Mezzanines are a huge benefit to most warehouses.

Whether for extra storage, extra office space, or just a little extra room in a crowded area, most warehouses can benefit greatly from installing a mezzanine. The increased height and floor space allow for a little bit more breathing room in even the most cramped warehouse area, and can help your daily operations go more easily than usual.

If you’re considering a mezzanine (and most warehouse managers do, at some point), there’s one big question you should ask yourself—do you have room for a mezzanine?

Most warehouses can fit mezzanines in no problem. The modular design of most mezzanine types (typically referred to as free-standing or structural mezzanines) means they can be built to fit most pre-existing floor plans, but there’s a few important questions you need to ask yourself.

Perhaps the biggest question is what you’ll be using the mezzanine for. The design of your mezzanine is going to be largely influenced by what role it will be serving in your warehouse, and why you’re setting it up in the first place. Are you using it for storage, requiring more pillars and support to make sure it can safely handle the weight of everything you’ll be keeping on it? Will it be used for office space, requiring a more compact design that can still store an in-plant office as well as the related devices, equipment, and office furniture that comes with it? Or are you going to use it to give your team more room to work on things like item packing and sorting?

The role your mezzanine will be playing will influence the overall design, and can affect how much space it takes up. Mezzanines used for storage will require additional pillars and reinforcement along the bottom, which will impact the overall footprint it takes up. Storage mezzanines may require more rearranging of your shop floor than standard mezzanines do, and may need more work to prevent the disruption of traffic along the way.

How your workers and products access the mezzanine will also be a factor. Most mezzanines require the installation of a staircase along the side to keep up with safety regulations, and this can extend the overall vertical length of your mezzanine when factored into the size. Certain mezzanines can be designed to work with warehouse gravity conveyors to help move product more quickly, but the length of these conveyors can affect traffic in your warehouse if not properly factored in.

So, the question remains—does your warehouse have room for a mezzanine? In nearly any case the answer is ‘yes’, but it will require a degree of foresight and planning on your behalf before any big installations can be made.

If you’re ready to try out a mezzanine for your warehouse, contact us today and request a mezzanine quote to find one that fits your facility perfectly.