Selective or Non Selective: What's right for you?
Working Out What You Need
Choosing the most cost-effective and efficient system must take into account:
- the number of products
- the volume of each product
- the movement rate
- the physical size and weight of the products to be stored
- expected growth; and
- a host of other matters including the type of materials handling equipment to be used.
Selective & Non-Selective Systems
The choice of which type of racking best suits your requirements comes down to determining whether you need Selective or Non-Selective Racking.
Selective Racking Systems provide immediate, ready access to virtually all pallets.
Non-Selective Racking Systems restrict access to individual pallets, but are more space efficient than Selective Systems. Often the correct solution involves using a combination of Selective and Non-Selective Racking types to provide the optimum combination of access with space efficiency.
Selective Racking Systems are needed where there are a high number of SKUs with only a few pallets or less of each, which is typical of most retailers/wholesalers.
Selectivity is also necessary where high activity levels demand multiple forklifts per aisle and there is manual 
order picking from the lower levels.
Selective Racking Systems include:
Other specialised Selective Racking Systems include Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) Racking serviced by Stacker Cranes and Power Mobile Racking.
Non-Selective Racking Systems are appropriate where there are many pallets of each SKU, such as is the case with manufacturers.
Non-Selective Systems include:
