That’s an astonishing number, but that kind of growth comes with unique challenges. According to the latest statistics, your average beer distribution warehouse has grown to over 1,000 unique SKUs. How can warehouses best accommodate the growing number of keg storage? The answer? ActivRac Mobile Racking.
A Frothy Problem to Have
The average beer distribution warehouse costs $200 per square foot. Couple that statistic with the fact that it’s not always easy to either expand an existing facility or find new real estate, and America’s beer distributors suddenly have a bit of a challenge storing all that beer – even for short periods.
In many beer storage facilities, these excess kegs are kept in front of existing pallet racks. As a result, workers (who handle an average of 78 pallets during an eight-hour shift) are forced to move some keg storage racks to get to others. This increased labor leads to increased machinery usage, which leads to increased operational costs.
A Smart, Sudsy Storage Solution
ActivRAC Mobile Racking allows warehouses to store more beer, save floorspace, and ensure the continued safety of their workforce. That’s what we call a win-win-win situation.
In many facilities, the SKUs/pallets that move most frequently have traditionally been kept on the outside walls. Kegs in storage a bit longer have been kept in the middle. With the increased amount of product, though, that delineation is becoming increasingly blurred. Pallets are stored wherever there’s room for them. This evolution is born out of necessity and is both unsightly and unsafe.
While it makes sense financially and operationally to focus on the top 20 percent of the fastest-selling items in your warehouse or distribution center, you don’t want to ignore the other 80 percent. These days, that 80 percent could include the ever-increasing new varieties of craft beer we’re talking about.
The ActivRAC carriage and rail mobile systems move shelving side to side, providing easy access to slower-moving inventory. By eliminating aisles, ActivRAC gives you as much as 50 percent more floor space. By custom-designing exactly where the system will go, how high you want it to be, and whether you’ll access products with a forklift or standard lift, you’re able to reimagine and revitalize your existing beer storage footprint.
Engineered to withstand temperatures as low as -4° Fahrenheit, ActivRAC is the perfect solution for today’s beer storage space concerns. And for environments kept at temperatures colder than -4° F, there’s a stainless steel option.
Keg Storage Made Simple
Although craft beer still only accounts for about seven percent of the U.S. beer market, craft breweries account for 98 percent of the breweries. Staggering! And more varieties are coming every day. Heavy-duty ActiveRAC systems can support up to 16,000 pounds – critical when considering the weight of today’s 160-pound kegs.
It’s been said that the only constant is change; that adage is certainly true in business. As the amount of craft beers continues to grow, so too must warehouse operations managers grow their own thinking and resilience skills. Having the right tools for the job always makes that task easier. Making sure today’s keg storage racking solutions are both achievable and accessible is critical to continued success.
Talk about high spirits.
