We've been designing, fabricating and installing pallet racking systems in Singapore since 2011 — Selective, Drive-In, Double-Deep, VNA, Cantilever and Heavy-Duty configurations across factories, 3PL hubs and retail warehouses. After 1,500+ commercial and industrial installations, the lesson that keeps surfacing is this: the right racking system is rarely the one in the catalogue. It's the one that actually fits your forklift fleet, your pallet rotation pattern, your floor slab load rating, and the way your team works under pressure at 2 p.m. on a Friday.

What Types of Pallet Racking Systems Do We Fabricate and Install?

We manufacture and install six main configurations, each suited to different warehouse operations:

Selective Pallet Racking

This is the workhorse. Every pallet position is accessible from the aisle. Ideal for operations with high SKU counts and moderate stock rotation. We cold-roll form the uprights and beam profiles in-house, weld the beam end-plates, and hot-dip galvanise or powder-coat depending on your environment. Typical beam capacities range from 1,500 kg to 3,000 kg per pair; we've gone higher when the slab and upright frame allow it.

Most of our Selective installs use reach trucks or counterbalance forklifts in 2.7 m to 3.3 m aisles. If your SKU count is above 200 and you need frequent picking, this is usually where we start the conversation.

Drive-In and Drive-Through Racking

When floor space is limited and you're storing multiple pallets of the same SKU, Drive-In lets the forklift drive into the rack lane and stack pallets 3–6 deep. Last-in, first-out (LIFO). Drive-Through allows access from both ends — first-in, first-out (FIFO) — and we've used this configuration in cold rooms and staging areas where product must rotate strictly by date.

The trade-off: reduced selectivity. You can't pull a pallet from the middle without moving the others. We always walk through your stock rotation and expiry-date discipline before recommending this system.

Double-Deep Racking

Selective access with two pallet positions per aisle face. Requires a double-deep reach truck with telescopic forks. Density gain is real — roughly 25–30% more pallets in the same footprint — but you sacrifice some selectivity. We install this when clients have paired SKUs (same product, different batch) or can afford to rotate two pallets per pick face.

Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) and Narrow Aisle

Aisles as narrow as 1.6 m to 1.8 m, guided wire or rail, man-up turret trucks lifting to 12 m or higher. We coordinate the floor tolerance survey, the guide-rail installation, and the upright bracing to handle lateral loads from truck contact. VNA maximises cube utilisation, but it demands excellent slab flatness (typically ±3 mm over 3 m), trained operators, and robust rack-impact monitoring. Not every warehouse floor or team is ready for it, and we say so upfront.

Cantilever Racking

For long, awkward loads — steel bar stock, timber, piping, aluminium extrusions. No front columns. Arms project from a central upright spine. We've fabricated single-sided and double-sided cantilever systems for metalworking shops and timber yards, with arm capacities from 500 kg to 2,000 kg depending on cantilever length and load distribution.

Heavy-Duty Pallet Racking

When pallet loads exceed 3,000 kg or you're storing machinery, coil stock, or bulk raw materials. We import heavy-section rolled profiles for the Super Heavy-Duty tier and weld custom beam assemblies in-house. Every design is checked against the actual slab capacity — because a 5,000 kg pallet load becomes a 20 kN point load on the slab once you account for impact and upright tributary area, and not every industrial floor was poured to carry that.

How Do We Size a Pallet Racking System for a Singapore Warehouse?

We don't start with a catalogue. We start with a site visit and four questions:

• What is your actual pallet load? Not the advertised maximum — the real weight, measured or weighed. We add a 20–30% safety factor for impact and load creep.
• What forklift equipment do you operate? Reach truck, counterbalance, turret, side-loader? Each dictates aisle width, lifting height and rack-impact risk.
• What is your floor slab capacity? Older industrial slabs were often designed for 15 kN/m² distributed live load. When you concentrate four 1,500 kg pallets onto one upright footplate, you may exceed that localised capacity. We measure slab thickness when possible and check the original structural drawings if available.
• How do you rotate stock? FIFO, LIFO, batch picking, full-pallet dispatch? This determines whether Selective, Drive-In, or a hybrid layout makes operational sense.

From there, we draft a layout in AutoCAD, calculate beam deflection under load (we target L/180 or better), confirm upright frame shear capacity, and size safety pins, upright protectors and column guards. The goal is a system that won't deform, won't surprise your insurer, and won't fail a future rack inspection.

What About BCA and SCDF Submissions?

If your racking includes a mezzanine level — a raised platform with accessible floor area — or if the installation involves structural alterations to the building, you may need BCA Building Plan approval and a PE-stamped structural submission. We coordinate this for mezzanine floors, heavy racks with structural tie-ins, and outdoor shelter structures.

For standalone pallet racking (no mezzanine, no structural tie to the building columns), submission is typically not required, but every project is different. We always confirm the threshold before quoting, especially when total rack height exceeds 10 m or when the warehouse is within a controlled SCDF zone.

Why Do We Fabricate In-House in Singapore?

