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A rack-supported structure helped Vieira’s Bakery solve its storage space crunch without having to erect a whole new building. Vieira’s Bakery needed more frozen storage capacity—and it needed it fast (that is, before its fourth production line came online). A producer of European-style breads, the 100,000-square-foot Newark, N.J., bakery had ramped up operations in order to ship nationwide and to Canada. But its physical plant had fallen short of its needs. To be precise, the bakery needed more freezer space to store its 150-plus stock-keeping units (SKUs) of frozen par-baked and fully baked rolls and breads. “Because of insufficient freezer capacity, we sometimes had to switch products on the same production line a few times a day, which reduced productivity,” said Carlos Vieira, founder and president of Vieira’s Bakery, in a press release. “Adding freezer capacity was essential before implementing our fourth production line and critical to our expansion efforts.” Trouble was, there was little room for expansion. While Vieira was able to buy some additional land next to his plant, it did not offer sufficient space to construct a new building. To help solve its capacity problem, Vieira turned to Daryl Hull, a racking and material handling consultant with 40 years of industry experience, and Steel King Industries, a storage system and pallet rack manufacturer. In short order, Hull came up with a solution. Rather than try to erect a standard building and put storage racks inside it, he recommended that the bakery go with something a little different: a rack-supported freezer storage structure with insulated panels attached to the top and sides to form sidewalls and a roof. “Rack-supported structures help to maximize storage because the building envelope exactly matches the storage space,” said Hull in the release. “The design eliminates the need for building columns, which […]