Client Background
Our client is a leading cold chain logistics enterprise in East China, specializing in the storage, processing, and distribution of frozen food, dairy products, and fresh produce. With a rapidly expanding business scale, the company’s original warehouse faced severe challenges: low space utilization (less than 40%), scattered inventory storage, high energy consumption in cold storage, and inability to meet the growing demand for high-volume, homogeneous goods storage. The client urgently needed a high-density storage solution to optimize warehouse space, improve operational efficiency, and reduce long-term operation costs. After in-depth market research and technical comparison, the client finally chose our customized drive-in racking system as the core solution for warehouse upgrading.
Project Overview
Basic Information
- Project Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
- Warehouse Type: Low-temperature cold storage (constant temperature -18°C)
- Warehouse Area: 8,000 square meters
- Racking Type: Heavy-duty galvanized drive-in racking (food-grade anti-corrosion treatment)
- Racking Specifications: 6 layers high (total height 12 meters), 8 pallets deep per lane, 24 storage lanes in total
- Pallet Parameters: Standard 1200mm×1000mm plastic pallets, single pallet load capacity 1.5 tons
- Total Storage Capacity: 11,520 pallet positions (3.6 times the original storage capacity)
Core Project Goals
- Maximize warehouse space utilization, increase storage capacity by more than 200%.
- Adapt to the low-temperature and high-humidity environment of cold storage, ensuring the long-term stability and anti-corrosion performance of the racking.
- Simplify inventory management, realize "first-in, last-out" batch storage for homogeneous goods, and improve the efficiency of forklift access operations.
- Reduce the loss of cold air in the warehouse, lower energy consumption for refrigeration, and achieve cost-saving and emission-reduction goals.
- Ensure the safety and compliance of the racking system, meeting national heavy-duty racking safety standards and cold storage industry specifications.
Key Challenges & Pre-Installation Preparation
Main Challenges
- Harsh Environment Adaptability: The cold storage operates at -18°C with high humidity, which requires the racking to have excellent anti-corrosion, anti-rust, and low-temperature resistance capabilities; ordinary carbon steel racking is prone to rust and deformation in this environment.
- High-Density Structural Stability: The racking is 12 meters high and 8 pallets deep, which puts forward high requirements for the structural stability, load-bearing capacity, and seismic performance of the racking; any structural defect may lead to safety hazards such as racking collapse.
- Precision Installation Requirements: The installation accuracy of drive-in racking is extremely high. The verticality deviation of columns, the levelness deviation of support rails, and the alignment deviation of guide rails directly affect the safety of forklift entry and the stability of pallet storage.
- Construction Period Constraints: The client’s business cannot be interrupted for a long time, and the installation and debugging must be completed within 25 days to ensure the normal operation of the cold storage during the peak sales season.
Pre-Installation Preparation Work
- On-Site Survey & Customized Design: Our engineering team conducted a 3-day detailed on-site survey, including warehouse floor flatness, bearing capacity, wall structure, ceiling height, and the position of refrigeration equipment. Combined with the client’s pallet size, load weight, and inventory characteristics, we used 3D modeling software to design a personalized drive-in racking scheme. The scheme optimizes the lane spacing and support rail structure, and adopts a reinforced brace design to enhance the longitudinal rigidity and seismic performance of the racking, fully adapting to the low-temperature environment and high-density storage needs.
- Material Selection & Quality Control: In terms of material selection, we use high-quality Q235B carbon steel as the main material of the racking, with the surface treated by hot-dip galvanizing (galvanized layer thickness ≥ 85μm), which has excellent anti-corrosion and anti-rust performance and can adapt to the long-term low-temperature and high-humidity environment. All materials are strictly tested for tensile strength, yield strength, and impact toughness before leaving the factory, and the welding parts are inspected by non-destructive testing to ensure that each component meets national standards and project quality requirements.
- Installation Plan Formulation & Safety Training: We formulated a detailed phased installation plan, dividing the project into four stages: foundation treatment, component installation, guide rail debugging, and system acceptance, with clear tasks and time nodes for each stage. Before construction, we conducted 2 rounds of safety and technical training for all installation personnel, focusing on the installation specifications of high-altitude operations, the use of professional tools, and the anti-freezing and anti-slip measures in low-temperature environments, ensuring that each installer is familiar with the operation process and safety precautions.
- Auxiliary Equipment & Site Layout: We prepared professional installation equipment suitable for low-temperature environments, such as electric hoists, high-altitude operation platforms, and laser levelers, and carried out anti-freezing treatment for the equipment. At the same time, we rationally planned the on-site material stacking area, installation operation area, and forklift passage to avoid interference between different operations and ensure the smooth progress of the installation work.
Detailed Installation Process & Key Technical Points
Stage 1: Foundation Treatment & Column Base Installation (Days 1-5)
The flatness and bearing capacity of the warehouse floor are the foundation for the stable operation of the drive-in racking. First, the construction team used a laser leveler to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the warehouse floor, and polished and leveled the uneven areas to ensure that the floor flatness deviation is controlled within ±3mm/m. Then, according to the design drawing, the anchor bolt positions are accurately marked on the floor, and the foundation holes are drilled with a professional drilling rig. After cleaning the dust and debris in the holes, high-strength non-shrinkage grout is poured, and the column bases are placed and fixed. During the installation of the base, the verticality of the base is strictly controlled with a level, and the horizontal deviation of all bases in the same row is guaranteed to be less than 5mm, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent installation of columns and beams.