We started as a logistics business in 2011. In 2014, we needed racking for our own warehouse and couldn't find a contractor we trusted to deliver on time, to spec, and at a fair price. So we bought a roll-former, learnt the fabrication process, and built our own.

Clients saw the work and asked us to build theirs. Two decades and 1,500+ installs later, in-house fabrication gives us three advantages:

• Quality control. We inspect the steel, control the welding process, and batch-test beam deflection before powder-coating. When something doesn't meet spec, we catch it before it leaves the workshop.
• Lead time. We don't wait on overseas shipping schedules for standard profiles. Custom beam lengths, non-standard uprights, and replacement components can be turned around in days, not months.
• Traceability. Every batch is PSB-tested. Mill certificates are available on request. If an insurer or PE asks for material provenance, we have it.

For Super Heavy-Duty sections — I-beams, H-columns, thicker cold-formed profiles — we import from established mills, but all welding, cutting and assembly happens in our Singapore workshop.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes We See When Clients Come to Us After a Bad Install?

Three patterns repeat:

1. Undersized beams. The system was sold to a 2,000 kg per level spec, but the client's actual pallets weigh 2,400 kg, and the beams sag visibly after six months. Fixing this means replacing beams — expensive and disruptive.

2. Mismatched aisle width. Rack was designed for a 2.7 m aisle, but the client's reach truck needs 3.0 m turning radius. Operators scrape uprights on every turn, damaging frames and creating a safety risk. The only fix is to remove rows or reconfigure the entire layout.

3. Ignoring slab capacity. Heavy racks installed on a slab not rated for the point loads. We've been called in to assess cracked concrete, localised settlement, and insurance red flags. Sometimes the answer is to reduce pallet weights; sometimes it's slab reinforcement or a full relocation.

Every one of these could have been avoided with a proper site survey and load calculation before quoting. That's why we do the slow work first.

How Much Does a Pallet Racking System Cost in Singapore?

It varies widely based on system type, height, load capacity, finish and installation complexity. We don't publish fixed per-bay pricing because every warehouse is different — floor condition, access constraints, required bracing, and coordination with active operations all affect cost.

As a rough guide, a standard Selective pallet racking bay (2.7 m wide, 6 m high, four beam levels, 1,500 kg per level) typically falls within a certain range, but Drive-In, VNA and Heavy-Duty systems cost more due to material weight, precision tolerances and installation time.

We provide a written quotation after the site visit, broken down by supply, fabrication, delivery, installation and any required submission work. No surprises, no provisional sums that balloon later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you only install racking you've fabricated yourselves?

Mostly, yes. We fabricate Selective, Drive-In, Double-Deep, Cantilever and standard Heavy-Duty systems in-house. For specialised or imported systems — certain VNA configurations, proprietary automated storage — we can coordinate installation if the system has clear engineering documentation and the client understands we're not the original fabricator. But our warranty and quality assurance apply fully only to racking we've made ourselves.

How long does a typical pallet racking installation take?

A straightforward Selective system for a 10,000 sq ft warehouse usually takes one to two weeks from delivery to final inspection, assuming good site access and no active operations running concurrently. Drive-In and VNA systems take longer due to alignment precision. Mezzanine-integrated racking or projects requiring BCA submission add 4–8 weeks to the overall timeline for approvals. We give a detailed schedule in the quotation.

Can you install pallet racking in an active warehouse without shutting down operations?

Yes, and we do this regularly. We stage the work in phases — one zone at a time — and coordinate with your dispatch schedule to avoid blocking active picking or loading areas. It takes longer and requires tighter logistics on our side, but it's often far cheaper for you than a full operational shutdown. We discuss the phasing plan during the site visit.

What's the difference between Selective and Drive-In racking, and how do I know which one I need?

Selective gives you direct access to every pallet but uses more floor space because every aisle serves a single pallet-deep row. Drive-In stacks pallets 3–6 deep per lane, saving floor space, but you can only access the front pallet — it's last-in, first-out. If you have high SKU diversity and need fast picking, Selective is almost always better. If you store large quantities of a few SKUs and don't need strict FIFO rotation, Drive-In makes sense. We walk through your SKU count and stock turnover to confirm which system fits.

Do I need a structural engineer's submission for pallet racking in Singapore?

For standalone pallet racking — no mezzanine, no structural connection to the building — submission is usually not required. But if the racking includes a mezzanine floor with accessible area, or if the uprights are tied into the building structure for seismic or lateral bracing, you'll need BCA approval and a PE-stamped structural submission. The threshold also depends on the mezzanine area and use classification. We always confirm the submission requirement during the quoting stage and coordinate the PE and BCA process if needed.

Let's Talk About Your Warehouse

Every warehouse has its own quirks — awkward column spacing, a slab that wasn't quite flat, a forklift fleet that's evolved piecemeal over five years. We've seen most of them. If you're planning a new racking system, expanding an existing layout, or fixing someone else's undersized install, we'll come to site, measure what matters, and give you a clear answer on what will work and what won't.

Message us on WhatsApp at +65 9107 2601 and we'll arrange a visit.