Author Archives: andy

NEW: WAREHOUSE BARRIERS BY RACK ARMOUR

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Rack Armour can now unveil our newest range of warehouse barriers! The Bumper Barriers and Pedestrian Barriers: segregation and safety combined!

2015 has already been a substantial year for Rack Armour. Earlier this year we entered the market with our end of aisle barrier range which has long been a request from our upright protector customers! Once we started this venture we always intended to let this grow into a complete warehouse barrier portfolio! Now it’s here!

The Bumper Barriers are simply designed for protection and Warehouse Barriers Double Bumper Barriersegregation for Fork Lift Trucks. Not to be confused with our double or single rail end of aisle barrier, this warehouse barrier can be extended to whatever length you require and is available in a single or double rail option to meet your visual/strength needs.

The Pedestrian Barrier is also designed for warehouse segregation but is better suited for pedestrian areas and has therefore been designed to prevent people easily stepping over the barrier standing at 1.15m tall.Warehouse Barriers Double Rail Pedestrian Barrier

All ranges of the pedestrian barrier have been designed with our own gate system which is fitted into the barriers and can be built to whatever length your needs require.

For simple pedestrian segregation our standard pedestrian barrier is the perfect product. It is highly visible, offers minimal intrusion to warehouse space, but is strong enough to give a resistance defense if required.

To segregate high traffic FLT areas and pedestrian areas you may require added protection, that’s why we combined both our bumper barriers with the pedestrian barrier to create the single and double rail pedestrian barriers.

Why not combine your warehouse barriers with our new Rack Armour Bollard! a stand alone protection product perfect for doors, corners and columns. warehouse barriers bollard

Why choose plastic?

Metal barriers Like metal upright protectors are very much an old fashioned product. Being unforgiving on impacts may seem like a good characteristic but in reality it doesn’t take long until they bend break and rip up the floor fixings, don’t forget the constant repainting required to make them stand out!

To create the tough outer shell of our warehouse barriers, we manufacture with ballistics grade polymer, designed to hold persistence of shape through its flexible nature, meaning it can take hit after hit without becoming dented or damaged! The HDPE polymer is a flexible material, unlike metal it has the ability to absorb impacts preventing energy ripping up floors and resting against the rack. Don’t believe us? Click here and check out the video! This demonstrates the minimum requirements of rack protection as set by the European Standards and SEMA guidelines… simply no match to our barriers which flex and soak it all up!

Enquire about our barriers here.

warehouse barriers Rack Armour

BOSE Choose Rack Armour…. Again

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Rack Armour chosen again

BOSE are known globally as the leader in specialist audio equipment, so naturally they would use the global leaders in Rack Armour chosen by BOSEracking protection to look after their pallet racking. BOSE have been installing Rack Armour onto their sites globally for around 4 years now, most recently on a number of sites throughout the US.

The biggest influence in BOSE choosing Rack Armour wasn’t just that it can take impacts, it was also down to the minimal amount of maintenance needed on the product. “Before we had to repair and re-paint often, now the only thing we do is clean the new guards with a piece of cloth every week! Awesome product!” Rocio Ibarra Zazueta – BOSE

Rack Armour has a number of benefits which has seen it become the most popular next generation protector on the market today, here are just a few:

Colour/Detection: Rack Armours colour is of immense importance, it creates a focal point for drivers of mechanical handling equipment and gives them a definitive indicator of their safe working limitations. Rack Armour comes as a standard hi-visibility yellow, but is also available in a green and red colours for one way systems or to highlight fire equipment and first aid areas.

Tough Outer Shell: Rack Armours outer shell is made from an exceptionally resilient and hard wearing plastic designed to take high velocity impacts. The shape of the shell was designed to repel and deflect impacts away from the upright, in turn reducing damage significantly.

Ease of installation: Thanks to Rack Armour’s unique shape, the guard can easily be installed by hand on any racking type, this enables Rack Armour to be fitted in seconds without the use of power tools and drilling needless holes into your warehouse floor. Rack Armour is also the first and only plastic protector product on the market that’s fitted by hand which doesn’t disengage the racking from everyday pallet retrieval operations. This is something that sets us apart from any other product on the market today.

In good company…

BOSE isn’t the only Blue Chip company to continue to install Rack Armour on various sites, the likes of Wal-Mart, IKEA, ALDI, ASDA, Superdrug, DHL and many more.

If you’re interested in installing Rack Armour and seriously reducing your racking damage please click here for a free sample.

A Safe System of Work With Rack Armour

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We’re rapidly approaching the halfway point in what is a very important year for Rack Armour! As you might already be aware, this year has seen us roll out our latest product of rack protection with our very own Barrier range. Designed in accordance with our world leading upright protector, this is yet another waya safe system of work rack armour barriers Rack Armour aim to create a safe system of protection within your working environment.

