Rack Supported Warehouses or Clad-Rack Warehouses are self-supporting structures that make the maximum use of ground space and heights. By using the racks or shelves as the support structure that holds the walls and roof of the warehouse in place, this system itself becomes the core part of the warehouse building. No matter what kind of racks and shelves you are using, be it conventional, drive-in, live, or shuttle, you can easily make use of the racks/shelves as a base to turn it into a structure that becomes the warehouse building itself.
The main reason RSWs are used is because of their ultimate space saving feature. With racks and shelves that are almost touching the ceiling of the building, there is no doubt about the space efficiency of this system. Clad Rack Warehouses are robust systems with the strength acquired from dense racking structure. The numerous upright columns of the racks distribute the weight of the actual loads among themselves. Not only that, RSWs are designed to take the force of external phenomenon like wind, heat, snowfall, rain, seismic movement etc. The height of these warehouses can be as high as 40 m or even more according to the reaching capacity of MHEs and local government regulations.
All in all, they are optimal solutions that do not let any inch of space go to waste. This makes them cost effective as well. As compared to Pre-Engineered buildings (PEB), self-supported warehouses take lesser time and money to be constructed. A wide variety of goods can be stored in these structures with both automated and conventional storage systems.
COMPONENTS OF A rack supported warehouse