As warehouses grow, change, and expand, the time may come that all management dreads: moving your biggest installations.

Whether you need to rearrange your warehouse to make sure your biggest items are prioritized, you’re tearing down to move into an all-new warehouse, or you just have to scoot something over to make sure you have room for your newest warehouse shelving, moving your previously-installed warehouse shelves can be a major pain if done improperly.

Specifically, pallet racks are one of the trickiest items you may need to tear down and reinstall. There’s a lot of individual components that can go into it, and getting them to their new destination safely can be a job all on its own.

If you want to be better prepared the next time you move a pallet rack, here’s a couple tips we can offer to make the whole thing a little easier:

Disassemble as slowly as possible: The biggest thing to remember is that there’s a lot of small parts and little things that can go wrong when tearing down a pallet rack, and your teams will need to remove them all as slowly as possible to make sure nothing gets lost or damaged. Look for small pieces like retaining pins and keep them in a specially-designated place to avoid losing them, and move everything else slowly and gently to prevent damage.

Label parts as needed: If your pallet racks haven’t been marked for special uses, now might be a good time to start marking everything as you disassemble it. Use colored masking tape or electrical tape to check which parts go with which pallet rack and help keep everything bunched together as able.

Check for damage: While you’re dismantling a pallet rack for transport, you can do a quick spot-check for damage and other issues as you go. Look for bent uprights, damaged mounting brackets, curved step beams, and the like, and mark them as in need of repair or replacement before the pallet rack is reassembled at its new destination.

Set a traffic path: If you’re moving your pallet racks through the same building, then you’ll want to define where they’re moving to—and how they’re moving. Set up some warehouse guard rails to define a path and then make sure your staff knows not to cross those lines to avoid accidents, injury, or product damage.

Inspect their final destination: Finally, before they can get to their new home, make sure the area they’ll be installed in is safe and usable. Measure everything to ensure there’s enough space for your pallet rack without disrupting traffic or edging out the shelves around it, and make sure the ground is level and even to prevent accidental sliding or damage later on.