It is within our interest to ensure your racking can be protected to its best possible potential without breaking the bank! That’s why, if you’re not sure what barriers are best suited for your warehouse we are more than happy to get a member of our team to come out to you and talk you through your best options. It’s often more beneficial for a member of our team to measure up your site. This way we have a better understanding of your warehouse needs and can help you create a safe barrier system for your warehouse.

Why Choose Rack Armour?a safe system of work rack armour barriers

Being part of The Rack Group Ltd, the UK’s leading company for warehouse repairs and maintenance, we have an excellent understanding of pallet racking and warehouse environments that is truly second to none!  Let’s face it, If our guys have an understanding of your warehouse they’re already in a great position to sort your problems out should we be required!

Plastic Stronger than metal?!
Creating a safe system of work is all about reducing risks and hazards, therefore plastic barriers are always the way to go!

The ballistics grade polymer we use will stand up to the same amount of force as a metal barrier anyway, however, the main benefita safe system of work rack armour barriers to plastic is that it will take this impact repeatedly without becoming dented and transferring the energy into the racking. Metal barriers will simply dent after one hit and lean onto the racking you’re trying to protect.

If you want to know more about the service Rack Armour can provide you with to ensure a safe working environment please don’t hesitate tA safe system of work Rack Armour barrierso get in touch! give us a call on 01226 784 488 or Click Here

 

SEMA Racking Protection guidelines…How do we perform?

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The Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association, or, SEMA, as theySEMA Racking protection are widely known, have a published document regarding the suggested guidelines when it comes to racking protection. The question is, how do Rack Armour compare to the standard which has been set?

SEMA racking protection guidelines cover:

The responsibilities, the location, rack protection requirements and types, clearances, and design requirements.

The big question is, and always will be when it comes to upright protection… “What impact will it take?”

SEMA racking protection standards state a guard should be able to withstand an impact of 400NM. Although they state this is a minimum and only represents forklift trucks placing pallets at a very low speed, one hit of this force on an upright would be enough to cause an upright to be considered unsafe.  Rack Armour is able to take this 400NM impactSEMA Racking protection seven times in the exact same spot before enough energy can transfer into the upright to cause a 3mm indent into the racking. This proves that our product can pay for itself after just one impact, let alone seven! Rack Armour is yet to find a competitor that can stand up to the impressive standards we set.

SEMA States that “Rack Protectors can be designed for minor impacts during the placement and retrieval of pallets… the protection provided to vulnerable areas such as corner uprights is primarily visual”.  Rack Armour has been in place preventing racking damage for over a decade. The high visibility yellow found on Rack Armour products is a perfect match for what SEMA suggests for racking protection.

Another SEMA racking protection guideline states that protection SEMA Racking Protection products which will add 15 mm width to an upright, encroaching into pallet bay space, would require additional clearance between the guard and pallet. With our associate company having forty years of experience in the pallet racking industry, Rack Armour upright protectors were specifically designed to ensure they took away only the required space, therefore not requiring any additional bay clearance.

The Rack Armour upright protector is a global product that meets and exceeds every SEMA racking protection guideline put in front of it. Our new barrier range has been designed to do the same thing.

The Rack Armour Barriers have all been manufactured with the same ballistics grade SEMA Racking Protectionpolymer. This means the barrier will take impacts by absorbing and flexing, therefore preventing concrete floors being ripped up and damaged. This is something that metal barriers and fixed upright protectors aren’t able to do as they don’t absorb impacts and instead just add extra costs of repairing floors on top of damaged uprights.

Find out more about Rack Armour protection products by clicking here. Or, to contact us, click here. Our team will be more than happy to help.

Warehouse Barriers… Always Rack Armour

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The warehouse barrier is part of an ever growing market in warehouse protection as the evolution takes place. Metal barriers are no longer the best way of protection as they often cause as much damage as they protect after just one impact.warehouse barrier Rack Armour

At Rack Armour we have used the success of our upright protector to create a range of warehouse barriers which can stand up to the test of everyday warehouse impacts. The material  benefits include its flexibility when taking impacts, unlike a metal guard, a Rack Armour barrier won’t damage your truck or your floor, its absorbing qualities will keep you safe. It’s persistence of shape will also prevent dents appearing.

Like our upright protectors, the warehouse barriers will come in the Rack Armour high visibility yellow, great for preventing impacts in the first place.warehouse barrier Rack Armour

What different warehouse barriers do Rack Armour offer?

Rack Armour proudly offer five varieties of warehouse barriers. With specifically designed for end of aisle protection.Rack Armour warehouse protection

The three end of aisle barriers are named the Double Rail, Single Rail and Low Level barrier. Each of these start at 1m in length and are available up to 3m. We understand that not every warehouse is the same, and some have different needs to others, hence we created barriers to suit the needs of our customers.

