Downtime is right time for updatirg your warehouse

A SLOWER construction mar-CLket-plus new federal tax deduction incentives-are encouraging LBM dealers and distributors to update warehouses, add more storage, and increase overall efficiency.

"Companies are using downtime to slim down and become more efficient," said Rick Hogue, Krauter Solutions, Indianapolis, In. "A welldesigned warehouse allows more work to be completed with fewer employees."

A new emphasis on remodeling contractors and d-i-yers is also encouraging dealers to organize their yards and invest in new rack systems.

"The trend is to better serve these types of customers, especially since major homebuilding is down," said Mark Ritz, president of Auto-Stak,

Westwood, N.J. "These two groups want to see and touch products before buying. They also buy in smaller lots than big homebuilders, so proper storage is very important."

Often, the first decision is to choose the right kind of racking for organizing and storing heavy and bulky items. "Depending on what you're storing in your warehouse, you may want to choose pallet racks over cantilever racks, or vice versa," said Ed Stairman, A Plus Warehouse. Lynn, Ma. "Pallet racks offer selective pallet racking, which is the best solution for warehouses where it is necessary to keep a wide variety of articles in pallets; cantilever racks are more suitable for storing long loads."

Pallet rack shelving offers capacities of up to 24,000 lbs. per upright and 6,000 lbs. per pair of beams. Structural pallet racks have upright capacity to 45,000 lbs. and beam capacity to 15,0001bs. Both kinds offer:

. direct access to all stored oallets and easy stock control

. the ability to handle one pallet without moving others

. absolute load storage flexibility, both in terms of weisht and volume

In comparison, cantilever racks are ideal for timbers, beams, profiles and pipes. This type of rack offers the ability to segregate each type of product by commodity and size, and problem-free, height-adjustment storage that keeps product offthe ground.

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