The 6 Practical Roles of Shelving in Warehouse Management: Solving Everyday Operational Pain Points

I. Practical Function 1: "Requesting Space Above"—Addressing the Core Pain Point of "Warehouses Can't Accommodate Enough"

• Real-world Scenario 1: Traditional Piling vs. Shelf Storage Comparison

• A fast-moving consumer goods company’s warehouse (1,000㎡) traditionally stacks cardboard boxes up to 3 layers high on the floor, accommodating around 5,000 boxes. After switching to a 4-tier medium-duty pallet racking system, storage capacity increased to 18,000 boxes—equivalent to storing an additional 13,000 boxes without expanding the warehouse. This setup also helps the company save approximately 200,000 yuan annually in leased warehouse costs, calculated at 200 yuan/㎡/month in first-tier cities.
• Real-world Scenario 2: Irregular Space Utilization

• Warehouse corners and gaps between pillars are often left unused (for example, with pillar spacing of 2.5 meters, traditional stacking methods can’t fully utilize the space). However, by installing "custom corner shelving" or "narrow-aisle racking," these "dead corners" can be transformed into valuable storage areas. As a result, one furniture warehouse was able to store an additional 300 sets of tables and chairs, increasing its space utilization rate from 70% to 92%.

Automated warehouses are typically tall, allowing for upward expansion to maximize storage space.

II. Practical Function 2: "Fixed Storage Locations," addressing the efficiency issue of "searching for goods feeling like 'treasure hunting'"

• Practical Application: How to Use Location Codes?

• The "Zone - Column - Level - Position" of the shelf corresponds to a unique code (e.g., "Zone B, Column 02, Level 03, Position 01"). When goods are received into the warehouse, their codes are scanned and linked. The WMS system then实时 records "which product is stored in which location, and how much remains."
  • When picking items: Pickers head directly to the corresponding shelves based on the system-displayed locations, reducing the time spent locating goods from 10 minutes to just 1-2 minutes.
  • During inventory checks: Verify items one by one according to storage location order, working in tandem with a barcode scanner—scanning and clearing each item as you go. This approach boosts inventory efficiency by 60%, while reducing the error rate from 0.8% down to just 0.1% (based on data from a certain e-commerce warehouse).
• Special Requirement: Enforce "First-In, First-Out"

• Food, pharmaceuticals, and other perishable goods are most vulnerable to the issue of "first-in, last-out," where items stored earlier end up buried at the bottom of the inventory—and by the time they’re due for removal, they’ve already expired. By using "flow-style shelving" (where products slide smoothly from the inbound end toward the outbound end, accessible only from the latter), businesses can automatically ensure a "first-in, first-out" system. After implementing this solution in a bread warehouse, the company saw its loss rate for near-expiry products drop dramatically—from 12% down to just 3%.

III. Practical Application 3: "Human-Machine Collaboration," addressing the operational challenges of "heavy lifting and low efficiency."

• Adapting to humans: Reducing bending and climbing high.

• Small items picked manually—such as 3C accessories and stationery—are stored on "medium-height shelving units, standing 2 to 3 meters tall," allowing pickers to reach all levels from the ground without needing a ladder. The shelf panels are designed with a depth of 50–60 cm, perfectly accommodating two cardboard boxes at once, eliminating the hassle of "reaching too far to grab items at the back." As a result, daily order-picking capacity has increased from 80 items to 150.
• Forklift-compatible: Quickly Lift and Pick Up Pallets

• For palletized goods such as auto parts and home appliances, "beam-type racking systems" are used, allowing forklifts to directly lift the pallets (eliminating the need for manual handling). Additionally, the shelf height is adjustable—for instance, it can be set to 1.2 meters per level according to the pallet height—so forklift operators no longer need to frequently adjust the lifting height. As a result, storage and retrieval time is reduced from 5 minutes per pallet to just 1.5 minutes per pallet.
• Adapting to Automated Equipment: AGV Automatic Docking

• Nowadays, many warehouses use AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) to move material boxes. Shelves need to be designed with a dedicated "AGV passage" (80–100 cm wide)—for example, by leaving the bottom of "material box shelves" empty. This allows undercarriage AGVs to crawl underneath and automatically lift the boxes for transport, eliminating the need for manual assistance. As a result, daily handling capacity has increased dramatically—from 200 boxes per day to as many as 800 boxes.