Rack Armour also offer two alternatives to warehouswarehouse barrier Rack Armoure protection. Firstly our floor rail barrier. This has a number of uses such as offering protection to picking areas, as well as being great at the back of racking, where damage often occurs when placing pallets.

Our second variety of warehouse barrier is the Caterpillar barrier. Available up to any length you require, this barrier is great for bespoke protection throughout your warehouse!Warehouse barrier Rack Armour

If you would like to find out more about protecting your warehouse with our range of barriers please get in touch! our contact page will lead you straight to us, or feel free to email us at: info@rackarmour.com or give us a call on 01226 784 488. Our team will be more than happy to help!

 A Safe Working Environment With Rack Armour Barriers

Racking repairs a problem? Use Rack Armour

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Are racking repairs and replacements proving to be a time consuming and expensive problem? Well they don’t need to be. Racking is an important part for the smooth running of most businesses, yet it can often cause a majority of problems.

When damage occurs to uprights it causes health and safety issues, rendering full aisles unusable, this causes order picking problems and delays which become passed down the business chain. These small problems which appear to only be internal can heavily effect the customer’s experience of your business as delays can be passed right down to them whilst the racking repairs take place. All of this just for a damaged upright in your warehouse. racking repairs

Rack Armour upright protectors are a great solution to the initial problem.  The need for racking repairs can be severely reduced with the use of Rack Armour.

The high visibility of Rack Armour in the first instance can be enough to keep FLT drivers from hitting uprights. However, when impacts do occur, the ballistic grade plastic shell and foam interior of the Rack Armour upright protector form the best possible defence for your uprights.

Did you know in the USA, on average one person is killed every three days in a forklift/ racking related accident. A workplace fatality can cost between 2 million and 5 million dollars!

Rack Armour is proven to reduce warehouse damage by up to 80%, reducing the need to repair racking or even replace it. We aim to improve the safety of warehouses whilst also improving the way they operate by preventing disruption in the first place.

Why not check out some of our videos or request a free sample? This way you can see for yourself how Rack Armour has become a worldwide selling product.

How Can The Floor Rail Barrier Help You?

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The Rack Armour barrier range is not just focused on end of aisle protection. Our Floor Rail Barrier has been designed as a multi-purpose barrier, great for warehouse protection.

The Floor Rail Barrier is ideal Floor Rail Barrier
for protecting picking areas where mechanical handling equipment is in frequent use.

Floor Rail Protection can be a great cost effective solution to warehouse damage. As well as being great in picking areas, the Floor Rail Barrier is a great protection aid for the back of racking bays which are often damaged when pallets are being inserted.

Bespoke to your barrier needs, the Floor Rail Barrier is available at any length with individual units being made up to 6 metres long.

Like all Rack Armour products, the Floor Rail Barrier is tough and resilient to impacts as the durable HDPE material takes multiple hits whilst returning to its original shape. The high visibility colour of the Floor Rail Barrier in the first instance aims to detract people from hitting it and allowing them to understand their safe working limits.

Why not have a look at all of our barrier range? Click here to check out all the benefits of our barriers. We understand not all warehouses have the same needs. We make sure you have all the information to protect your warehouse in the best possible way.

Find out more and get in touch! our friendly team will be happy to help! +44 (0) 1226 784 488 or email info@rackarmour.com

A Safe Working Environment With Rack Armour Barriers

 

A Safe Working Environment With Rack Armour Barriers

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The Rack Armour Barrier Range… helping to create a safe working environment!

Rack Armour are delighted to introduce our new barrier range! These have been designed to offer you a safe working environment within your warehouse.

After receiving a number of requests for end of aisle protection to match our success with the worldwide selling Rack Armour, we thought it was an obvious move. The Barrier range matches the same ethos as the Rack Armour upright protector: to create a safe working environment within a warehouse.

Compared to other barriers on the market, Rack Armour barriers are a more cost effective solution, especially when compared to metal barrier systems which have no flexibility or persistence of shape, resulting in damaged floors and damaged trucks. These are features which have made the upright protector a stand out product and will be matched to the same effect with our barriers.A Safe Working Environment With Rack Armour Barriers

The barriers are made from the same ballistics HDPE plastic to create a tough resilient form of protection against end of aisle damage which is often a vulnerable area within a warehouse. Combined with the matching high visibility colour of our upright protector, we are certain our barriers are the perfect solution to provide your staff with a safe warehouse with reduced fear of damage and collapse.

Our range consists of 5 barriers, all with their own specific advantage.

