Glossary Definitions
The following glossary definitions are just some of the acronyms and terms used in shelving, racking, lockers, mezzanine flooring and associated storage or handling products, if you at all unsure please call us as we have more years experience in these fields than we care to remember and will be only too pleased to assist you.
Active-Coat
Primarily used as a finish on products like shelving, cupboards and lockers, specifically designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as MRSA and E- Coli. The anti-bacterial coating reduces the risk of cross contamination in areas requiring high hygiene such as hospitals, medical centres and pharmaceutical industry, but equally effective in food preparation and high foot fall areas.
Add-On Bay
Refers to a bay of shelving or similar that cannot stand up on its own as it only has uprights at one end of the bay and must be fixed to a "starter" bay or to another “add-on” if in a long run of shelves.
APR
Adjustable Pallet Racking is the staple product of virtually every warehouse and commercial stores, it comprises of frames commonly 900mm to 1100mm deep with horizontal beams to form the pallet levels that are usually 2250mm to 2700mm long depending on the direction the pallet is stored. There are far too many permutations to list but if you need any please make sure you ask ESE Projects for a quotation.
Back to Back Bays
A term used to indicate that "runs of shelving" or "individual bays of shelving" are positioned one behind the other (hence back-to-back). This is a cost effective solution as usually they are bolted together with common backing sheets / braces. This also provides an aisle each side or front face to provide clear access to the shelf levels / products.
Bio-Cote
Is another antibacterial finish used on changing room benches, cupboards, lockers and shelving from ESE Direct / Projects. It contains silver-ions to inhibit the growth of bacteria much the same as Active-Coat and Germ-Guard and reduce the risk of cross contamination in hospitals, medical centres and pharmaceutical industry, food preparation and high foot fall areas.
Bolt Free Shelving / Racking
Is usually very easy to assemble as it uses clips, holes or punched pockets in the shelving uprights for the shelves to sit on / in instead of using nuts and bolts (although some systems may use bolts for bracing or feet).
Closed or Clad backs / sides
Refers to shelving / racking which has solid sheet steel (or occasionally mesh) fitted to allow smaller products to be stored "loose" without falling out the side or back of the shelves. You can also form a closed bin system by adding “bin fronts” to each storage shelf level.
C/U or "Clear Underside"
Is the distance between the floor level and the lowest obstruction of a structure, mezzanine floor or suspended ceiling. This clearance is particularly important when you are choosing industrial or office partitioning, or storage equipment as these often come in a selection of specific heights that cannot be altered. If you are specifying a mezzanine floor you need to make sure your forklift, machinery or existing equipment will fit under the clear underside.
Dividers
Are "Vertical Divisions" used within a bay of shelving to form smaller storage sections or pigeon holes. Low level office partitioning is also often referred to as a room divider.
Drive-In Racking
A high density pallet racking system which is made up of a series of single pallet wide aisles. Each drive-in location aisle has a series of rails on the left and right to locate the pallet edges on and a single static bay at the rear. This provides very dense pallet storage as systems can store 7-8-9-… pallets behind each other and 3-4-5 pallets high depending on your building height. The only downside is the need to use "Last in-First out" storage principles when retrieving the goods.
Drive-Through Racking
Another high density pallet racking design using the same principles as drive-in but the forklift is able to travel all the way through the full depth of the system, allowing you to store 10-11-12-… pallets behind each other, as they can be accessed from both sides of the racking system. Usually loaded from one side and unloaded from the other drive-through allows "First in-First out" retrieval of the pallets of goods.
ESD
"Electro Static Dissipative" products include chairs, work benches and containers / storage and handling equipment were originally designed for use in the electronics / electrical assembly industries to reduce static build up that can harm the equipment, but they can also be used anywhere where the removal / minimising of static is required. This is sometimes also referred to as SEC or Static Electricity Control.
