For manufacturers of hygienic stainless steel components, a scratch on a polished tube isn't just a defect—it's a scrap report. Traditional forklift handling risks damaging the high-Ra surface finish essential for dairy and pharma applications. Our Telescopic Cantilever Rack systems eliminate this risk by enabling 100% overhead crane access, ensuring your high-purity feedstock moves from storage to the saw without a single scratch.
In the production of pharmaceutical-grade heat exchangers, valves, and pumps, the integrity of your raw material—specifically 304L and 316L stainless steel tubing—is paramount. You operate in a world governed by ASME BPE standards, where surface finish (Ra) is everything. Yet, many fabrication shops still store these high-value bundles on static racks.
The problem? To access a specific heat number or diameter located on the bottom shelf, your forklift operator has to move the top three bundles first. This "digging" process is the primary cause of:
Overhead crane accessing heavy tube bundles without forklift interference
The overhead crane accessible racking system fundamentally changes how you handle long goods. By utilizing a crank-out or electric roll-out mechanism, each storage level extends 100% into the aisle, much like a heavy-duty drawer.
This extension capability allows you to switch from forklifts to overhead cranes (bridge cranes) using nylon slings or vacuum lifters. The crane lowers the sling directly onto the specific bundle you need, lifts it vertically, and moves it to the saw. There is zero friction, zero dragging, and zero metal-to-metal contact during extraction. For high-purity tube manufacturers, this means the material stays pristine from the mill to the machine.
Companies like GHWA often manage hundreds of SKUs—varying diameters, wall thicknesses, and material grades (e.g., 1.4404 vs 1.4301). In a standard static rack, these often get mixed or buried.
Our Roll Out Cantilever racks allow for dedicated levels for each specification. Because every level is independently accessible, you maintain strict "First-In-First-Out" (FIFO) control without the hassle. You can easily locate the exact heat number required for a specific pharmaceutical client's order without disrupting the rest of your inventory.
100% extension allows for immediate visual inventory checks and crane access
While tubes are volume-heavy, solid stainless steel bar stock used for machining valve bodies and ferrules is incredibly weight-dense. Our systems are engineered to handle this load.
Electric drive systems allow operators to access heavy bar stock safely via remote control
In a sanitary manufacturing environment, square footage is premium real estate. Standard cantilever racks require massive aisles—often 12 to 15 feet wide—to allow a heavy forklift to turn with a 20-foot bundle of tubes.
By switching to a crank out cantilever rack accessed by an overhead crane, you can reduce your aisle width to nearly zero (only operator walking space is needed). This typically recovers 50% of your floor space. That’s enough room to install an additional CNC machining center or expand your welding, assembly, and testing area without expanding the building footprint.
Customizable dividers keep small diameter tubing organized and prevent rolling
Q1: Can we add protection to the rack arms to prevent carbon contamination on our stainless steel tubes?
Yes. We can outfit the cantilever arms with UHMW (ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene) liners or rubber strips. This ensures your stainless steel material never touches the carbon steel of the rack, preventing galvanic corrosion and surface contamination.
Q2: Our tubes come in 20-foot (6-meter) lengths. Can this rack support them without sagging?
Absolutely. We configure the number of rack columns based on the length and flexibility of your material. For 20-foot flexible tubes, we typically recommend a 4 or 5-column setup to ensure adequate support points and prevent bowing or permanent deformation of the tubes.
Q3: Is the electric system compatible with our existing overhead crane remote?
The electric roll-out cantilever system comes with its own independent control (often a handheld remote or a fixed panel) to extend the drawers. Your existing overhead crane is then used solely for lifting the material once the drawer is open. The two systems work in tandem but are controlled separately for safety.
Q4: How does this system improve safety compared to forklifts?
It eliminates two major hazards: forklift traffic in narrow aisles (reducing collision risks) and the instability of manually moving bundles to reach lower levels. The operator stands clear of the load while the crane handles the weight, significantly reducing the risk of crush injuries.
Q5: Can we store mixed loads, like heavy bar stock on the bottom and lighter tubes on top?
Yes, the system is modular. However, we usually recommend placing the heaviest loads (like solid bar stock) on the lower levels and lighter, more fragile loads (like thin-wall tubing) on higher levels for optimal structural stability and ease of access.
