A big decision that often needs to be made when determining the right kind of pallet racking to use for a business is weighing up selectivity and storage density. With a lot of pallet racking, you can have easy access to all the pallets in the warehouse, but that comes at the cost of having more aisle space for pallet access. On the other hand, pallets can be stored multi-deep, eliminating the need for as many aisles, but this reduces selectivity because pallets become blocked in. For some products being stored in a warehouse, this trade off isn’t a problem. A warehouse that has only a couple pallets of each SKU needs the high selectivity, so they’re not concerned about density. A warehouse that has many pallets of the same SKU will be concerned about density, but won’t mind blocking in pallets of the same SKU.

There are situations, however, where both selectivity and density is needed. Warehouse space is expensive, so maximising the amount of pallets stored in a warehouse is desirable; increasing density without cutting back on selectivity can be great for a lot of businesses.

This is where narrow aisle pallet racking comes in.

Narrow aisle pallet racking is exactly what it sounds like. Narrow aisle pallet racking is made up of selective pallet racking, but with the rows closer together, making the aisles between those rows narrower. This means that less space in the warehouse is used for rows, freeing up that space to be used for racking. Aisle space between rows of racking is reduced by almost half, meaning that almost twice as much racking can fit into the same space, but pallets aren’t blocked in by pallets in front of them like with double deep pallet racking.

In this way, selective pallet racking allows for better pallet storage density while still being able to access every pallet in the warehouse easily.

Why Not Always Use Narrow Aisles In Warehouses?

The main drawback of narrow aisle pallet racking is that it requires specialised materials handling equipment to access pallets. Specialised forklifts, like turret trucks, are designed to fit in narrow aisles and be able to pick up pallets.

While this specialised MHE is, of course, easy enough to purchase for a warehouse, it’s just another type of equipment that needs to be purchased for a warehouse. Going further, forklifts are generally able to lift more weight because they are designed to be counterbalanced. Turret trucks and reach trucks don’t have this same kind of counterbalanced so can’t lift the same amount of weight safely.

Because the type of equipment needed to be used in narrow aisle pallet racking is limited by the weight it can lift, the types and amount of goods that can be stored on narrow aisle pallet racking is also limited.

However, for lighter goods, narrow aisle pallet racking can be a very good option because selectivity is maintained while increasing storage density.

Narrow Aisle Pallet Racking Is Also Customisable

Since narrow aisle pallet racking is essentially selective pallet racking spaced closer together, it is just as customisable as selective pallet racking. This means that the same simplicity of design that allows for things like modified bay height can created in narrow aisle pallet racking.

This makes narrow aisle pallet racking a good and versatile option for a lot of warehouse storage applications.

Find Out If Narrow Aisle Pallet Racking Is Right For Your Business

Narrow aisle pallet racking can be a good option for a lot of businesses, but it’s not perfect for any situation. Determining the right storage solution for a business relies on a lot of factors like what’s being stored, stock rotation, and the space available. We’re always happy to provide advice on the best storage solution. If you need that advice, feel free to get in touch.