Stop sacrificing your bottom layer to compression damage. In high-volume feed and flour operations, floor stacking kills your product quality and creates safety hazards. Our portable racking systems turn your "dead floor space" into high-density, air-circulated vertical storage without the permanence of bolted shelving.
For decades, the standard procedure in flour milling and animal feed production—from General Milling Corporation facilities to local mixers—has been simple: palletize the sacks, wrap them, and block stack them on the warehouse floor. It seems efficient until you calculate the Yield Loss.
When you stack palletized Layer Mash or Soft Wheat Flour three loads high, the bottom pallet bears thousands of pounds of pressure. The result? Hardened sacks (compaction), burst packaging, and compromised product integrity. Furthermore, in the humid climate of the Philippines or similar tropical environments, lack of airflow between tight stacks invites mold and moisture wicking from the concrete floor.
This is where Portable warehouse racking (often called post pallets or stillages) changes the logistics equation. It is not just storage; it is a structural shield for your inventory.
Figure 1: High-density vertical storage of wrapped goods. The steel frame bears the load, ensuring zero pressure on the sacks below.
In the feed industry, shelf life is critical. Chick Starter feeds and vitamin premixes degrade if not rotated correctly. Traditional block stacking creates a LIFO (Last In, First Out) trap—you keep picking from the top and adding to the top, while the bottom pallets age and compress.
By implementing portable stack racks, you convert your floor storage into a dynamic system. Each rack is an independent unit. The steel columns support the weight of the racks above, meaning you can stack 4 to 5 units high (20+ feet) without a single ounce of weight touching the product on the lower tiers. This allows you to access older stock easily by simply moving the top racks with a forklift, ensuring strict FIFO protocols are followed without manual restacking.
Food safety auditors hate wood pallets. Wood absorbs moisture, splinters can contaminate open mix, and the crevices are breeding grounds for weevils and rodents. Fixed racking is also difficult to clean under.
Our steel pallet stillages are designed for the rigorous hygiene standards of food production. With options for hot-dip galvanization, they resist rust even in wash-down environments or high-humidity cold storage. The open base design, often featuring wire mesh or steel slats, ensures maximum airflow around the sacks, keeping flour dry and reducing the risk of caking.
Figure 2: The open mesh base allows for airflow and easy cleaning, critical for preventing mold in flour and feed storage.
Inventory levels in milling are rarely static. During harvest seasons, your facility might be bursting with raw material; in off-seasons, you have empty aisles. Bolt-down shelving is a liability here—it occupies space whether it's full or empty.
Portable warehouse racking offers the ultimate flexibility. When your warehouse is full, you stack them to the ceiling. When inventory dips, or you need that floor space for cross-docking or machinery maintenance, you simply dismantle the posts and nest the bases. A stack of 10 empty racks takes up the space of one full pallet. This "accordion effect" allows your warehouse capacity to breathe with your production cycles.
Figure 3: Reverse logistics and storage efficiency. Empty racks nest tightly, reclaiming 80% of your floor space during low-inventory periods.
Modern feed mills produce a vast array of SKUs: Hog Grower, Finisher, Broiler Feeds, Aqua Feeds, and specialized Premixes. Segregating these in a floor-stacking scenario is a nightmare often leading to "honeycombing" (empty pockets of space you can't use).
With portable stack racks, you can create temporary, dedicated rows for specific SKUs. If the production schedule shifts from Poultry to Swine feed next week, your racking layout can shift with it in a matter of hours, not days. There is no bolting, no permits, and no contractors required.
Figure 4: Full forklift compatibility. Move entire rack units without re-palletizing, speeding up truck loading and unloading operations.
Moving from wood pallets and floor stacking to steel portable racks is an investment in product yield and safety. By preventing bag compression damage, ensuring hygiene compliance, and optimizing vertical space, these systems pay for themselves by reducing product write-offs and eliminating the need for off-site overflow storage.
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Q1: Can these racks hold heavy Bulk Bags (FIBC) or just 25kg sacks? Absolutely. Our heavy-duty stack racks are engineered to handle loads exceeding 1,500kg (3,300 lbs) per rack. They are ideal for storing 1-ton Super Sacks of grain or additives, providing stability that simple floor stacking cannot offer. |
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Q2: How do these racks help with rodent control in our flour mill? Unlike wood pallets, steel offers no nesting material for rodents. Furthermore, the racks elevate the first layer of goods off the ground, creating a clear line of sight for inspection and cleaning, which is a requirement for many GMP and HACCP audits. |
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Q3: We use standard 1200x1000mm wooden pallets. Do we need to get rid of them? No. Our portable racks are designed to act as a "pallet holder." You can forklift your existing wooden or plastic loaded pallets directly onto the steel base. This immediately adds vertical stacking capability to your existing inventory without repacking. |
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Q4: Will the steel racks rust in our high-humidity mixing area? For high-humidity or wash-down areas, we recommend our Hot-Dip Galvanized finish. This creates a metallurgical bond that protects the steel from corrosion for decades, far outlasting painted or powder-coated options in tropical climates. |
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Q5: How high can we stack these with finished feed bags? Depending on your warehouse ceiling height and the weight of your goods, our racks typically stack 4 to 5 units high safely. The cup-foot design ensures self-alignment and stability, preventing the "leaning tower" effect often seen with bulk-stacked bags. |
