When creating a storage area for your business, you must consider the following questions:
- What will I be storing?
- Where will I be storing it?
- Is this storage going to be moved, or is it permanent?
What will I be storing?
The first and most important question to ask, this will decide what kind of shelving options you have available. If you will be storing light objects, then virtually any shelving choice is a viable option. The heavier the object, the more limited your shelving options become. The range of weight represents different sizes of shelving (the longer the shelf, the less weight it can hold).
*Solid Metal Shelving – maximum weight capacity of 600 – 800 lbs (272 – 363 kg)
*Wire Metal Shelving – maximum weight capacity of 600 – 800 lbs lbs (272 – 363 kg)
Plastic CamShelving – maximum weight capacity of 600 – 1,000 lbs (181.82 – 454.55 kg)
Dunnage Racks – maximum weight capacity of 1,200 – 3,000 lbs (545.46 – 1,363.64 kg)
A Note About Castors: Any shelving unit that uses castors will have a total weight limit that is far lower than the individual shelf tolerance totals. For plastic CamShelving, that weight limit is 750lbs. For Wire shelving, that weight limit is 300lbs.
*Total load should not exceed 2400 lbs (1089 kg)
An additional concern comes into play if you are storing food products or other messy items, or if the shelves will need to be cleaned frequently. This ties into the next question:
Where will I put the storage?
There are 4 possible options, excluding dunnage racks (as they are a separate type of storage), to choose from. Solid or vented (also referred to as “wire”) metal shelving, and solid or vented plastic shelving. The benefits for each are listed below.
Solid Metal Shelving
- Easiest to clean
- Most aesthetically pleasing
- Ideally suited for use inside a kitchen, or in spill zones
- Heaviest and usually most expensive
- Spills and messes are contained
Vented (Wire) Metal Shelving
- Lightweight
- Most affordable
- Easy to put together
- Can be ordered with microbial agents to kill and prevent bacteria growth
- Over long periods of time, can rust, or epoxy coat can fade
- Difficult to clean; spills can contaminate multiple shelves
Vented Plastic Shelving
- Easy and quick to clean
- Steel core provides strength
- Shelves are dish washer safe
- Guaranteed rust-free technology
- Embedded silver-ion technology that inhibits the growth of mold, fungus, and bacteria that never scrapes off, washes off, or wears out
- Can add dunnage stand to increase load bearing capacity of bottom shelves to 1,000 lbs.
- 4″ increments of adjustment even when the shelf has been put in place
- Highest total weight capacity for shelving units
Solid Plastic Shelving
Plastic shelving doesn’t come in solid shelving, as the metal does. Instead, shelf plates are sold that are solid and can be fit over the individual shelves. These allow users to enjoy all the benefits of the vented plastic shelving while using solid shelves.
Dunnage Racks
- Racks themselves are usually small and light, and can be set up in sequence to form chains or conform to an area
- Dunnage racks by far support the most amount of weight, and are ideal to set up staging areas
- Ideally suited to keep heaviest items 12″ off the ground, and is safe to -36 degrees
Will My Storage be Mobile or Stationary?
Stationary Storage
Stationary storage can be any of the above. The advantage is that the units as a whole can support roughly 3 to 4 times the weight that a mobile cart can support. Additionally, there are various ways to customize stationary storage via locks, wine racks, and others, to provide extensive options for whatever use you could think of.
Mobile Storage
Mobile storage is a great way to make use of areas used during one shift, and unused during another. Additionally, mobile shelving units can be used to quickly bring supplies to all areas of your business.
All Information is the written property of Harris Restaurant Supply, Inc. and may not be used without the expressed, written consent of Harris Restaurant Supply, Inc.
