Client Overview
A regional machinery parts manufacturer in Eastern China supplies steel components, pipes, and fabricated assemblies to equipment makers across the Yangtze Delta. With batches of long steel bars, pipes, and profiles moving through a 3,600㎡ warehouse daily, the company needed a storage system purpose-built for lengthy, irregular materials — not one that treated them like standard pallets.
The Challenge
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Overhanging loads blocked aisles: Steel bars and pipes extended past beam ends, creating obstacles in every row and forcing forklifts into tight, unsafe maneuvers.
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Manual ground stacking caused damage: Long materials stacked directly on the floor developed bend and warp under their own weight. Bottom-layer pieces were scratched and deformed, adding rework time before shipment.
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Poor inventory visibility: With pipes and bars lying in unmarked floor piles, locating a specific diameter or length meant climbing over stacks and physically checking each bundle — slowing every order.
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Wasted vertical space: The warehouse's 7.0 m clear height was barely used. All long materials lay flat on the ground, leaving the upper two-thirds of the building empty.
Shibang's Tailored Solution
Shibang conducted an on-site assessment of load lengths, weights, and forklift handling patterns before designing a
cantilever racking system engineered specifically for long, heavy materials:
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Single-Sided & Double-Sided Cantilever Frames: Strategically placed along the warehouse perimeter and in the central area, maximizing both wall-side density and center-aisle accessibility.
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Adjustable Cantilever Arms: Arms spaced at 600 mm and 900 mm intervals, adjustable in 100 mm increments to accommodate materials from 2 m to 9 m in length. Each arm rated to 500 kg with a 1,500 kg per-side load capacity.
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Removable Arm End Stops: Prevent pipes and bars from rolling off during placement or retrieval — a critical safety feature for smooth cylindrical stock.
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Reinforced Base & Bracing: Heavy-gauge steel bases with cross-bracing ensure structural stability under dynamic forklift loading. All anchor bolts torque-verified during installation.
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Full-Height Utilization: Four arm levels extending to 6.0 m, transforming wasted vertical space into organized storage tiers.
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Clear-Zone Aisles: 3.5 m aisle widths provide ample room for forklift maneuvering and load sweeping without aisle encroachment.
Results & Impact
✅ 50% faster order picking time for pipes and bars
✅ Zero material bending or warping incidents post-installation
✅ 35% increase in effective storage density within the same footprint
✅ Full aisle clearance restored — no overhanging loads blocking pathways
✅ Improved inventory visibility — every bundle visible and accessible from the aisle
"We should have switched to cantilever years ago. The difference is immediate — no more crawling over floor piles, no more bent pipes, and our forklift operators can actually see where they're going."
— Warehouse Supervisor, Machinery Parts Manufacturer
Why Choose Shibang Racking?
18+ years delivering customized, durable, scalable racking across textiles, apparel, printing, automotive, and heavy industry. From light-duty shelving to heavy-duty cantilever and industrial systems, we engineer around your product and your workflow.
