What Damages Aluminum Profiles in a Store

Most losses in an aluminum store are surface marks, not broken material. An anodized or powder-coated profile with a scratch is often rejected for visible work.

Three things cause most of the marks. Profiles scrape against each other or against steel when a bundle is pulled out from a floor stack. Slings and chains press into the top layer during crane lifts. Moisture that condenses between tightly packed profiles leaves water stains, which are hard to remove once they form.

Long thin-wall sections also sag between supports. A 6 m profile that rests on two or three rack arms can bend over time.

How the Storage Unit Protects the Profiles

Handling happens to the storage unit, never to the profiles. Once a bundle is in its unit, the gantry moves the unit and the profiles stay still inside it.

Diagram of a storage unit for 6 m aluminum profiles: 6,100 mm long, 700 mm wide, 500 mm high, with about 50 mm free at each end of the bundle

At the loading station, your crane or forklift places the bundle in an empty storage unit.
The gantry carrier lifts the unit at both ends. End guides on the carrier center the unit before it rises.
The unit travels above the racks and is set down on the cantilever arms at its location.
For retrieval, the gantry returns the same unit to the loading station. The operator takes out the lengths the job needs.

The 50 mm (2 in) end space keeps bar ends clear of the frame while the unit is lifted and lowered. The support spacing inside the unit and any lining for finished surfaces are designed from your profile list.

Specifications for an Aluminum Profile Store

Design limits apply to every project. Values marked "typical" come from a completed aluminum profile store with fixed racks.

Group	Item	Value
Capacity	Load per storage unit	Up to 5,000 kg (11,000 lbs) design limit; 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs) per unit in the typical aluminum project
Capacity	Load per level	1,000 kg (2,200 lbs) per level, typical
Capacity	Levels	5 levels per side, 10 levels per double-sided rack, typical
Dimensions	Storage unit for 6 m profiles	6,100 × 700 × 500 mm (240 × 27.6 × 19.7 in), typical
Dimensions	Rack height	Up to 7 to 8 m (23 to 26 ft), design limit
Dimensions	Gantry height	Up to 10 m (32.8 ft), design limit
Operation	Gantry travel / lift	25 m/min (82 ft/min) / 6 m/min (20 ft/min), typical
Operation	Positioning	±5 mm with servo drives, typical for fixed racks
Area	Store climate in the typical project	0 to 40 °C (32 to 104 °F), below 70% RH without condensation
Construction	Finish and color	Powder coated; RAL 5015 and RAL 2004 in the typical project, other RAL colors on request

The ratings apply to a bundle lying inside the storage unit over its whole length. Each quotation states whether the unit weight is part of the rating.

Yellow gantry robot beside blue cantilever racks loaded with aluminum profile bundles, with an operator at the control console

Loading Order and Rack Balance

A double-sided cantilever rack must stay balanced, and aluminum bundles vary a lot in weight. A bundle of large facade sections can weigh several times more than a bundle of small trims.

End view diagram of a double-sided cantilever rack with 5 levels per side, numbered to show storage units placed from the bottom up on alternate sides

Storing: the bottom levels fill first, alternating between the two sides.
Retrieving: the top levels empty first, again alternating sides.
If the plan calls for units from one side only, the system moves other units first to keep the rack within its balance limits.

The warehouse management system (WMS) applies these rules on its own, so operators do not have to plan locations. The WMS also records every unit by alloy, section, finish and quantity.

Humidity in the Store Area

Store climate matters as much as handling for aluminum surfaces. In the typical aluminum project, the store area was specified for 0 to 40 °C (32 to 104 °F) and below 70% relative humidity without condensation.

The gantry system does not control the climate of the hall. Plan the store away from open doors and wet processes, and dry any bundle that arrives wet before it goes into a storage unit.

Rows of blue cantilever racks with yellow arms holding long timber-sided storage units for aluminum profiles in a clean, bright hall

Where the Gantry Store Fits

A good fit if

You keep many alloys, tempers, sections and finishes, and each one is called a few times per shift.
Your profiles come in mill lengths of about 6 m and finished surfaces must arrive at the saw without marks.
Bundles now sit in floor stacks or on crane-served racks, and the crane driver moves several bundles to reach one.
Your hall has clear height above 5 m that manual racks cannot use.

Not the right choice if

You hold a few sizes in large quantities. A crane-served roll-out rack for aluminum stock costs less and reaches every level with your crane.
You need the stock during a power cut. The gantry cannot be moved by hand, and nobody may work inside the rack area.
The store must stand outdoors or in a humid area that you cannot keep dry.

For 6 m profiles without automation, compare the hand-cranked cantilever rack for 6 m profiles.

Typical Project: Heat-Sink Profiles Off the Floor

A maker of aluminum heat-sink profiles for vehicle builders stacked its 6 m extrusions on the floor. Every pick from a lower layer meant moving the layers above it first. The work needed at least two people.

The gantry store we installed has a 5.6 m (18.4 ft) gantry over 65 m (213 ft) of racks. Each storage unit carries more than 600 kg (1,320 lbs) and goes by forklift straight to the production line. In this project, one operator now does the storing and retrieval, and stock is managed in zones of the rack area.

High-angle view of a long row of blue cantilever racks with aluminum profile bundles and a yellow gantry robot at the near end

Delivery and Certification

Lead time is 60 to 90 days from order, including a trial assembly and function tests in our factory. A factory engineer installs and commissions the store on site. Warranty is 1 year and can be extended. We are CE certified and hold ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certificates; the racks are a patented design (China utility model patents). Videos of the gantry system running are in the CK Metal Storage Solutions video gallery.

FAQ

Q: Do the profiles touch the rack arms?

A: No. The bundle lies in a steel storage unit, and the rack arms carry the unit. The gantry lifts the unit at both ends, so the profiles are not moved against each other inside the store.

Q: How much aluminum fits in one storage unit?

A: The design limit is 5,000 kg (11,000 lbs) per unit, and 6 m stores usually use 3,000 kg (6,600 lbs) units. Aluminum is light for its volume, so the unit's cross-section often decides the capacity before its weight rating does. We size the unit from your largest bundle.

Q: Can we take out a few profiles and store the rest?

A: Yes. The operator removes the lengths the job needs at the loading station. The unit then returns to the racks, and the WMS updates the quantity.

Q: Can the store hold 9 m or 12 m extrusions?

A: Yes. We build gantry stores for 6 m, 9 m and 12 m (19.7, 29.5 and 39.4 ft) material. Longer units change the gantry span, the hall length and the support spacing, so we size them for your profiles.

Q: Can the racks and gantry be painted in our colors?

A: Yes. The steel is powder coated, and any RAL color can be specified with the order.

Request an Aluminum Store Layout

A layout drawing and a quotation follow once we have this information:

Your profile list: alloys, sections, finishes and lengths
Bundle sizes, the heaviest bundle and how bundles arrive (paper interleaving, timber crates)
Number of storage positions you need now and in five years
Hall length, width and clear height, and the temperature and humidity in the store area
Picks per shift, and the saws or machining centers the profiles feed

Request an aluminum profile store layout and quote.

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Automated Aluminum Profile Storage System With Gantry Robot