VNA Racking: Very Narrow Aisle Racking

Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking combines the advantages of selective pallet racking and compact pallet racking systems with better use of the available space but maintaining direct access to all the stored unit loads.

In VNA Pallet Racking, access to the pallets is via the narrow aisles through forklifts especially designed for this storage system. The dimensions of the forklift enable its correct movement along the aisle, generally helped by a guidance system on both sides of the aisle or on the floor ensuring safer movements.

The Very Narrow Aisle Racking system allows its adaptation to picking or order collection needs, for which other types of handling equipment are used.

It is highly efficient and robust system, easy to assemble, and able to adjust and adapt the load levels depending on the goods to be stored, in terms of weight and volume.

• Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking maintains direct access to all the unit loads, so it is a fully accessible and selective system.
• Optimisation of the available space by reducing the work aisles can result in a total space saving of up to 40%.
• Increased warehouse storage capacity by compacting the selective pallet racking system and enabling the addition of new pallet racking bays.
• VNA racking also allows much better use of space at height.
• Simple assembly, disassembly and re-adaptation of load levels to adapt to changes in storage needs.
• Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking enables good control of the stored references, as the storage space coincides with a specific unit load.
• It is adaptable to any type of goods, by weight or volume, regulating the load levels or adding any of the accessories for special loads that it has.
• Allows pallet storage at floor level on the lowest level of the racking.
• Possibility of converting a Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking system into an automated storage system by installing stacker cranes.

Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking is a widely used solution for being very versatile and for optimizing space.

It is especially recommended for companies whose warehouses have any of the following characteristics:

• Warehouses that need direct and immediate access to each unit load, but which at the same time need to optimize the available space.
• Warehouses with unit loads with very diverse references.
• Warehouses with non-homogeneous products and that require high rotation.
• Warehouses with reduced floor space, but with the possibility of installing a very high system.

The frame is the main vertical component of the racking structure for very narrow aisles. It consists of 2 uprights, diagonal braces, baseplates and fixing elements.

AR Racking USA frames are manufactured in a galvanized finish, which gives them better resistance to adverse conditions compared to the painted finish.

In addition, AR Racking’s pallet racking uprights and beams have a pioneering traceability system that immediately provides us with information on the design, composition and origin of each component.

The beam is the horizontal component of the Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking structure.

Its main function is to support the unit loads, serve as a connection between the contiguous frames and have connectors that fit into the holes of the column.

The extensive range of AR Racking USA beams covers many types, lengths and load capacities to suit each customer’s specific needs.

There are various accessories that enhance the safety of the installation, such as pallet backstops, the protection meshes and protectors.

In the Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking system, and although it is not part of the racking itself, the most important safety accessory is the forklift guidance system.

As mentioned, although this is not part of the racking structure, the guidance system is a key element of the VNA system, due to the importance and difficulty of manoeuvring in narrow aisles.

Very Narrow Aisle pallet racking systems enable far more efficient warehouse operations with much higher productivity and safety than with conventional solutions.

These guidance systems enable safe movement along the work aisle, reducing the safety distances, but ensuring the correct maintenance of the stored unit loads.

It is a support system for the warehouse operator, who can concentrate on the loading and unloading process and not have to worry so much about the steering.  It therefore enables simultaneously the movements of the forklift and the lifting of loads.

The possible guidance systems include the mechanical guidance system via a guide rail and the inductive guidance with a guide wire or laser.

In Narrow Aisle pallet racking with a mechanical guidance system, the forklifts must be equipped with rollers as guides on their sides.

Metal rails are installed on the sides of the work aisle that will guide the truck along the aisle and make sure it stays on a straight course.

The guide rails can be high or low depending on the storage needs of the first level of the racking.

The inductive or wire guidance system for Narrow Aisle pallet racking is a sensor-based system whereby a cable circuit is created under the floor of the installation that acts as a guideline for the forklift.

This cable or wire under the floor generates a small electromagnetic field that connects to the sensors which the special forklifts for this system have and which ensure that there are no lateral deviations from the circuit designed.

This alternative system to mechanical guidance guarantees maximum safety in warehouse operations and automates the movements of the forklift within the work aisle. The wire circuit must be installed after the installation of the Very Narrow Aisle racking.

Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) Pallet Racking systems comply with the strictest European safety standards, and also come with AR Racking’s quality and innovation guarantee.

• ISO 9001: 2008
• ISO 18001: 2004
• OSHAS 18001: 2007
• Welding certificate: UNE EN ISO 3834-2: 2006
• Galvanized steel corrosion resistance certificate: UNE EN ISO 14713-1
• Galvanized steel reaction to fire: EN 13501-1: 2007
• Pallet Racking Quality Certificate
• EN 15512
• EN 15620
• EN 15629
• EN 15635
• FEM 10208

In more than 26,000 storage projects implemented in over 60 countries, we have collaborated in the optimization of the warehouses of major international companies from various sectors: food and beverage, automotive, distribution, electronics, pharmacy and cosmetics, industrial and transport and logistics.

Some of our Very Narrow Aisle Pallet Racking projects:

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