Buying a shelving system for your home, warehouse, office or factory can sometimes be a challenging experience. Do you buy from a manufacturer or distributor? Do you buy imported shelving or shelving manufactured here in the UK?

Our MD Steve Swallow, has been in the industry for over 21 years, and has worked for manufacturers and distributors alike, he has worked up from the bottom rung of the ladder (sweeping the warehouse floor) to become managing director of two of the leading distributors of shelving and racking systems in southern England.

Within this brief guide Steve shares with you some of the things you might like to know to help you make an informed decision as to the company most suited to fulfil your shelving system project.

The following tips / help are designed to get you asking all the right questions of your next potential supplier, please feel free to email Steve with any questions that are still nagging away at you after you have digested the following.

1) All shelving systems are different, different in such a way that it becomes almost impossible to get a like for like specification. Two shelving systems that are both 2000mm high may have differing depths, or even shelf widths.

2) Choose a shelving system that gives you a greater degree of flexibility for your application, although it might be adjustable on a 25mm pitch the thickness of the shelf or beam may mean that shelving adjustable on a 38mm pitch would be suitable.

3) Are you looking to store heavy goods? If so consider short bays of longspan shelving. Are you looking to store light but bulky items? Then you may be able to open up the clear entry of the bays, to reduce the number of frames and beams you need.

4) Think of the heights that you can reach from the floor, there are guidelines laid down by the HSE as to the lifting height acceptable, will you need access from safety steps? Or is it easier to have lower shelving.

5) Shelf depths – there are many variations of shelf depth available. If you are storing boxes that are 400mm deep for example and you are considering a back to back rack to store a box either side, why not consider an 800mm deep rack and load it from both sides? Again saving frames and shelves.

6) Are you looking to fit it yourself? Bearing in mind your work load and your value to your company / organisation it may be cheaper to have it installed, the reputable installation team, will not only be more experienced in installing the system you have chosen, they will know the little short cuts that ensure quicker installation. With the average company employee worth to its organisation around £100 per hour, at £160 – £200 per day for a shelving installer it soon makes economic sense to call someone in to build it for you.

7) Try and choose standard sizes, if you can’t then be prepared for an extended lead time, and issues that surround any short deliveries / mistakes that means the installation is not finished on time, add to that the length of time you might have to wait for extra shelves etc to extend your system, and if you have been supplied an imported system the additional delays in getting it from their factory (which could be the other side of the world) to your site.

Should you buy imported shelving, short answer, yes! If you are looking for cheap shelving, which in most cases has not been tested or acknowledged by SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association). However for many light duty applications there are a number of very capable systems available from the Far East and Eastern Europe.

9) Do we still manufacture shelving in the UK. Yes, we have some of the world’s leading brands on the doorstep, which if they do not manufacture here, have extensive stocks of popular standard items, companies manufacturing in the UK include Link 51, Apex Linvar, Redirack. Other companies Such as Dexion Comino have simply chosen to manufacture in group factories in other parts of the world, while many other companies manufacture in mainland Europe and have sales offices here in the UK.

10) Do we have to buy from a manufacturer? No is the short answer, many of the manufacturers are big slow moving companies that follow a strict procedure, and many are only concerned with filling the factory (and rightly so) with large orders for many tonnes of steel. Distributors can and do act very quickly, which enables them to make things happen sooner for you the client. You may also need equipment from several sources, and this is where the distributors come into their own, with many of the leading distributors having contacts in most of the major manufacturers they are best placed to obtain spares and additional components more competitively.

11) Can distributors deal with big projects? Yes many of them regularly install large and very large projects for blue chip clients, and more often than not the person you see initially is the person that will run the job, with the manufacturers when an initial enquiry is discussed with the salesman, once you have given him the order you get passed through the contracts department / installation department which is where mistakes or non transference of information causes problems.

12) When you share your requirements with a supplier of shelving systems, they should ask you a number of questions, this is for no other reason than to make sure that the system that you need is the right one for you. Other suppliers may tell you about how long they have been manufacturing shelving, the thickness of the paint and so on, but quite frankly it’s irrelevant. You need to be comfortable that the system you order is the system you need, not the system the supplier needs to sell you. That is where distributors are the most suitable source, if you are looking to solve a problem. They have a myriad of options available to them.

13) The majority of shelving systems in the workplace today can be mounted on mobile bases to provide a very dense storage system so if you are limited for space, but don’t want to move premises then this could be an option worth looking into further.

14) Some shelving systems can also be installed as a multi tier storage system, or even with a mezzanine floor over the top of the shelving – Especially worth considering if you are looking to put shelving above and below a mezzanine floor.

15) Shelving can be the difference between an efficiently run company and an exceptionally run company. Cutting down on picking / retrieval time greatly enhances the productivity of you and your colleagues. As well as reducing product damage / product loss, and generally provides for a better tidier working environment.

16) Is it ok to use a “one man” band shelving supplier ? Yes defiantly, many of the leading manufacturers salesman leave and set up on their own storage equipment supply business. Beware though, many of those guys have only sales experience, and they are more than capable of taking your order but can they… Produce an accurate site survey? Organise Labour to install the project? Do they have adequate knowledge of Health & Safety matters? Can they give you the attention you deserve on your project and still look for their next order? Ask them, majority will say yes, but beware the proof is in the completed project.

17) Can I buy used / 2nd hand shelving instead of new? Yes, when looking to save money, its probably more beneficial to purchase a used shelving system that was originally manufactured in the UK than a new system that may have been manufactured 1000’s of miles away. Many of the leading make’s of shelving have in some cases been over engineered or over specified for a clients project, so you would probably get far better value for money buying used recognisable shelving than, than new imported shelving. If you supplier has several years experience in the industry they will know what the shelving is capable of supporting and certify it for you.

18) Does location matter for a supplier of shelving or storage equipment? No, most of the leading manufacturers have distributors or sales staff in many parts of the UK. And many distributors cover the UK for their major clients. Coupled with a nationwide network of installers etc a company in say Norfolk is more than capable of supplying and installing a shelving system competitively in say South Wales, North West England or even North of the Border in Scotland.

For further help and impartial friendly no obligation advice on shelving or racking systems please feel free to contact Steve Swallow for an informal chat direct on 0845 370 3750.