Extension Bay
Refers to a bay of shelving or similar that "needs to be joined to another bay to stand up". It only has uprights at one end of the bay and must be fixed to a "starter" bay or to another “extension” if in a long run of shelves.
FFL or Finished Floor Level
Is commonly used to describe the height to the top surface of mezzanine floors, raised access floors, computer floors or multi-tier racking floors / systems. If your floor is to join to an existing one this measurement is critical to be taken in a number of places along the joint to ensure a smooth joint. If you are connecting to another area through a hole in a wall, it is important to drill a pilot hole to get the FFL and to mark it clearly on any drawings.
First in-First out
Is a term used in the storage of goods, the first pallet or product put into a storage system is the first one out of it, typically used to provide good stock rotation when items have a specific shelf life.
KD or Knock-Down or Kit-Form
Refers to products requiring a small amount of assembly on site if we are not installing them for you (our cloakroom benches include instructions, a quality spanner and a screwdriver so you don't even have to find the tools).
Last in-First out
Is a term used in the storage of goods, the first pallet or product put into a storage system is the last one out of it, typically used when stock rotation is not an issue, for example when items do not have a specific shelf life or the quantities moved are large enough to empty the storage bay on a frequent enough basis.
Live-Storage Racking
The racking system has the traditional frames and beams but mounted on the beams are a series of sloping rollers / small wheels, which enable the product cartons or containers (or pallets in heavy duty cases) to move to the front of the racks under their own steam each time the front one is unloaded. These racking systems are usually loaded from the rear and picked from the front and can handle anything from small cardboard boxes to pallets of product weighing tonnes.
Load Notice
A term used to describe a sign that is applied to the end of a run of shelving / racking in a warehouse or stock room to indicate the capacity of each shelf level and the total bay capacity of that particular installation to the users.
Longspan
In addition to a brand name used by one of our main manufacturers it also describes shelving or racking with 1.5m or greater distance (can be up to 3m) between each upright or end frame. Having long beams to form a shelf clad with chipboard, steel panels or mesh Longspan as the name implies enables longer, bulkier and heavier items to be stored sideways on each level.
Mezzanine Floor
Sometimes also referred to as a "raised storage platform or access platform" mezzanine floors are steel structures designed to be independent of your building fabric that enable you to make use of otherwise wasted headroom. Usually used to add offices or extra storage space, but we have created canteens, locker rooms, workshop areas, customer display areas and even a steel decked mezzanine platform for aircraft assembly and maintenance.
Mobile Shelving
Sometimes also referred to a “roller racking” mobile storage systems are available to store anything from paper archive documents, perfume samples, medical slides, xrays and library books up to pallets of products weighing tonnes. The chosen shelving is bolted onto a purpose designed system of steel bases with integrated rollers / wheels, in turn these are located in tracks either bolted to or grouted into your existing floor, to ensure the mobile shelving always runs straight and true. You can get manual hand pushed versions, mechanically assisted with hand wheels and gearing to make movement easier or even electrically powered versions.
Modular Systems
Shelving systems, security enclosures, office partitioning, industrial steel partition systems and even mezzanine floors are often referred to as “Modular” because they have a number of "standard core components" that are joined together to form a complete system with hundreds of variations / permutations available. They are also sometimes referred to as “demountable systems” because they can be taken apart and rebuilt in a different location or configuration with the minimum of disruption to the surrounding building elements, which is ideal for temporary use or in environments where the situation, need or use is likely to change.
Narrow Aisle
Is a pallet racking system whose rack faces are closer together than a "normal" system to provide optimum storage capacity (usually 1.6m to 2m depending on truck). Narrow aisle racking requires a special forklift to work in the tight aisles and steel channels or runners mounted in front of the racks to prevent the forklift getting stuck and pick from the racking system with ease. This also means you need to have a beam at ground floor level for the pallets to sit on and prevent the forks getting stuck on retrieval.
