Roll Out Cantilever rack

Handling long, heavy bar stock, pipe, and tubing presents a constant operational challenge. Traditional storage methods often lead to wasted time searching for materials, create unnecessary safety risks, and cause damage to valuable inventory. A Roll Out Cantilever system transforms your storage area from a static cost center into a dynamic, efficient, and safe component of your production workflow.

Talk With An Expert

The Daily Grind of Inefficient Storage: More Than Just Wasted Time

In any facility that handles long materials—be it a steel service center, a high-purity tube manufacturer, or a fabrication shop—the "invisible factory" is always running. This isn't a separate building; it's the sum of all non-value-added activities that consume resources. The most significant of these is often material retrieval. The process of "digging" for a specific bundle of steel pipe buried under five others is a familiar pain point. An operator has to carefully remove the top layers, find a temporary place to set them down, retrieve the target bundle, and then re-stack the original layers. This 20-minute ordeal isn't just a delay; it's a direct cause of downstream equipment like multi-million dollar laser cutters and CNC machines sitting idle, waiting for material.

A Fundamental Change in Access: Vertical vs. Horizontal

The core issue with traditional storage, like static cantilever racks or floor stacking, is its reliance on horizontal access. A forklift needs to drive into an aisle and maneuver its forks under a load. This single requirement dictates the entire layout of your facility, creating massive inefficiencies. The Roll Out Cantilever rack fundamentally changes this dynamic by shifting the point of access from horizontal to vertical, which is perfectly suited for an overhead crane.

Reclaiming Your Floor from the "Aisle Tax"

A standard forklift carrying a 20-foot load requires an aisle of 15 feet or more to turn and maneuver safely. This space, which is heated, lit, and maintained, stores nothing. It's a permanent "tax" on your valuable square footage. By implementing a crank out cantilever rack system, the aisle width is no longer determined by a vehicle's turning radius. Instead, it only needs to be as wide as the material being stored. A fully extended drawer presents the material into an open area, allowing an overhead crane to lift it straight up. This allows you to place racks much closer together, often reclaiming up to 50% of your floor space. That recovered space isn't just a saving; it's room for a new welding station or another production machine without needing a costly building expansion.

Making Every Item Instantly Accessible

The concept of 100% selectivity means that every single storage level is independently accessible without disturbing any other. With a roll out system, an operator can extend the fourth level to retrieve a specific grade of aluminum extrusion while the levels above and below remain untouched. This eliminates secondary handling entirely. The retrieval process becomes a predictable, repeatable task that takes 2-5 minutes, not a variable puzzle that can take up to 25. This predictability allows for tighter production scheduling and reduces the need for large buffer stocks at each machine, freeing up working capital.

Protecting Material Value with Zero-Contact Handling

For many industries, the material itself is a high-value asset where surface integrity is critical. A simple scratch can have significant consequences, especially for manufacturers of high-purity components governed by standards like ASME BPE.

More Than a Scratch: The Science of Surface Integrity

When a steel forklift tine scrapes against a 316L stainless steel tube, it does more than create a cosmetic blemish. It can break through the tube's passive chromium oxide layer—the very feature that gives stainless steel its corrosion resistance. This microscopic damage can introduce iron contamination and create a potential harbor for biofilm, rendering the material useless for pharmaceutical or food-grade applications. For materials like aerospace-grade titanium or polished aluminum, any surface damage often means the entire piece must be scrapped, a direct financial loss.

How Vertical Lifting Creates a Buffer of Air

An overhead crane accessible racking system facilitates a true "non-contact" handling method. The process is gentle and controlled:

1. The operator extends the desired shelf, moving tons of material with minimal physical effort.
2. The overhead crane lowers soft nylon slings or a vacuum lifter directly onto the bundle.
3. The material is lifted vertically, with no sliding, dragging, or metal-on-metal friction against the rack structure or other stock.

Operational Comparison: Forklift vs. Crane-Accessible Racking

Engineered for the Demands of Industry

This method of storage is not a light-duty solution; it is engineered specifically for heavy industrial environments. The structure is typically fabricated from heavy-duty structural steel profiles, not thin roll-formed steel, ensuring it can withstand the rigors of a busy production floor. The roll-out mechanism uses industrial-grade bearings and a geared crank to allow a single operator to safely extend shelves loaded with several tons of material. For high-frequency applications, motorized drawers can be operated by a simple push-button or remote control, further enhancing speed and ergonomics.

Furthermore, the system is adaptable to specific inventory needs. Adjustable dividers can be used on the arms to segregate different jobs, heat numbers, or customer orders, maintaining perfect organization and traceability. For storing dissimilar metals, such as stainless steel on a carbon steel rack, the arms can be fitted with protective UHMW-PE liners to prevent galvanic corrosion and contamination.