When business is booming, one of the few downsides is the growing decline of available space in your warehouse storage solutions in Australia. The thought of slowing down, taking less orders, or spending more money to accommodate rising demands can be an off-putting notion, as it could potentially jeopardise the profits you have worked so hard to accumulate. Unfortunately, what many businesses do to overcome this issues is overload their pallet racking systems. It can start as a mere short-term practise, just until the rush slows down, but it can quickly bleed into everyday routines throughout the year, the disastrous affects only becoming apparent once it is too late.

Here are some of the dangers that come with overloading your pallet racking systems.

Risk to Your Inventory

When you logically consider what is occurring whilst inventory is being overloaded upon pallet racking systems, it is easy to see how easily they can become damaged or destroyed. The most obvious scenario is that the pallet racking system will bear a load that exceeds its capacity, causing it to crumble and potentially send all that it was holding cascading onto a hard floor. It is also very possible for densely packed goods to incur water damage or mould, depending on the type of stock, and the conditions with which it is stored. This inevitably creates difficulties in the future, with the task of replacing and removing unfit stock, as well as the original need for new storage systems in which to amass excessive inventory. Always better to act pre-emptively and take care of this last step, first.

Risk to Your Plant and Equipment

In a busy warehouse, it is not uncommon to find various machines at play around pallet racking systems. The strain placed on overloaded pallet racking systems can be transferred to that of your plant and equipment. Forklifts will buckle under the excessive weight of what they are being forced to carry, pushing them to work far harder than necessary. The warehouse itself may even incur damage, as tumbling racking systems and machinery will not come to the ground softly. An account for human error must also be considered, as it can only be expected that when your staff must deal with tasks far beyond what is required in their role (i.e. dealing with overload racking systems), they are liable to drop stock, misuse machinery, and cost the company more than they are saving.

Risk to Your Staff’s Safety

Speaking of your employees, it is important to remember the risk overloaded racking systems pose to them. Our minds always jump to the risk placed on our property or operations, but the people working for us are constantly in close proximity to bulky, ever-weakening equipment, or tasked with transporting unsafe loads on pallets. You only have to leave it up to your imaginations to envision the injuries that could befall them, and no amount of cost-saving is worth that.

Looking to upgrade your long span shelving in Melbourne? Get in touch with the pallet racking experts in Melbourne.