for better storage capacity.

Floor Space Utility

Pallet rack mezzanines also give you an opportunity to maximize existing floor space. Since pallet racks are taller than conventional storage solutions, you can store more materials and products per square foot while also using much less floor space than if the same items were being stored on the ground.

It’s common for mezzanines to be used for storing goods further away from the primary warehouse floor. If you want the level to function correctly, it requires an elevated platform that will be used as a landing platform for people to walk on when loading and unloading inventory.

Pallet rack mezzanines are perfectly suited to this task since pallets are commonly placed on racks that keep them off the ground. An open space is then available that can be used for practically anything else.

Low Installation Costs

Another benefit of using a pallet rack mezzanine is that the installation costs are low. If you were to have a traditional mezzanine installed in your warehouse, it would need to be secured to make sure that it could bear the necessary load. Pallet rack mezzanines are cheaper than new construction and will allow you to maintain storage areas in a space that’s just nearby the work area.

High Throughput

Rack-supported mezzanine systems allow for more than one loading and unloading spot where cartons and pallets can be moved simultaneously. These tasks can be performed with pallet drop areas, conveyors, or VRCs.

High Density

Another advantage of pallet rack mezzanines is that they offer extra vertical storage, which means that your entire space will be used.

High Selectivity

Multiple employees are able to access the pallet rack mezzanine at the same time, which reduces the amount of downtime that takes place throughout the picking process.

Customizability

Pallet rack mezzanines are customizable to meet your company’s exact needs. Since the floor of the mezzanine is supported by racks, you shouldn’t need to have columns installed to better support the mezzanine. Because of how this system is designed, you can make a mezzanine level in your warehouse without spending a large sum of money.

Since there aren’t any support columns below the mezzanine level, forklifts and other pieces of heavy machinery will be able to move throughout the aisles below. Once you have the base mezzanine installed, you can customize it with a wide range of safety features to keep your personnel safe at all times.

Easy Installation and Integration

If you want to increase your facility’s work area and storage space, it’s possible to do so with a pallet rack mezzanine. The mezzanine itself can be supported by several types of rack systems. For instance, you can choose selective pallet racks that allow personnel to pick a pallet load without needing to move other pallets.

Push-back racks also help with high-density storage. You should look into carton flow racks if your warehouse takes part in high-volume loading and unloading processes. Regardless of the exact pallet rack mezzanine you choose, all of them are easy to install in a warehouse setting.

Why Choose QMH?

Our design experts and experienced racking professionals can help you choose pallet rack mezzanines that expand the available space in your warehouse and help you improve efficiency. We can design pallet rack systems for you to make sure that your specific needs are taken into account. If you have additional inquiries about pallet rack mezzanines and how they can be used in your warehouse, call us today to talk with a material handling expert.

5 Amazing Benefits of Pallet Rack Mezzanine

Not utilizing the space of your warehouse for its full potential can be time consuming and costly. For those who run a warehouse, you know how important it is to utilize all available spaces so you can maximize their profits. With all of the benefits of pallet rack mezzanine, increasing warehouse space in an existing facility can be as easy as installing a rack mezzanine.  This can double your floor space, where the mezzanine is installed.

There are two types of warehouse mezzanines, traditional (or free-standing) and rack-supported. Traditional (or free-standing) mezzanines, as their name implies, are freestanding structures that must be tied into the main building structure usually through walls or floors. Rack-supported mezzanines are supported by racks used only for structural purposes.

In order to save space, the obvious solution is to stack up. Pallet racking mezzanines are one of the best ways to do this. In such cases where there is a need for more storage space without having to build out horizontally and increasing rent cost, pallet racking mezzanines should be considered as one of your possible options.

Mezzanines with pallet racks are a great way to maximize storage space in your warehouse or distribution center.

5 Benefits of Using Pallet Rack Mezzanines

1. More Space for Your Products

The first and most obvious benefit is that pallet rack mezzanines provide more storage space than a conventional mezzanine. Pallets racks have a very small footprint, which means that storage can be stacked high without taking up too much space.

Traditional mezzanines need supports, to keep it from sagging or collapsing under the weight of floor loads. Pallet rack mezzanines can provide the same support, while simultaneously utilizing the space for storage capacity.

