How to Choose the Right Sheet Metal Rack & Storage Systems？

How to Choose the Right Sheet Metal Rack & Storage Systems
A 1,000-word buyer’s guide from the engineers at Herochu, China’s 15-year CE/ISO-certified manufacturer of drawer-type sheet material shelves, starting at USD 3,099 FOB Qingdao.

1. Start with the sheet, not the rack
   Before you open a catalogue, list every plate or blank that enters your building: maximum length, maximum width, maximum single-sheet weight, average pack quantity, surface quality requirement (polished, laminated, painted) and how often the laser, punch or shear calls for it. A 3 m × 1.5 mm × 1 000 kg pack of mild-steel has different storage needs to a 6 m × 2 m × 3 000 kg pack of brushed stainless. Herochu’s smallest model HC-B3015-61 accepts 3 m × 1.5 m sheets up to 1 t per drawer; the same footprint can be engineered to 3 t per drawer if you increase beam section from 160 mm to 220 mm and add tapered roller bearings. Write the extremes down—this prevents paying for over-capacity or, worse, discovering the hard way that the drawer will not close on the last millimetre.
2. Calculate the real cost of floor space
   In Sydney, rent for an industrial bay now exceeds AUD 135/m²/year; in Hamburg it tops €110. A traditional A-frame stillage needs a 5 m aisle on each face and swallows 15 m² to store twenty tonnes. Herochu’s drawer-type shelf needs 4.4 m² for the same twenty tonnes because only one 1.2 m service aisle is required. At German rental rates the saving, 10.6 m², is €1,166 every year—more than one-third of the purchase price returned in twelve months, before you count the labour saved.
3. Understand the crane interface
   Sheet metal is thin, flexible and easily scarred; forklifts are cheap but they bend edges. Overhead cranes with vacuum or mechanical sheet lifters keep the blank flat and allow one operator to move a pack in under sixty seconds. Herochu shelves are therefore designed around the hook. The top of the fully opened drawer sits 1 020 mm above floor—ideal waist height for a 250 kg vacuum lifter—while the side clearance is 150 mm wider than the nominal sheet to give the cups room to manoeuvre. If your factory relies on side-loader forklifts, we simply invert the beam orientation and add removable fork guides so the tines never touch the sheet surface.
4. Decide how many layers your workflow needs
   Rule of thumb: one drawer equals one SKU or one remnant bundle. A six-layer HC-B3015-62 gives six discrete addresses in 2.2 m of height; if you run three shifts and nest fifty programmes a day, you may need twelve addresses. Rather than building two separate racks, Herochu supplies a splice-column kit that turns a six-tier into a twelve-tier monobloc while sharing uprights and bracing. The upgrade is done on Sunday with a 5 t telehandler and two technicians; no welding, no building permit.
5. Check the load path, not the brochure number
   Competitors often quote “3 t per drawer” but forget to tell you the limit applies only when the drawer is closed. Herochu arms are tested at 150 % rated load in the fully open position, the moment when gravity wants to twist the rack forward. Finite-element analysis is supplied on request and shows deflection <1/300 span and safety factor 2.2 on yield. Third-party inspection from TÜV or SGS can be organised at the factory; cost is added only if the certificate is required for insurance purposes.
6. Mechanical or electric?
   The standard hand-crank reduces pull force to 35 N through a 12:1 planetary gearbox. One operator can open 2 t without gloves. If your drawers exceed 2.5 t or if repetitive-strain policy limits manual effort, specify the 0.75 kW electric drive: Mitsubishi inverter, 24 V control circuit, pendant with 3 m curly cord, emergency stop mushroom. The motor is mounted on a slide rail so it disengages in seconds if you want to revert to manual during power outages. Lead time increases by five days and cost by USD 580 per drawer—payback is typically nine months when overtime is factored.
7. Surface protection matters
   Mild-steel plate arrives oily; aluminium arrives with PVC film; stainless arrives mirror-polished. Herochu offers three cradle surfaces: painted steel (standard), 6 mm rubber mat (for polished stainless) or replaceable MDF sacrificial boards (for oxy-cut parts that leave slag). Specify the rubber if you supply façade panels to architects; one scratch rejected at site can cost more than the entire rack.
8. Anchor for earthquakes, not for decoration
   The rack weighs 2.2 t empty but can hold 18 t live load; the centre of gravity moves 760 mm forward when the drawer opens. Herochu supplies M20 chemical anchors rated 45 kN shear each. For seismic zone 4 we add rear bracing bays and increase base-plate thickness to 20 mm. Tell us your postcode and we run the lateral-force calculation; the upgrade is usually three extra uprights and four diagonals—cost below USD 400.
9. Future-proof with RFID
   Every cradle can be laser-marked with a QR code and fitted with an RFID pad. When the drawer closes, the tag passes a reader mounted on the upright and updates your ERP with real-time remnant weight. The hardware is off-the-shelf; integration script is supplied free for SAP, Oracle, JobBOSS and SigmaNEST. Most customers start with two bays pilot and roll out plant-wide once ROI is proven.
10. Compliance documentation supplied as standard

• material mill certificates for Q355B steel
• powder-coating salt-spray test 500 h report
• welding procedure specification (WPS) and radiograph for critical joints
• CE declaration per EN 1090-2 EXC2
• assembly manual with torque values and anchor layout drawing
• five-year structural warranty backed by USD 2 million product liability cover underwritten by PICC.

Technical Specifications

(Custom configurations available upon request.)

Drawings & Dimensions

Detailed CAD drawings and dimensional diagrams are available for download here or upon inquiry. Our engineering team can provide tailored designs to meet specific project requirements.