What to send a racking factory so the quotation is actually usable
Most first enquiries are unanswerable: "price for racking" tells a factory nothing. Here is the short list of inputs that turns an enquiry into a drawing and a number.
A racking quotation is an engineering output, not a catalogue lookup. Two buyers can ask for "pallet racking" and need completely different steel: one stores 400 kg cartons four levels high, the other stores 1,200 kg drums two levels high in a building with a 6 m eaves height. The steel, the beam section and the freight all change, so the first reply from any factory is a list of questions.
The five inputs that matter most
- Unit load — the weight of one pallet or one shelf of goods, and whether it is uniform or concentrated on feet.
- Pallet or carton footprint — length × width × height of the loaded unit, including any overhang.
- Available height — floor to the lowest obstruction (sprinkler, beam, light fitting), not just the ceiling.
- Quantity — number of pallet positions or shelf bays, so the factory can price a production run rather than a sample.
- Destination — country and port, because packing, coating specification and freight terms follow from it.
A sketch photographed on a phone is enough to start. What a factory cannot work with is a photograph of an empty room and the sentence "we need shelving".
What you get back, and what it should contain
A competent reply contains a layout drawing with bay widths and level heights, the load rating per level, the upright and beam sections, the finish, the packing arrangement and the terms. If a quotation arrives as a single price with no drawing, the specification is being guessed — usually against a standard bay that may not fit your pallet.
The mistake that costs the most
Ordering to the ceiling height instead of the working height. A 6 m building does not give 6 m of racking: beams, sprinkler clearance and the lift height of the truck all take space. Buyers who measure the room rather than the lift usually end up removing a level after installation, which is the most expensive way to discover a constraint.