  1.  The Single Rail Barrier is our all rounder. Strong and resilient but tall enough to be seen easily.
  2. The Double Rail Barrier is a stand out eye catcher, giving your FLT drivers a strong indicator.
  3. The Low Level Barrier is all about pure strength. If you’re expecting a number of hits regardless of its stand out colour, this is what you’ll need.
  4. The Floor Rail Barrier is a less intrusive barrier designed to prevent the small scuffs and knocks from MHE.
  5. Finally, our Caterpillar Barrier is a bespoke adaptation to the Low Level Barrier but available at any length to suit your needs.

For a more in depth look at each of our barriers follow the link to our barrier specific page! Rack Armour barriers

a safe working environment barrier

 

Warehouse Damage Prevention for UK supermarket giant

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Tesco approached Rack Armour Ltd for a warehouse damage prevention product. Due to increasing racking damage, with over 290 forklifts and lollops operating at one time, damage was an inevitable occurrence, and with the average cost of a racking leg replacement at £400.00 per upright, effective protection couldn’t come soon enough.

“The New Daventry Grocery Depot distributes to all UK stores explains Simon Harris, Project Manager at Tesco , “with over 5 million pallet movement’s each month at this one site, racking damage does occur , which is detrimental to the warehouse operation”

“To help us to reduce & prevent racking damage within our operation, Tesco trialled a number of racking protection products, the trial identified that the Rack Armour product was robust and easy to install, as well as a cost effective solution to warehouse damage prevention”.

“We have now had the guards installed on over 6500 uprights for more than a week, and we have already seen a dramatic reduction in racking damage, I would whole heartedly recommend this product to other’s looking for a solution that not only works, but is clearly the most cost effective product available.”

Tesco trailed other warehouse damage prevention products, including the latest products on the market to find the best solution for them, and in the end Rack Armour was the obvious choice for quality, cost, and having the most established product in the market.
“There are a number of pretenders to Rack Armour’s crown out there in the market” explains Richard Nelson, Marketing Co-ordinator at Rack Armour, “and they usually have an Achilles Heel in relation to the Rack Armour guard, a serious design flaw to warehouse damage prevention these other products are they can easily be dislodged from the upright by forklifts and lollops, the last thing you want in a busy warehouse is to find your so called protection is lying idle on your warehouse floor, these stray units have the capability to cause serious harm as projectiles to both employees and handling equipment”.
Tesco’s is another blue chip company to be added to Rack Armour’s illustrious list, and they are in good company, with the likes of, IKEA, DHL, Mercedes Benz, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Toyota, Superdrug, Pound land, ASDA, Coca Cola, Nestle and B&Q whom have all had the guards installed for years.

“Every customer has different wants and needs from the Rack Armour guard” says Jenny Charlton, Director of Rack Armour “one customer will rave about the guard being able to work in conditions as low as -40 degrees, whilst another’s are impressed that it fits all types of racking and is inter transferable between different racking systems, it has countless benefits all working towards making the best warehouse damage prevention product!”

If you need a warehouse damage prevention product on your site, don’t delay, contact us to arrange a free site visit and demonstration of Rack Armour on 01226 784 488.

Rack Armour, accept no imitations in upright protection!

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Rack Armour – World leading upright protection.

The Rack Armour name is synonymous around the world for quality and service, we have been revolutionising the upright protection market for well over 7 years, selling in over 50 countries and manufacturing on 3 continents.upright protection

Rack Armour has been trusted with the protection of pallet racking uprights of some of the world’s largest blue chip companies, reducing racking damage by as much as 80% or more annually.

With Rack Armour being the market leader in upright protection it’s understandable others would like to emulate their success, this unfortunately has been done by a UK based company using our glowing customer references and images. Any “lookalike” products without the Rack Armour trademark shield/name does not perform like the genuine article and the two should not be confused.

Rack Armour is one of the few racking upright protection products that has been subject to strenuous testing by independent leading consulting engineers (Cardno Pty Ltd), far exceeding front AND side impact safety requirements set by FEM 10.2.02., please note this is a must for any rack upright protection product.

Customers’ comments on Rack Armour

Nigel has been ‘amazed’ by the amount of time, trouble and money he’s saved by installing Rack Armour in his operation. In this centre, 3600 Rack Armour have been installed with only six damaged uprights reported in the last twelve months.

Nigel Madison, Logistics centre Maintenance Manager, B&Q.     B&Q and Rack Armour

“We had the system installed during the new build of our 888,000 sq ft distribution centre, the installation was flawless and now after 5 years, it has saved us tens of thousands of pounds in preventing damage to our uprights.

Just looking at the Rack Armour today you can see it has taken a lot of impacts and is still doing its job.
We have the lowest racking repair costs in the entire group, so I can easily recommend to anyone that it’s a very worthwhile exercise in fitting Rack Armour”

Dave Horton, Warehouse Engineer, DHL    .Rack Armour and DHL

To find out more click here