Easy, Time Effective Racking Maintenance & Repairs

1. NO OFFLOADING of materials is required unlike other systems.

   

   Specialist Tooling 

2. UNIQUE to The Rack Group Ltd.
3. A repair is completed in LESS THAN 20 MINUTES.
4. Repairs can be made to ALL TYPES OF RACKING - welded or bolted systems.
5. NO NEED TO REPLACE the whole upright.
6. Sacrificial legs are available OFF-THE-SHELF.
7. NO SCISSOR LIFT OR PLANT HIRE required.
8. MINIMAL FUSS & DISRUPTION to the warehouse.
9. Specialist Tooling has been tested to carry up to 20 TONNES IN WEIGHT.

The Rack Group's Specialist Equipment is a unique piece of tooling used in the fitting of the Sacrificial Leg to help reduce costly and timely pallet racking repairs. This highly effective tool

is used to prop up the racking to take the load whilst repairs are carried out without offloading the racks. 


Click to watch the difference between The Rack Group's Specialist Tooling and the conventional method of upright repairs.
 

Sacrificial Leg

Racking Systems are constantly under attack from Fork Lift Trucks and inevitable damage occurs. However 90% of the damage only occurs in the the first 1000mm of the upright. Why replace the whole upright when only a small percentage of the upright is damaged. With the help of Sacrificial Leg you only need to replace the part of the upright that is defective.

For more information please contact us on :
Phone: 01226 784488
Email: info@therackgroup.com 
Website: www.therackgroup.com 

Why You Should Maintain/Repair Pallet Racking?

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (as amended) states all work equipment must be inspected on a regular basis and any reported damage made good. Regulation 5 requires the equipment to be maintained in an efficient state, efficient working order and in good repair.

Racking systems are constantly in contact with forklift trucks and inevitably damage occurs. However 90% of the damage only occurs in the first 600 mm of the upright. In response to this The Rack Group has designed specialist tooling to enable repairs to be carried out in this area with minimal fuss and disruption to the warehouse.

Using Specialist Tooling unique to The Rack Group, racking can be supported whilst the damaged part of the upright is cut out. Once this is completed a sacrificial leg is bolted into the bottom 600 mm of the upright.

Benefits:

Specialist Tooling

1. No need to replace the whole upright.

2. No offloading of materials is required.

3. No need to wait for replacement uprights and materials.

4. A repair can be completed in less than 20 minutes.

5. Repairs can be made to all types of racking – welded or bolted systems.

6. No scissor lift or plant hire is needed.

7. Ease of repair encourages operators to deal with damage as and when it happens, creating a safe working environment.

The Rack Aid Management System- One solution to all your warehouse problems

The Rack Aid® Management System is the collective term used by The Rack Group to describe all the products and services The Rack Group offers . It is designed not only to save customers time, disruption and money, but also ensures compliance with all current Health & Safety legislation relevant to industrial pallet storage equipment.

1. Safety Inspections:

Storage equipment safety inspections carried out by The Rack Group ensures you are conforming to The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (as amended), The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (as amended) and the European Standard EN15635.

2. Maintenance and Repairs:

The maintenance and repairs of pallet racks are conducted in accordance with The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (as amended) and industry guidelines.

3. Protection:

Rack Armour pallet racking protection ensures compliance with European Standard EN15635 and SEMA guidelines.

4. Training:

All our pallet racking training courses conform to the codes of practice outlined in the European Standard EN15635.

Racking Repairs – An essential part to any racking maintenance programme

Pallet racking repairs can be costly, but are a pivotal aspect of any racking maintenance program. Racking systems are constantly under attack by Fork Lift Trucks and inevitably damage occurs. However 90% of the time damage only occurs in the first 600mm of the upright. It seems a waste to replace the whole upright when only a small percentage of the upright is damaged. With the help of the sacrificial leg this is no longer the case.

The Rack Group has designed specialist tooling to enable repairs to be carried out with minimal fuss and disruption to the warehouse. Using the Sacrificial Leg Prop, racking can be propped up whilst the damaged part of the upright is cut out. Once this is completed a sacrificial leg is bolted into the bottom 600mm of the upright. A repair can be completed in less than 20 minutes without the need of offloading any materials and without the use of a scissor lift.

Benefits:

• No need to replace the whole upright
• No materials need to be offloaded
• No need to wait for replacement uprights and materials
• No scissor lift or plant hire is needed

Ease of repair encourages operators to deal with damage as and when it happens, creating a safer working environment.

The Rack Group’s Sacrificial Leg Prop is a unique piece of tooling used alongside the sacrificial leg to help reduce costly and timely pallet racking repairs.

So, how does it work?

The SLP is a simple but highly effective tool used to prop up the racking to take the load weight whilst repairs are carried out. This is achieved by bolting the SLP to the upright. The SLP has been tested to carry up to twenty tonnes in weight.

