Whether your operation requires a handful of shelving units for backroom storage or you have a warehouse full of inventory to organize, you’ll find that there are many shelving options to consider. In many cases, boltless shelving proves ideal, as it is easy to assemble, disassemble, and customize to suit your needs.
Before you start buying and installing your boltless shelving, however, there are a few features you need to consider ensuring you get the greatest possible value from this storage solution. When it comes to boltless shelving, it’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition, so here’s what you need to know when choosing customized options.
Selecting the Right Decking
As you probably know, boltless shelving units generally include a solid steel framework suitable for heavy-duty storage needs, paired with a boltless system with studded beams that notch into posts for easy assembly with little more than a mallet to tap shelving frames securely into place. However, you can also select from different types of decking, or shelves, that fit into the framework to hold your inventory or supplies.
There are three main types of decking: particleboard, laminated board and wire. For many items, sturdy particleboard shelving is perfectly acceptable. Laminated board is easier to wipe clean compared with particle board and items can slide more easily on it. If you’re storing items that require air circulation to avoid issues like mold, or you have a lot of dust circulating in your environment and you want to prevent settling on shelves, wire frame shelving may better suit you needs.
When to Use Partitions
Normally, one of the advantages of boltless shelving is that it is open on all sides, allowing easy access to stored items. However, you can find units with grooves in the posts that allow for the addition of fiberboard to the back and sides to enclose and separate shelving units. This is a useful feature if you’re worried about inventory rolling, falling, or sliding out the back or sides of shelves to fall on the ground or end up in adjacent shelving units.
Mobile vs. Stationary Shelves
With the addition of casters on the bottom of your boltless shelving unit, it’s easy to make your inventory mobile. This could be ideal if you frequently reorganize your storage, you rotate inventory on and off the retail floor, or you have a lot of inventory in a small storage space.
Mobile boltless shelving provides all the ease and convenience of stationary boltless shelving. The assembly is simple, and it provides a large weight capacity.
Number of Shelves
With a boltless shelving unit consisting of evenly spaced notches along the posts, you could add anywhere from just a couple of shelves to several, depending on the size and volume of your inventory or supplies. For the purposes of stability, you’ll need at least two shelves, and three evenly spaced shelves is probably preferable. From there you can really add as many as will fit, if you want, although your best bet is to measure your inventory or storage bins to determine optimal spacing for maximum storage potential.