A stockroom lives or dies by its shelving. Get the bays, depths and picking flow right and one person can find any line in seconds; get it wrong and you lose floor space, time and stock accuracy. This guide covers how to fit out a stockroom or storeroom with the right mix of shelving — written from the commercial steel systems we supply, not flat-pack units.
What stockroom shelving has to do
Unlike a warehouse aisle fed by fork lifts, a stockroom is hand-loaded and hand-picked. That sets the rules: shelf heights a person can reach, depths a person can see into, and bays arranged so the fastest-moving stock sits between waist and shoulder height. Everything stored above safe reach needs steps or a mobile platform — plan for that from day one rather than tolerating chairs and pallets.
The formats that make up a stores area
Boltless steel shelving — the backbone
For boxed and binned stock, boltless steel bays are the standard: shelves locate on lugs on pre-punched uprights, so a bay goes up in minutes and shelf pitches adjust as your stock profile changes. Our SSI Schaefer heavy-duty industrial shelving (the R3000 system) is a boltless-lug design with solid steel shelf decks, available galvanised or painted, with accessories — dividers, side and back panels, doors, drawers — that turn open bays into organised stores. It runs standalone or multi-tier, and extension bays share uprights with starter bays to keep cost per metre down.
Small-parts tray units — for the fiddly lines
Fixings, spares, electrical components and anything else that lives in hundreds of small locations picks far faster from purpose-made small-parts units. The GPC Small Parts Shelf Units (ASU) use withdrawable trays with roughly 90% clear access, in tray sizes from 90×117×300 mm up to 140×234×500 mm with dividers — one tray per part number beats a shoebox on a shelf every time.
Tote pans on racks — for kitting and decanting
Where stock is decanted into standard containers, GPC Tote Pans & Racks put welded-steel rack frames behind your picking face, with bin retainers holding each tote at an angle you can see into. They suit kitting benches and back-of-counter stores particularly well.
Longspan — when boxes get big
Bulky cartons, rolls and long goods that overwhelm standard bays belong on longspan shelving — deeper, wider bays that are still hand-loaded. If part of your storeroom is heading that way, see our racking & shelving range and the longspan shelving guide.
Planning the layout
Work from the picking flow backwards. Put fast movers nearest the door or hatch at golden-zone height; slow movers go high or low. Keep main aisles wide enough for whatever moves through them — a person with a tote needs ~900 mm, a picking trolley needs more. Run bays in single rows against walls and back-to-back doubles in the middle, and use the full height of the room with taller bays plus proper steps rather than spreading everything at waist height. Label locations, not just products: bay / level / position references make counting and picking faster and are the foundation for any stock system.
The specs that matter
Shelf UDL (uniformly distributed load) is the number to check — a shelf rated at 100 kg UDL carries that spread across the deck, not stacked in one corner. Check bay height against your ceiling and sprinkler clearances, depth against what you can actually reach (300–600 mm covers most stockrooms), and pick galvanised finishes for cold or damp stores. Under PUWER, storage equipment must be kept in good order — keep loads within stated ratings, load heavy items low, and take damaged bays out of use. Your own risk assessment should confirm the arrangement for your site.
Five questions before you order
- What's the heaviest shelf-load? — sets the UDL and system.
- How many part numbers are small parts? — sets the tray-unit count.
- What are the room dimensions and door swing? — sets bay sizes and layout.
- Is the room heated and dry? — sets the finish.
- How will you reach the top shelf? — adds steps or a platform to the order.
Stockroom shelving FAQs
What's the difference between shelving and racking? Shelving is hand-loaded; racking takes palletised loads placed by fork lift. A stockroom is almost always shelving.
How deep should stockroom shelves be? As deep as you can see and reach into — 300–450 mm for small stock, up to 600 mm for cartons. Deeper than that, stock hides.
Can I add more bays later? Yes — boltless systems extend with add-on bays that share a common upright, so buy a starter bay now and extend as stock grows.
Do I need to fix shelving to the wall or floor? Follow the manufacturer's guidance — taller or heavily loaded bays should be fixed or run back-to-back for stability.
Browse heavy-duty industrial shelving and the wider racking & shelving collection, or see our guides to metal shelving units, boltless shelving and small parts storage.