5 Types of Automatic Prefab Warehouse Building in 2021

The shelving, cold rooms are logistics solutions. They facilitate the Prefab warehouse building and conservation of products such as food or drugs at a controlled temperature to ensure their properties.

The shelves generally come of stainless steel. Similarly, they are resistant enough to work in cold and frozen environments. In addition, they must optimize the warehouse space as much as possible with two objectives.

Next, we will analyze the most suitable storage systems for cold stores and their particularities.

Advantages of installing shelving in Prefab warehouse building

The cold logistics is a very complex process. Furthermore, its objective is to keep the products at a low temperature. The function of cold rooms is to guarantee this principle in the Prefab warehouse building phase.

Interrupting the cold chain can have serious consequences, such as:

• premature deterioration of the product
• loss of its properties
• the proliferation of bacteria and
• microorganisms harmful to human beings

However, in some cases it is not as simple as it is with some medications.

 Optimize storage space by providing the greatest possible capacity

Storing products on shelves is the best solution. It is to take full advantage of cold store locations. They allow you to optimize storage space by providing the greatest possible capacity and, at the same time, maximize the performance of the installation, as they streamline the handling of goods.

In cold rooms, storage systems with direct access are easy to install compact shelving systems. They provide a greater occupation of the surface. And, therefore, a higher Prefab warehouse building capacity is easy to build.

How to choose shelving for Prefab warehouse building

When designing a cold store, it is necessary to find the most convenient storage system. It is to:

• maximize storage capacity
• simplify merchandise access
• minimize personnel presence
• and have strict control over the stored products

However, it is not as simple a task as it sounds.

To decide which storage system to install, we must consider the following parameters:

• Quantity of goods to be stored.
• Dimensions of the cold room.
• Space required to install refrigeration generators.
• Inbound and outbound flows of goods.
• Seasonality of products.

Drainage of water and slopes in the pavement (to facilitate the drainage of water generated by condensation).

At this point, the only thing that is easy to do is to assess the advantages and disadvantages of each Prefab warehouse building system.

Non-automatic Prefab warehouse building

Many companies decide to equip their cold rooms with non-automatic storage systems. It is the simplest and most economical option in the short term. The drawback of this type of solution is that it forces operators to stay for a long time in extreme environments.

Therefore, although its initial investment cost is higher, it is preferable to opt for automatic refrigerated warehouses. The automation has important benefits. It does not require the presence of personnel. Moreover, it takes much better space and time, has a more precise control over the traceability and increases productivity.

Most common Prefab warehouse building

Next, we will analyze the most common storage systems in cold rooms and their advantages:

Palletizing shelves

In cold rooms it is possible to install any pallet Prefab warehouse building system, such as pallet racking, compact racking, dynamic racking or push-back racking. Each of them solves certain specific logistical needs.

For example, to achieve maximum storage capacity, it is important to install compact shelves. If, in addition to capacity, it is necessary to have agile operation, dynamic racks or push-back racks is easy t install, since they represent a saving in pallet extraction time and reduce forklift maneuvering time.

Very useful for products with different characteristics

On the other hand, conventional pallet racking, with direct access to the merchandise, is very useful for products with different characteristics and measures, in addition to facilitating picking.

Different Prefab warehouse building systems are easy to combine in the same cold room, mainly in medium and large installations, each of these solutions being designed for a type of product and for a specific operation.

Pallet racks in cold rooms are ideal for storing load units of variable characteristics and measurements

Prefab warehouse building on mobile bases

The movable shelves for pallets are placed on mobile bases moving laterally. It is the only compact system that offers direct access to all references because, when opening a working corridor, all deposited references are directly accessible.

This solution is particularly suitable for cold and freezing rooms thanks to the excellent distribution of the cold among a greater number of stored pallets, thus reducing the cost per pallet.

Pallet Prefab warehouse building System

These shelves also provide better air circulation during periods of downtime through the parking option, which consists of forcing a separation between all the shelves and distributing the space in the aisles in an equidistant way.

It is a compact Prefab warehouse building system that uses a trolley to carry out movements inside the shelves automatically. There are two modes:

Semi-automatic Pallet Shuttle: Operators place the load on the rails and the Pallet Shuttle moves it to its location inside a compact rack. It is mainly common in cold rooms where many pallets are managed by reference.

Automatic Pallet Shuttle

Automatic Pallet Shuttle: Stacker cranes or a shuttle are common on each level to transfer the goods to the corresponding channel. Once there, the motorized car introduces it into the storage channels. These shelves can reach 40 m in height, so they are perfect for medium and large cold rooms with a wide range of references.

Shelves on mobile bases and Pallet Shuttle are two compact systems that provide greater Prefab warehouse building capacity. The difference lies in the agility, as the Pallet Shuttle system guarantees a much faster entry and exit of the pallets.

Automated warehouses for pallets

Pallet Shuttle system in a cold room, with a car that automatically performs the movements inside the shelves

Pallet Shuttle system in a cold room, with a car that automatically performs the movements inside the shelves

These are conventional single or double depth racks where a stacker crane is responsible for carrying out the movement of the goods, from the entrances and exits of the warehouse to its location.

The automatic warehouse accommodates a greater number of products and, thanks to the speed of displacement of the stacker cranes, both horizontally and vertically, it multiplies the capacity to deposit and extract from the pallets.

Conclusion Prefab warehouse building

Obviously automatic Prefab warehouse building reduces the space to be refrigerated, which leads to great energy savings. In addition, they exercise systematic control over the stored product, ensuring a permanent inventory while meeting the most demanding turnover and traceability parameters.