Beverage & FMCG Distribution
Summary: A provincial beverage distributor was hitting its storage ceiling every summer, with peak inventory reaching 3× normal levels and forcing costly short-term external warehouse rentals. After switching to drive-in racking, Pallet density per square meter roughly doubled, aisle share dropped from 35% to 5%, and peak-season stock now fits entirely in the main warehouse — external rental and double-handling costs eliminated.
Background: Sales Doubled, but the Warehouse Couldn't Keep Up
The distributor represents multiple major beverage and bottled-water brands across provincial retail channels. As peak-season sales grew, warehousing pressure became critical:
- Extreme inventory peaks: Summer and pre-holiday stocking pushed peak inventory to roughly 3× off-peak levels; the existing racking ran out of positions.
- External warehouse dependency: During peaks, temporary warehouse space had to be leased, plus significant double-handling and product damage from transfers between sites.
- Wrong racking for the job: Beverage SKUs are concentrated — few SKUs, very large per-SKU volumes — a textbook "low-mix, high-volume" storage profile that was still being handled by general-purpose selective racking.
Solution: Rebuilding the Storage Logic with Drive-In Racking
We proposed a full drive-in racking solution tailored to the high-volume, low-mix profile:
- Dense storage: Forklift travel aisles removed — forklifts enter the rack tunnel directly, storing entire batches of the same SKU along the lane depth for dramatically higher lane capacity.
- Batch management: LIFO lane planning enables whole-batch-in / whole-batch-out flow, matching the distributor's brand- and batch-based allocation process.
- Heavy-duty construction: Q235B steel main frames, 1,500 kg design load per level; level heights customized to pallet and stacking heights to maximize the 7.5 m clear building height (3 levels).
- Fast deployment: Modular design with standard components — from contract signing to full operation in only 35 days, ahead of peak season.
Results: Throughput and Cost Optimization
| Metric | Before (Selective Racking) | After (Drive-In Racking) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pallet positions per m² | Baseline | ~2× baseline | ~+100% |
| Aisle area share | 35% | 5% | -30 pts |
| Temporary external warehouse | Required in peak season | Not needed | Eliminated |
| Double-handling damage rate | ~0.5% | 0 | Near-zero |
| Peak-season storage capacity | Required external overflow | Handled in main warehouse | No external rental |
Customer Testimonial
"We used to scramble for warehouse space every summer. Now the external warehouse is gone, damage is down, and scheduling is clean. Drive-in racking truly maximizes every cubic meter." — General Manager, beverage distributor
Conclusion
Beverage, grain & oil, and paper product distributors all share the same pain: concentrated SKUs, huge batch volumes, and violent seasonal swings. Drive-in racking trades the aisle cost of selective racking for high-density storage, letting distributors absorb peak inventory without expanding or renting — a proven cost-reduction solution for FMCG distribution networks.
