Up There For Thinking
High Bay or Clad-rack Warehouse?
We see these enormous structures appearing along motorways and in central distribution locations, servicing the needs of commerce nationally, but what is special about them? Are they just bigger versions of the traditional logistics centre? Well, the answer is a definite ‘no’.
These structures are more similar to giant versions of Dr Who’s Tardis… they seem to hold a great deal more inside than you would ever have thought possible judging by the exterior. They are technological marvels!
High Bay or Clad-Rack Warehouse
These are self-supporting warehouses in which the steel framed pallet racking makes up the building’s structure which is then simply wrapped or cladded to keep out the elements and maintain the required temperature within.
The buildings may be designed for refrigerated, chilled or ambient storage of goods. The structure supports not only the palletised stored goods but also the variety of conveying, lifting and handling devices on tracks and automated systems that store and retrieve tens of thousands of pallets with previously unrivalled efficiency.
The warehouses are wrapped and roofed in metal cladding and the properties are virtually impervious to external forces such as powerful wind and heavy snowfalls.
The height of a high bay warehouse or clad-rack warehouse is only limited by local government standards and the extent of reach of the scissor-lifts, stacker cranes or forklifts in use. Heights of more than 45 meters are achievable.
The Advantage of Clad-Rack Warehouses
The advantages of these high bay warehouses include condensed vertical space usage for peak optimisation of available land providing high storage capacity and rapid automated storage and retrieval for a wide-ranging product type storage.
The types of storage available may be manual, semi-automatic or fully automated systems that optimise the efficiency and profitability of the warehouse processes through digital control and space optimisation.
- FLEXIBILITY
- ADAPTIBILITY
- SCALABILITY
They provide the capacity to adapt what we now consider to be traditional logistics to revolutionary changes arising from new technology, greatly increasing demand, higher product turnaround times and the need for efficient, automated real-time inventory control.
Storage Capacity
High Bay warehouses can increase storage capacity by up to 40% while decreasing product handling operations by up to 30% through precise, high-speed picking, rapid automated conveyors and a huge reduction of errors due to efficient and reliable Warehouse Management Systems.
This modern warehouse easily adapts to the growing needs of business or market trends, such as omnichannel marketing or e-commerce while the architecture allows for scalability and adaptability, easier extension, transformation or adaption of the building according to changing storage and retrieval requirements. It is certainly the best storage structure for future business growth.