Is your bottom layer of flour sacks turning into concrete?
In the milling industry, 50kg sacks of flour or animal feed aren't just heavy—they are fluid. "Pancaking" and compression damage don't just destabilize your stacks; they destroy your product yield and threaten safety. Stop relying on the structural integrity of a soft bag to hold up your warehouse.
For operations like General Milling Corporation (GMC), managing inventory isn't as simple as stacking bricks. Whether you are storing Hard Wheat Flour for bakery chains or high-protein Chick Booster Mash, the challenge remains the same: Bagged goods have zero structural memory.
When you use traditional floor stacking (block stacking) for flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs) or standard 25kg/50kg woven polypropylene bags, the bottom pallet bears the crushing weight of everything above it. In high-humidity environments typical of the Philippines, this pressure combined with moisture causes:
The solution is not to stack lower (which wastes space) but to change the physics of your storage. Stackable storage racks—often called post pallets in the industry—transfer the load through four steel posts, not through your product.
Figure 1: Converting floor space into cubic volume without crushing the goods below.
A major inefficiency in feed mills and food processing plants is the Honeycombing Effect. You might have 20 pallets of Hog Finisher, 5 pallets of Duck Layer Pellets, and 50 pallets of Soft Wheat Flour.
With block stacking, you operate on a strict LIFO (Last-In, First-Out) basis within a lane. If you need the Duck Layer Pellets buried behind the Hog Finisher, you have to move everything. This double-handling increases the risk of bag tears by 40%.
Using portable stack racks creates an "instant rack" system. You can move a single stack of racks to access the goods behind it, or segregate SKUs vertically. This allows you to maintain high density while restoring selectivity—crucial when managing expiration dates on sensitive ingredients like yeast or vitamin premixes.
In food production, wood is the enemy. Wooden pallets absorb moisture, harbor mold, and hide insect larvae—a direct violation of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and HACCP standards. Furthermore, splinters from broken wooden pallets frequently tear paper flour sacks, leading to "leakers" that contaminate the warehouse floor.
Our industrial steel pallet stillages offer a sanitary alternative:
Demand for flour peaks before holidays; demand for feed shifts with livestock lifecycles. Fixed racking systems (Selective Pallet Racking) permanently consume aisle space, regardless of whether your warehouse is full or empty.
Stackable storage racks give you an "accordion" capability. During low inventory periods, you don't stare at empty steel aisles. You dismantle the racks. As shown in the image below, the posts are removed, and the bases nest into each other.
Figure 2: Recover 80% of your floor space when inventory is low by nesting empty racks.
This allows you to clear wide open spaces for bulk bag filling operations, equipment maintenance, or receiving bulk raw materials like corn or wheat during harvest season, without being hindered by bolted-down structures.
| Feature | Specification | Benefit for Millers |
|---|---|---|
| Load Capacity | 1500kg - 2000kg (approx. 30-40 sacks @ 50kg) | Handles full standard pallet loads of dense flour/feed without bowing. |
| Stacking Height | 3 to 4 High (Static) | Triples your warehouse capacity without crushing the bottom sacks. |
| Surface Treatment | Hot-Dip Galvanized or Powder Coated | Resists corrosion from humidity and frequent wash-downs. |
| Base Design | Wire Mesh or Steel Plate | Supports soft bags evenly; prevents sagging between supports. |
Q1: Can these racks hold standard 1200x1000mm pallets used for flour sacks?
Yes. Our heavy duty stack racks are custom-sized to fit standard industrial pallets. The pallet sits inside the rack base, and the rack posts bear the weight of the tiers above, completely protecting the flour sacks from compression.
Q2: We use "super sacks" (FIBC) for bulk ingredients. Do you have a rack for that?
Absolutely. We design specific post pallets with taller posts and reinforced bases to handle 1-ton bulk bags. This allows you to stack super sacks 3-4 high safely, which is usually impossible due to the instability of the bags.
Q3: How do these racks help with "First-In, First-Out" (FIFO) compliance?
Unlike block stacking where you bury old inventory under new, stackable racks can be moved individually by a forklift. You can easily shuffle racks to bring older batches of feed or yeast to the front without manually restacking pallets.
Q4: Are galvanized racks safe for food production zones?
Yes, hot-dip galvanized racks are the industry standard for food and cold storage. They do not rust, chip, or flake like painted racks might over time, preventing physical contamination of your food products.
Q5: Can we use these for transporting finished goods to distributors?
Yes. These are excellent returnable transport packaging (RTP) units. You can ship the loaded rack to a major distributor. Once emptied, they can collapse/nest the racks and return them to the mill, fitting hundreds of empty racks in a single return truck.
