What is a Warehouse Mezzanine And What Are The Benefits
The mezzanine warehouse is arguably one of the most popular racks for businesses as a facility for additional storage space and work area. According to a professional data report, the price of warehouse and distribution space in the United States has been as high as $9.72 per square foot for the past 2023. This means that for every square foot of space you save in your warehouse, your business saves more money on expenses.
And with a mezzanine warehouse I think it will solve a lot of problems for you, so if you are in need of expanding your warehouse or distribution space right now, let's read this article and think about what should be done to solve your needs.
What is a Warehouse Mezzanine？
The word mezzanine in mezzanine warehouse comes from the Italian word mezzanine, which originally meant the middle floor of a building. In our industrial context, mezzanine warehouse refers to an additional floor or platform in a space.
In the shelving industry, the mezzanine warehouse is also one of the warehouse shelves, but also the most special one. Because it has a different shape from pallet racking and other common racking.
The most interesting thing about the mezzanine warehouse is that it can increase the floor space of the original warehouse to several times by its own design features, because its function is to create one or more additional platforms in the original warehouse space, and greatly utilize the vertical space inside the warehouse.
What Are The Types of Mezzanine Warehouse
Integrated Mezzanine Warehouse
The best feature of this mezzanine warehouse shelving is its versatility, it can be used in combination with other types of shelving, the most common combination is with pallet racking. Of course, you can also choose other types of shelving, and there are plenty of customization options to meet your needs.
This way, no matter what you choose to customize, you can keep the original racking and increase space utilization. This will optimize the workflow in your warehouse and increase the efficiency of your operations.
Free-standing Mezzanine Warehouse
As the name suggests, the free-standing mezzanine warehouse is characterized by free-standing. It is a type of mezzanine warehouse that is built independently in the warehouse and does not rely on any structure in the warehouse for fixing, but only through its own support columns and beams to complete the fixing.
The advantage of this type of mezzanine warehouse is that it has an independent structure, is not constrained by the warehouse frame, and can be freely laid out and operated independently.
Connected to Warehouse Frame Mezzanine Warehouse
The difference between a connected to warehouse frame mezzanine warehouse and a free-standing mezzanine warehouse is that it needs to be connected to the warehouse's own frame structure, which has the advantage of higher stability and structural strength. In terms of space utilization, this type of mezzanine warehouse will also have a higher utilization rate.
Catwalk Mezzanine Warehouse
A special feature of catwalk mezzanine warehouses is that they are designed with corridors or walkways for people to use, which are usually located in the peripheral areas, making it easier for staff to move between the different areas of the mezzanine warehouse.
This can meet the need for staff to frequently access items in different areas, and is also safer. So even though this design takes away from the original space of the mezzanine warehouse, it also provides better access to the stored items.
Benefits of Mezzanine Warehouse
The mezzanine warehouse isn't for everyone, so I'm going to talk about this topic to show you what using it can do for you, in conjunction with your needs to decide if a mezzanine warehouse is necessary.
Widen the existing space of the warehouse
Many warehouses nowadays only utilize the actual floor space, but ignore the vertical space of the warehouse itself. If your warehouse needs a certain number of people to work in the warehouse, then after the space occupied by the goods is removed from the original floor space, there is less space left for the staff to work.
A mezzanine warehouse will not only multiply your existing floor space by developing vertical space, it will also provide more workspace for your staff by dividing it into multiple zones.
Cost-effectiveness
For renting a larger warehouse, the money spent on widening the space with a mezzanine warehouse will be far more affordable than the rent.
In the short term, renting a new warehouse can be a very cost-effective option if you are only renting for a few months or a year.
But in the long term, choosing to buy a mezzanine warehouse can remain the private property of you or your business. You don't have to worry about the rent going up when the lease expires, and the commuted cost will always be more affordable than the rent.
Flexible
The mezzanine warehouse has the great advantage that the installation process is very fast and convenient, and there are many more conveniences that come with this advantage. When you need to expand your warehouse or workspace, installing a mezzanine warehouse can save you a lot of time.
And when you need to change warehouse locations, the mezzanine warehouse can be disassembled and transported to your new warehouse for reinstallation.
Safety
Using the HEDA brand as an example, safety is always our number one rule when designing mezzanine warehouses for our clients. We take into account the local safety codes and standards of our clients, as well as the strict control of structural loads, safety factors and fire protection standards.
Therefore, the use of qualified mezzanine warehouses is very safe, and the load-bearing capacity of high-strength steel is not much inferior to reinforced concrete.
What We Need to Do Before Installing Mezzanine Warehouse
Choosing a Professional and Reliable Shelving Supplier
A professional and reliable shelving supplier can be very helpful for you. In terms of products, they can give you more professional advice. In terms of design, they also have professional engineers and designers to help you out. When it comes to manufacturing, the shelves they make are also of high quality and what you need.
So, sometimes a professional and reliable shelving supplier can help you a lot and make the buying and installation process smoother and more enjoyable.
Determine everything with your shelving supplier
There are very few standard sizes and styles for mezzanine warehouses in general, and it's all up to you to determine this with your supplier or manufacturer. It all needs to be determined by you with your supplier or manufacturer, which include: the size of your warehouse space, your load bearing requirements and your ideas on the design of the racks.
But the good thing is that the professional shelving suppliers generally have a set of detailed processes to determine with you, so you do not need to waste too much time, just need to cooperate with the shelving supplier.
Know your local codes and specifications
Every area has different building codes, safety codes, etc. and unfortunately I have no way of knowing where you are if you are reading this. So our advice would be to find out the relevant industry standards and some of the laws and other regulations in your area before you buy a mezzanine warehouse to make sure that your mezzanine warehouse is compliant with all the conditions.
Safety
Depending on the actual needs of the use, it depends on whether or not there is any use of energy such as electricity, fire and water. If there are, it is necessary to do the corresponding safety support, such as fire extinguishing systems and so on.
For the staff, we also need to do a good job of corresponding training, to avoid installation or future work in the actual safety accidents.
Talk to your mezzanine warehouse manufacturer
We are glad that you can see the end, and honored to be able to introduce you to us.HEDA, is our brand name, we come from China, the manufacturing center of the world, with more than two decades of experience in manufacturing shelves. For mezzanine warehouses, for warehouse shelves, we have eternal pursuit and passion.
If at this moment you have a need or a question about a mezzanine warehouse, why don't you contact us and give us a try? I think we will give you a satisfactory answer!