After carrying out an onsite survey, Teepee provided C & S Steels with a cantilever racking system, designed to store steel bar ranging from 2900 – 4000mm in length. The new system would replicate that of the existing arrangement with regards to arm length and pitch but bolted adjustable arms were used instead of a fully welded system. This allowed damaged components to be replaced at a fraction of the cost to those incurred with the old system.

Teepee also installed a bolted guide rail system which was attached to the base of the cantilever upright. This again provided a cost-effective component replacement solution, in the event of any damage.

Finally, our proposal allowed for the installation of the new cantilever racking system to be constructed in two stages. This allowed C & S Steels to clear an area for the new racks to be fitted, backfill with stock, then complete the final construction phase.

Space was a real challenge with this project and strategic thinking was required to make best use of the available area. Teepee, therefore, proposed a bespoke rail-guided cantilever racking system nom 10,000mm high, with each upright having a base plus 13-1000mm long arms in the height, capable of supporting a uniformly distributed load (UDL) of 3000Kgs per level.

To prevent the bar from rolling off at a high level, welded end stops were fitted to all arms and operating clearances increased to enable individual bundles of bar to be retrieved and stored safely.

With safety our main priority, we also proposed that this free-standing cantilever racking system incorporated detachable base and arms to enable damaged components to be easily replaced, at minimal cost.

The project also required planning ingenuity on two other fronts. The first issue was a limited floor slab load meaning that careful tolerance calculations were an important part of our solution. Secondly, due to manufacturing requirements, the client could only accommodate one transfer aisle. To overcome these issues Teepee installed steel spreader plates underneath all uprights and opted for an articulated forklift truck application. This enabled transfer aisles to be installed two thirds down the length of the racking to increase operating efficiency and reduce the number of forklifts required.

Further safety features included installing full-height mesh guarding to the end of a single entry run of racking to protect the workforce operating within the area, and end of aisle barriers and timber decking above all transfer aisles.

On completion this system allowed LSFE to store 1,008 bundles of raw materials and 5,537 euro pallet locations.

After carrying out an onsite survey, Teepee provided B&N with a cantilever racking system using a 4 – Way Steer Side-loader forklift truck. This solution enabled B&N to reduce their current aisle widths by 35% as opposed to using a conventional counterbalance forklift.

All cantilever racking was fitted with bolted adjustable arms and a detachable base to enable items to be replaced in the event of components being damaged. This removed the need to replace a complete upright on fully welded or pre-fabricated systems.

During installation, all equipment had to be installed in stages to allow B&N to make space for new cantilever racks. All racks were re-loaded by B&N operating a late evening / early morning shift so as not to affect production activities.

Once fully operational, additional storage capacity was achieved and all bundles of bar were fully accessible, enabling B&N to operate using the same number of staff.