The Rack Group Ltd is working with its customers to establish effective, efficient and low cost proactive racking maintenance systems for their industrial storage systems, which are designed to:

• Ensure health and safety compliance.
• Ensure that the storage equipment remains fit for purpose.
• Ensure that any identified none conforming components are repaired/replaced with minimal disruption to daily activities.
• Above all, ensure that a safe place of work is maintained within the workplace for all.
• Allows the customer to budget for storage equipment repair works, as in most cases nearly all damage is “unplanned” damage and as a result of this racking repair costs come straight off the organisations profit line.

By developing and adopting a proactive maintenance program this can help overcome the problem.

A key element to any proactive racking maintenance program is a good understanding of the types of industrial storage equipment in use by our customers which in turn allows us to react quickly and effectively should the need arise. The Rack Group Ltd addresses this issue through its independent pallet racking inspection program.

Once a detailed breakdown of the storage equipment in use has been established, this then allows The Rack Group Ltd to hold key stock items thereby eliminating the need to store spare materials on site.

By establishing this data The Rack Group Ltd are able to react quickly in the event of an unplanned incident, thereby ensuring minimal disruption to the organisation by helping to reduce lost production and downtime costs.

THE RACK GROUP CHOSEN BY ASDA AGAIN

The Rack Group Ltd is delighted to announce they have just renewed another year’s contract with ASDA, one of the UK’s leading supermarkets. 

After a rigorous tender process The Rack Group won the privilege once again of becoming ASDA’s preferred pallet racking maintenance and inspections company.   Phil Maxwell-Smith The Rack Group’s Managing Director commented “we are very pleased that ASDA have decided to choose the Rack Aid Management System.  Over the years The Rack Group have developed a very strong working relationship with ASDA and look forward to working with them for another year."

ASDA first approached The Rack Group Ltd with the sole purpose to find a solution to help reduce and eliminate where possible pallet racking damage that was occurring across their distribution network. With hundreds of forklift trucks in operation and thousands of pallet movements each day, pallet racking damage is inevitable.  ASDA identified their warehouse and distribution division as an area where savings associated with pallet racking maintenance and repair could be made and The Rack Group were only too happy to assist.

The Rack Group has built a strong working relationship with ASDA over the years and has worked closely with their maintenance team to develop innovative solutions to these problems. The working relationship with ASDA started twenty years ago when The Rack Group carried out safety inspections on some of ASDA’s first distribution centres.

 “Due to the changes in Health and Safety legislation, ASDA were keen to unite all stores and distribution centres under one management system to help reduce repair and maintenance costs throughout the network, with this in mind, The Rack Group and ASDA started to develop The Rack Aid Management System” states Simon Lee, Installations Director at The Rack Group Ltd.  

The Rack AidManagement System is made up of five key elements, 1) scheduled racking Inspections, 2) repair and maintenance, 3) specialist materials, 4) racking protection and 5) accredited training sessions.  The first element The Rack Group looked at was protecting the racking from costly damage, preventing the damage or severely limiting it was a priority.  After months of development and rigorous testing Rack Armour was created, Rack Armour is now sold globally and reduces forklift truck damage where ever it is installed.

Users of Industrial Storage Equipment have a legal duty to carry out regular inspection audits in order to identify damaged components (as stated in the Provision and safe Use of Work Equipment Regulation section 6), these inspections are key to the whole management system, ensuring vital information such as the type of damage, how frequent the damage is occurring and details of materials for stocking purposes. This information enables efficient lead times, which is crucial for a distribution network as large as ASDA’s. 

The next element within the management system where costs can be saved was maintenance and repair work. By using specialist materials created purposely to save ASDA time, money and disruption around the warehouse. When maintaining their pallet racking ASDA was able to make significant savings.  Instead of replacing entire uprights The Rack Group developed specialist materials and their own unique leg prop along with specialist bracings which enables the installation team to replace the damaged section of upright without having to off load any materials and without having to replace the whole upright, making this element of The Rack Aid Management System extremely cost effective.

The last element of the Rack Aid Management System is training.  ASDA and The Rack Group identified training as a vital element within the management system as a means to ensure ASDA colleagues were given the correct information, instruction, training and supervision to work safely in and around storage equipment. ASDA wanted competent operatives and seniors managers throughout the network to be aware of the dangers associated with working with pallet racking. The Rack Group developed bespoke training enabling ASDA’s workforce to work safely around the warehouse and to conduct their own pallet racking safety inspections.  Further developments are in place to offer an accredited qualification NVQ (QCF) to ASDA’s employees regarding inspections to qualify their workforce, once developed this will then be available for others.

Over the past seven years the Rack Aid Management System has saved the ASDA network over £1,000,000 in repair costs and strives to increase this figure year after year. This will be achievable through constant developments and innovative thinking. The Rack Group embraces this challenge and looks forward to another successful year working alongside ASDA.

If reducing your pallet racking maintenance and repair costs whilst still maintaining a strong health and safety culture is important to you, please call 01226 784488, or visit our website www.therackgroup.com and ask about what The Rack Group can do for you.