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Benefits of Wire Decking

August 26, 2016

 

When designing your pallet rack system there are many things to consider before making a decision 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 addition 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 quickly and efficiently. This benefits the building, the pallet rack itself, your products, and your employees’ safety.

Visibility
This does also play into safety, but the ability to see through the wire decks can help you identify products and pallets as well. Makes inventory processes easier as well.

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 very quickly. You will save time and labor after you have installed your pallet rack system with wire decks for your warehouse.

Lighting
The wire deck’s design allows for light to pass through the levels in the pallet rack system.
This will brighten up your warehouse and eliminate a possible need for more lighting after your pallet rack is installed.

Cleanliness
Again, the wire deck design is an advantage. In warehouses, as I am sure you know, dirt and dust is everywhere, and accumulates rapidly. Cleaning off solid shelves in a warehouse would be a nightmare, especially in tall system. The wire decks allow dust and dirt to pass through and fall to the floor, which makes cleaning and maintenance much more manageable.

Installation
Wire decks are simply dropped into your pallet rack system, regardless of style, step wire decking, flared wire decking and inside flush wire decking. In contrast to pallet supports, which need to be bolted to your beams, the wire decks require little effort to install.

Flexibility
The final benefit of wire decks is the flexibility, you do not necessarily need your product to be palletized to utilize pallet rack, you can store almost anything on the wire decks.
This versatility can benefit your warehouse and business by saving time, money, and labor.