Nest of
Refers usually to a series of Lockers which are joined together at the factory to form side by side units. EG: A single locker with two doors in the height, when called a “nest of two” has four doors (two high and two wide) with a common central upright / division. This makes the lockers more stable as they are twice as wide as a single locker (or three times in the case of a nest of three) and is also makes them cheaper.
Open bay configuration
Refers to the "Backs and / or Sides" of the shelving or racking system being either fully open or only use small bracing panels to provide structural stability to the shelving layout. This often allows product to be stored or accessed through the side or rear of the bay (obviously making sure the items stored do not protrude into the aisles). It also allows maximum visibility of the product stored, is ideal for boxed items but is not very good for storage of paper files, folders etc as they can fall off if they are not rigid in construction.
Push Back Racking
Refers to a system of "bogeys, trollies, or carriages" that is bolted onto a series of pallet racking frames and beams to enable a pallet to be loaded from the front, then others also from the front which subsequently pushes the previous ones back. As you unload each pallet from each level the ones behind come forward ready for unloading when required. This system is good for maximising storage capacity in a warehouse but requires Last In First Out stocking of product.
Runs of shelving or racks
This term is used in storage systems to indicate "more than one bay long". For example a Run of Six 1m wide bays of shelving would be a nominal 6m long overall and usually contain one "starter" and five "extension" bays. Runs are very cost effective and much more stable than single bays, they can be single sided or double sided and from two bays long to dozens depending on the type / manufacture of the racks or shelves you are using.
Single Sided bays
This is used to describe shelving that does not have another bay behind it and can only be accessed from one side. Single sided bays are usually located in runs against a wall or in front of an obstruction as it is often more cost effective to have double sided or back to back bays that use common backing sheets or bracing (this does not apply so much to racking as they tend to have very few common components because they more often than not support significantly heavier loads.
Starter Bay
This is a term for a bay of shelving or similar (but can be used for many other products as well) and means "it will stand on its own". A starter bay will contain all you need for it to support itself, for example, freestanding Longspan shelving starter bay contains 2 readymade frames (one each end), beams and chipboard shelves, whereas a Longspan extension bay contains 1 readymade frame, beams and chipboard shelves, as the beams clip into the other side of the starter bay frame to form a run of two bays long.
SWL
This is an acronym for “Safe Working Load” and is used with weight carrying or lifting equipment to determine how much the item has been tested to be safe to lift or hold. There is usually a safety margin on top of this but you must never assume anything and always make sure the SWL in not exceeded.
Tier
Often refers to lockers which are joined together at the factory to form side by side units (another term widely used is "nest"). EG: A single locker with two doors in the height, when tiered together has four doors (two high and two wide). However it has also been used in the past to determine the number of doors in the height, shelves in the height of a bay and shelving systems with a second / third floor level to name a few, so is best to seek clarification if you are unsure.
Two Tier shelving
Usually refers to a shelving or racking system with a second level or even a third level that has raised walkways built into the shelving system itself that are accessed from staircases outside or integrated into the systems. The racking is specially designed to take the extra loads (often using Euro Shelving, Longspan or Pallet Racking) and supports the open grid steel or chipboard decking for the walkways.
UDL
Refers to the "capacity of an item" and is the Uniformly Distributed Load the particular item can hold without the need for extra support. It is important to note that the load must be evenly spread across the beam, shelf or item, with no point loads, as this could potentially overload and damage the product.
UDSWL
Refers to the "safe capacity of an item" and is the Uniformly Distributed Safe Working Load the particular item can hold without the need for extra support. There is normally a small margin built into this limit but the stated limit must still not be exceeded.
Just like UDL it is very important to note that the load must be evenly spread across the beam, shelf or product, as point loads could potentially overload and damage the item.
Of course there are many more technical acronyms used in the storage, handling, partitioning and our general industry, we are trying to build fuller glossary definitions, if you come across any more relevant ones please send us an email so we can add them to our list to help others.