That’s the burning issue Steel King Industries will be helping address during a presentation the company is sponsoring at ProMat 2015 on Tuesday, March 24 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. in Theater A in McCormick Place South. The presentation is entitled “Warehouse Fire Sprinkler Codes and the Impact on Storage Racks.”
According to Gary Smith, one of the presenters and the vice president of sales and marketing for DACS, Inc., fire protection is one of those issues that should always be on the minds of material handling professionals, but often doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
“Fire protection is typically not the highest priority for material handling designers,” said Smith. “Instead, and rightfully so, they are concerned about product flow and efficiency and the interaction with racking, shelving and forklifts. This presentation is a primer for these professionals so they are aware of the issues they could face and get some ideas on how they can lessen their risk.”
Arlin Keck, corporate R&D engineer at Steel King, who will be moderating the presentation, agrees. “While its not the material handling people’s jobs to focus on fire protection – that’s one of the areas we at Steel King can help them with – they do need to be aware of the dangers and issues surrounding warehouse fires. This presentation will do exactly that.”
Keck says key takeaways from the presentation will be building code requirements for in-rack sprinklers and how in-rack sprinklers affect the design and potentially lower the cost of the supporting rack structure. Joining Smith and Keck in presenting will be Gerald Schultz, a fire protection engineer and the principal at FPI Consortium.
“One thing that the fire code community is reacting to which could impact many companies with warehouses is the storage of plastics,” said Smith. “Years ago everything was cardboard boxes stored on wood pallets. Over the last 15 to 20 years we’ve seen many more products being made of plastic; the packaging is being made from plastic; even the pallets are plastic. Plastic in a fire protection world can be a very big problem. It burns quickly. It gives off toxic gases. And it’s very difficult to extinguish. These are some of the things warehouse managers have to be aware of when designing their racking systems – especially when it comes to in-rack sprinkler systems.
“Having a good fire protection or suppression system can be the difference between salvaging your warehouse or having a total loss,” concluded Smith.
In addition to participating in the presentation, Steel King will have a booth at the show where it will be simulating a pick module system, showcasing a wide array of products. They will also be unveiling a new safety gate within its Steel Guard® and Armor Guard® product lines that features a spring-loaded hinge that simply pushes open and closes automatically.
ProMat 2015 is March 23-26 in Chicago at McCormick Place – South. Steel King will be in booth 1531. Persons interested in attending can register for free by going to www.steelking.com and clicking on the ProMat logo at the bottom of the page.