IV. Practical Function 4: "Layered Protection of Goods," addressing the issue of losses caused by "crushing, moisture damage, and breakage."

• Avoid compression: Independently supported design

• Heavy-duty racking systems (single-pallet capacity: 1–5 tons) feature independent load-bearing capacity on each level. For example, when stacking car engines weighing up to 3 tons, only one pallet is placed on each level, ensuring the lower layers remain undamaged. After implementing this system in a furniture warehouse, the deformation rate of sofa frames dropped significantly—from 15% down to just 2%. As a result, the warehouse has seen an annual reduction in loss costs of approximately 100,000 yuan.
• Avoid moisture: Elevated, floor-free design

• All shelves have a base that is 10–15 cm above the ground (for example, medium-sized shelves come with 10-cm-high feet), preventing goods from directly touching the floor. During the rainy season, this reduces the moisture exposure of products from 8% to just 0.5%, making it especially ideal for food items and goods packaged in paper materials.
• Special Protection: Designed for Hazardous Goods / Precision Items

• For hazardous materials in chemical warehouses (such as alcohol and paint), use "explosion-proof shelving" (made from antistatic materials to prevent static electricity from causing ignition). For precision chips in electronics factories, opt for "shock-absorbing shelving" (equipped with vibration-damping pads to minimize damage caused by vibrations during handling)—addressing the unique challenges of protecting specialized goods.

V. Practical Function 5: "Ensuring Operational Safety," addressing the risk of accidents such as "shelving collapses" and "forklift collisions."

• Collapse Prevention: Load-Bearing Compliance + Ground Fixation

• The upright posts and crossbeams of standard shelving units are all designed with load-bearing calculations in mind— for instance, the posts of heavy-duty racks are at least 2.0 mm thick—and are securely anchored to the floor using expansion bolts (to prevent the shelves from tipping over). In one logistics warehouse, heavy-duty racks capable of supporting up to 5 tons were fully loaded with goods, yet showed no signs of deformation, effectively eliminating any risk of "shelf collapse."
• Collision Prevention: Equipped with Protective Accessories

• The shelf uprights are prone to forklift collisions, but installing "upright protectors" (made of rubber to absorb impact force) can reduce collision damage by up to 80%. Additionally, equipping the corner areas of shelf aisles with "anti-collision guardrails" prevents forklifts from directly hitting the shelves, ensuring the safety of both personnel and merchandise.

6. Practical Function 6: "Supporting Automation/Digitalization," addressing the challenge of "difficult implementation of smart warehousing."

• The "Carrier" of Automation Equipment

• The "high-rise racking" systems (10–40 meters high) in automated stereoscopic warehouses must be equipped with "stacker crane guide rails" and "sensor mounting locations," enabling the stacker cranes to precisely store and retrieve goods according to instructions from the WCS system. At one e-commerce company, a stereoscopic warehouse featuring high-rise racking combined with stacker cranes processes 200,000 orders daily—four times the capacity of a traditional warehouse.
• The "Data Anchor" of Digital Systems

• The core data of a WMS system (Warehouse Management System) is "shelf location information"—without shelf location codes, the system cannot track inventory or assign picking tasks. For instance, at an automotive factory, the WMS system uses shelf location codes to automatically trigger replenishment alerts when production materials are running low, preventing line stoppages. At the heart of it all lies the efficient management of shelves.

Choosing the Right Shelving for Different Scenarios: Selection Guidelines for Practical Applications

Shelving is a crucial step in transforming warehouse operations from chaos to order.