2. Better Utilization of Existing Floor Space

Pallet racking mezzanines are an excellent way to maximize the use of your existing floor space. The height of pallet racks compared to conventional storage systems means that you will be able to store more products or materials per square foot while using less floor space than if you were storing them on the ground.

Mezzanines are often used to store goods away from the main warehouse floor, and in order for them to work effectively, they need an elevated platform to act as a landing where people will walk on and load/unload inventory.

Pallet rack mezzanines are perfect for this purpose, since pallets are typically stored on racks that raise them off the ground, leaving an open space that can be used for other purposes.

3. Lower Installation Costs

The third major benefit is that pallet racking mezzanines are less expensive to install than other types of mezzanine systems. One thing you must remember, though, with this type of installation is that the traditional mezzanines must be secured when installed and capable of bearing the load they will have to bear.

You don’t want your pallet racking mezzanines to collapse under the weight of stored cargo or materials, so make sure you purchase quality racks and they are properly installed.

4. More Working Space = Greater Efficiency

Possibly the most important benefit of installing pallet racking mezzanines is the increase in efficiency. By maximizing and maximizing your floor space, you are eliminating wasted space that doesn’t add to profitability. You also get to use as much of your warehouse or distribution center as possible for work zones like picking/packing areas.

5. A Better Investment

The final and possibly greatest benefit of a pallet racking mezzanine is that it is a good investment. Traditional mezzanines do not provide as much storage space and can take up just as much floor space, and the costs of building out vertically is less than the costs of storage space building out storage space horizontally. Especially if you have a limited budget, pallet rack mezzanines are an excellent way to maximize your storage capacity without sacrificing efficiency or practicality.

In general, pallet racking mezzanines are a much more efficient way to utilize space for your business or company than traditional methods. Traditional storage systems require more floor space, take up as much floor space as they store, and in some cases, can even be more expensive to install. Pallet rack mezzanines provide a great way to maximize the use of your warehouse or distribution center’s storage capacity without sacrificing floor space.

For a small investment you can make a big difference in your business, and it doesn’t hurt that this type of mezzanine is a lot more efficient than the traditional platforms.

If you have any questions about the benefits of pallet rack mezzanines or getting one installed, feel free to call us or reach out through the Contact page.

What is a Warehouse Mezzanine & What Are the Benefits

What is a Warehouse Mezzanine and What Are the Benefits?

In a warehouse, floor space is at a premium with warehouses and distribution centers costing $8.84 per square foot per month on average. Optimizing your facility with additional storage space is an efficient way to cut costs and boost your warehouse’s productivity, and a simple way to increase your square footage is with a mezzanine.

But what is a warehouse mezzanine and what are the benefits it offers? This detailed guide will equip you with the necessary knowledge about the concept, covering its various types, benefits, and important factors to keep in mind during installation.

What is a Warehouse Mezzanine?

A warehouse mezzanine is a versatile, semi-permanent structure that serves as an intermediate floor within a warehouse or industrial facility. These mezzanines are specifically designed to maximize your vertical space, creating a secondary level for storage, workspaces, or other operational needs.

Functioning as an expansion solution, warehouse mezzanines are typically constructed from sturdy materials like heavy-gauge or structural steel. They are engineered to support various loads, such as heavy machinery, materials handling equipment, storage racks, or personnel.

These platforms are installed above the existing ground-level space, capitalizing on underutilized vertical areas and effectively doubling the available floor space.

Mezzanines are highly customizable, often equipped with mezzanine accessories such as conveyors, lifts, or stairs like Bluff Manufacturing Stairways and Landings for the easy movement of goods and personnel, along with safety features like guardrails to ensure workplace safety.

Types of Warehouse Mezzanines

Different types of warehouse mezzanines offer unique advantages and can be customized to suit the specific operational requirements and physical constraints of your facility. From free-standing units that provide flexibility and strength to rack-supported systems that maximize storage density, understanding these variations will help determine the best fit for enhancing your warehouse’s functionality.

