A wide range of pallet racking systems are available; some provide greater storage density, while others allow for efficient product movement and picking. There tends to be an inverse relationship between product storage density and product movement with the result that greater storage density can lead to slower product movement, and vice versa. Two types of pallet rack systems commonly used where storage density is the priority are drive-in and drive-through racks.
Because loads are stored one in front of the other, drive-in pallet racks are best suited for inventory with a low turnover rate, similar SKUs, and full pallet load selection as access to loads is limited. The back of the system is loaded first, with successive loads stored in front, of the last load, thus the first pallet stored is the last pallet out (FILO), and the last pallet in is the first pallet out.
To load or unload pallets from drive-in racks, the operator must enter the storage lane and drive to the back face of the storage bay to load or unload pallets. This system is best used when space efficiency is the priority. Because there are no aisles between rows of racks, more pallets can be stored per square foot as more space is dedicated to storage as opposed to travel aisles.
Unlike drive-in pallet racks, drive-through racks have two loading/unloading aisles accessible from either side. This allows for faster stock rotation because pallets can be loaded from one side and unloaded from the opposite side.
First-in, first-out (FIFO) inventory management is possible with drive-through racks. Because of the two aisles, drive-through racking requires more space than a drive-in system.
