Customer Name
Floor Coverings 3PL
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Product(s)
Design, Engineer, Supply and Install - Pallet rack (uprights, beams, wire decks), perforated decking, guide rail, rack netting and end of aisle guards.
Customer Description
Our customer is a one-stop floor coverings logistics provider with an extensive track record of handling a variety of floor covering products, including all types of hard surfaces, rugs, carpet and vinyl delivered via a multitude of facilities located throughout the United States.
Problem/Inquiry
As the warehousing portion of their business grew, our customer needed to incorporate racking systems into their facility in Indianapolis, Indiana in order to better serve and support their customers. They needed two systems. The first was a standard selective pallet rack system to store 40” x 48” pallets and the second was a much more involved, custom rack system that was to be used to store their customers’ carpet and vinyl flooring rolls. These systems needed to be designed and engineered to provide the customer their necessary storage space, the materials needed to be procured and shipped to the facility, they needed to be professionally installed, and they needed to adhere to all local and state permitting requirements.
The carpet rack system had some very specific, unique challenges. First, they had to accommodate the rolls of carpet and vinyl flooring which are up to 12’ in length. Second, any decking products used could not leave any imprints on the vinyl flooring, which meant that standard wire decks would not be able to be used - nor could a solid deck be used due to the third challenge. Third, since the customer leases their facilities, they did not want to invest in in-rack sprinkler systems.
Solution
For the first system, Mezzanine Distributors worked with the customer to design, engineer, supply, and install a pallet rack system that yielded 800 pallet positions. This system included 20’ high frames, 8’ beams, wire decks, and end of aisle protectors.
For the carpet rack system, a 12’ deep system was designed in order to accommodate the customer’s product. This was accomplished with a 48” deep frame, a 48” flue space, and another 48” deep frame. (5) 10’ beam levels were included. The bottom (3) included the perforated deck product mentioned below for vinyl roll storage and the top (2) included wire decks for carpet storage.
The requirement to supply a product that would not leave any marks on the customer’s products while avoiding in-rack sprinklers was a bit more difficult but Mezzanine Distributors turned to one of their long-time partners for a solution. Nashville Wire Products, a leader in the wire deck manufacturing industry, makes what they call a perforated deck. This deck is flat and sturdy enough to support the customer’s product, but also “open” enough to allow water to pass through which would alleviate the need for in-rack sprinklers. After a test was performed, this product was included in the design.
During the course of the project, it was discovered that the 48” open flue space was causing the vinyl rolls too much sag and leaving marks on the product. In a short period of time, Mezzanine Distributors worked with the customer and our local installer to design a solution. In order to support the product in this 48” open space, we tek screwed 1-½” x 1-½” angle iron to the beams and laid in another Nashville Wire perforated deck. This created a fully flat 12’ long system that meets all fire code requirements without the need for in-rack sprinklers, which saved our customer tens of thousands of dollars.
In order to ensure that the vinyl rolls and carpet were not pushed too far towards the pallet rack system during loading, rack netting was installed. 4” x 3” Guide rail was installed around the entirety of the system in order to protect it from forklift damage.
This project was professionally installed by Mezzanine Distributors and, after all inspections were passed, our customer received their Certificate of Occupancy on the day before Thanksgiving 2020.