Stage 2: Column & Main Frame Installation (Days 6-15)
This stage is the core link of the entire installation project, which directly determines the structural stability and safety of the racking. First, the pre-galvanized columns are hoisted to the corresponding bases by an electric hoist, and the columns are connected and fixed with the bases through high-strength bolts. During the hoisting process, professional constructors hold the columns to avoid collision with the warehouse wall or other equipment. After the columns are installed, the verticality of each column is checked with a theodolite, and the verticality deviation is adjusted to be less than 10mm/12m by tightening or loosening the fixing bolts.
Next, the main beams and diagonal braces are installed between the columns. The main beams are connected with the columns through high-strength bolts, and the diagonal braces are installed in a triangular distribution to enhance the longitudinal and lateral stability of the racking frame. After the installation of the main frame, the overall dimension of the frame is measured, and the spacing deviation between adjacent columns is controlled within ±5mm to ensure the accurate installation of the subsequent support rails and guide rails. In the low-temperature environment of -18°C, the construction team took anti-slip measures such as wearing anti-slip gloves and shoes, and shortened the continuous operation time to avoid safety accidents caused by low-temperature frostbite.
Stage 3: Support Rail & Floor Guide Rail Installation (Days 16-22)
The support rail is the key component for supporting pallets, and its installation accuracy directly affects the stability of pallet storage and the safety of forklift access. The support rail adopts a triangular galvanized steel structure, which is installed on both sides of each layer of the racking lane. During installation, the levelness of the support rail is adjusted with a laser leveler, and the levelness deviation of the same layer of support rail is controlled within ±3mm. At the same time, the distance between the support rails on both sides is strictly controlled according to the pallet width to ensure that the pallets can be accurately placed on the support rails without shaking or tilting.
The floor guide rail is installed at the bottom of each storage lane, which plays a guiding role for the forklift to enter and exit the lane, preventing the forklift from colliding with the racking and causing damage. The guide rail is made of high-strength galvanized steel, which is fixed on the warehouse floor with expansion bolts. During installation, the straightness of the guide rail is adjusted with a laser theodolite, and the deviation is controlled within ±5mm/10m. At the end of the guide rail, a centering device is installed to assist the forklift in accurately entering the storage lane. After the installation of the support rail and guide rail, the construction team conducted a trial run with a forklift to simulate the process of pallet entry and exit, and adjusted the positions of the support rail and guide rail in time according to the trial run situation to ensure the smoothness and safety of the access operation.
Stage 4: Overall Debugging & Safety Inspection (Days 23-25)
After the installation of all components is completed, the engineering team carried out a comprehensive overall debugging and safety inspection of the drive-in racking system. First, the structural stability of the racking is inspected, including checking whether all bolts are tightened, whether the welding parts are firm, and whether the columns, beams, and braces are deformed or damaged. Then, the load-bearing test is carried out: standard pallets with a load of 1.5 tons are placed on each layer of the support rails, and the deformation of the support rails and the settlement of the columns are observed after 24 hours of loading. The test results show that the deformation of all support rails is less than 2mm, and the column settlement is less than 1mm, which meets the design load-bearing requirements.
At the same time, the anti-corrosion performance of the racking is inspected, focusing on checking whether the galvanized layer is damaged or rusted at the welding parts and bolt connections. Finally, the safety accessories such as safety warning signs, anti-collision guards, and column protectors are installed to further enhance the safety of the racking system. After all inspections are qualified, we jointly conduct a handover acceptance with the client’s technical and management personnel, and explain to the client the daily operation specifications, maintenance points, and safety precautions of the racking system, ensuring that the client can use and maintain the system correctly.
Installation Results & Project Benefits
Installation Results
After 25 days of intense and orderly construction, the drive-in racking system was successfully installed and debugged, and passed the joint acceptance of both parties. The system operates stably in the low-temperature environment of -18°C, with all technical indicators meeting the design requirements and national industry standards. The actual storage capacity reaches 11,520 pallet positions, 3.6 times that of the original warehouse, fully meeting the client’s demand for high-density storage. The racking has a neat and beautiful appearance, with no obvious deformation or rust after 6 months of operation, and the anti-corrosion and stability performance are excellent.
Core Benefits for the Client
- Space Utilization & Storage Capacity: The drive-in racking cancels the traditional forklift access aisle, and the storage lanes are closely arranged, increasing the warehouse space utilization from less than 40% to more than 85%, and the storage capacity is increased by 260%. The client does not need to expand the warehouse area, saving more than 8 million yuan in real estate investment and construction costs.
- Operational Efficiency & Inventory Management: The system realizes batch storage of homogeneous goods, and the forklift can directly drive into the storage lane for loading and unloading, which reduces the time of inventory access by more than 50% and significantly improves the efficiency of warehouse operations. The "first-in, last-out" sto
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