Free-Standing

Free-standing mezzanines are self-sustaining structures that don’t rely on the existing building’s framework for support. These mezzanines are versatile, making them an ideal choice for warehouses with open, spacious areas.

They can be designed with wide spans between columns, maximizing usable space underneath for machinery, workstations, or traffic flow. And, if the needs of the business change, these mezzanines can be disassembled, relocated, or reconfigured, providing a future-proof solution for dynamic business needs.

Rack-Supported

Rack-supported mezzanines integrate seamlessly with your existing warehouse racking system. These mezzanines use the racks as structural support, creating an additional storage level. This type is beneficial for facilities with high-density storage requirements and for those that handle small parts or products that need to be accessed frequently.

One of the biggest benefits of rack-supported mezzanines is their cost-effectiveness. Since they use existing racking for support, there’s less need for additional materials, which can reduce the overall cost compared to free-standing structures. They are also relatively easy to install, causing minimal disruption to warehouse operations.

Building Column – Connected

Building column-connected mezzanines attach to the existing building’s columns and walls for structural support. This type is a go-to choice for warehouses with limited floor space.

Since they are anchored to the building’s structure, they are extremely stable and can handle significant weight loads. This makes them suitable for heavy-duty applications, including the storage of high-density items or accommodating heavy machinery.

Benefits of a Warehouse Mezzanine

Warehouse mezzanines offer a wide range of benefits that make them an attractive choice for businesses looking to optimize their space and enhance their operational efficiency. Some of the benefits you can expect when installing a mezzanine include:

Efficient Use of Space

By creating an additional floor level, mezzanines increase your available square footage with no costly building extensions or relocation necessary. This space-saving design allows you to maximize storage capacity while also freeing up valuable ground-level real estate for other essential operations.

For example, if your e-commerce distribution center uses a mezzanine to store bulk inventory above the packing and shipping area, this setup enables employees to access products faster. This can reduce order processing times and expedite deliveries to customers.

Cost-Effective Expansion

Traditional methods of expanding warehouse space, such as constructing new buildings or relocating to larger facilities, can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. Mezzanines offer a far more cost-effective solution.

They are fast to install and cause minimal disruption to ongoing operations. This ensures that your business can continue to meet production and storage demands without enduring significant downtime or capital outlay.

Improved Workflow and Productivity

Warehouse mezzanines help to enhance workflow and productivity by creating dedicated areas for different tasks. By using the upper mezzanine level for storage and the lower floor for order processing, packing, or assembly, you can establish a well-organized and efficient operation.

Separating activities eliminates congestion, reducing the time and effort required to locate and handle goods. For instance, a manufacturing facility can use a mezzanine as an additional workspace, allowing for simultaneous assembly or quality control processes on different levels. This division of labor streamlines operations, minimizing bottlenecks and optimizing overall productivity.

Factors to Consider When Installing a Warehouse Mezzanine

While the benefits of warehouse mezzanines are clear, several factors must be considered to ensure the successful installation and integration of a mezzanine into your warehouse operations:

Warehouse Size and Ceiling Height

The available space within your warehouse and the ceiling height are critical factors in determining whether a mezzanine is a viable option.

Ensure that there is sufficient vertical space and clear height between the top of your storage and any fire suppression systems. This ensures your warehouse can accommodate the mezzanine without creating issues related to headroom or other operational constraints.

Load-Bearing Capacity

Assessing the mezzanine’s load-bearing capacity, including live and dead loads, is crucial. Mezzanines must be engineered to safely support the weight of storage racks, equipment, and materials.

Consult with a structural engineer to determine the load capacity and ensure it aligns with your storage and operational requirements.

Planned Usage

Clearly define the purpose and intended use of the mezzanine. Will it be used for storage, office space, or as an additional workspace? Each application has specific weight and layout requirements and may need different safety features, access points, and amenities.

Regulatory Compliance and Safety

Ensure that your mezzanine installation complies with local building codes, safety regulations, and industry standards. Work with racking and shelving professionals to address factors like fire safety, load capacity, and structural integrity.

Incorporate safety features such as sturdy guardrails and safety gates to protect workers and visitors. Obtain necessary permits and approvals to meet safety and building code requirements.