Warehouse Storage Trends with the SMA Industry Group
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Hey, it's Kevin Lawton with the New Warehouse Podcast bringing you a new episode today. And on today's episode, I am going to be joined by Terry Young, who is the owner at Steel Solutions, and Chris Pauls, who is the Next Caliber Product Manager for Steel King. And they are joining as part of the SMA, which is an industry group as part of MHI, which we'll talk all about

that. And we're also going to dive into just storage in general and what's happening in the warehousing industry in terms of the evolution of storage over time and some future trends around storage and what's happening right now as well. And also what it means to be SMA certified and the standards that are out there for storage as well. So Chris and Terry, welcome to the show with me today. How are you both?

Doing fine. Doing fine. Good. All right. Good to have you here both. And obviously, you know, Warehouse...

you know, kind of the underlying purpose of a warehouse is storage in itself, right? So very interesting topic to talk about here today, diving into storage. But I guess before we dive further into it and what's happening around storage right now, why don't you kind of tell us a little bit about SMA? What is SMA and kind of the history of SMA as well? Terry, you want to kick it off here? Sure.

Sure. Yeah, the Storage Manufacturing Association, which was SMA originally, is an independent incorporated trade association affiliated with MHI. Its origins go back to 1974.

The SMA today is made up of companies that produce industrial steel shelving, work platforms, and metal lockers. The origin of the SMA was actually the Shelving Manufacturers Association. But then in 1998, they got together with the Association of Mesne Manufacturers, and the thought was by having a bigger group, they could get more done. The AMA

Started back in 1989. So then in 2013, they dropped what they were calling the equipment. So initially it was Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association. Now today it's Storage Manufacturers Association. That's the main goal of the association is to promote that it's safe design and utilization of shelving, work platforms, and metal lockers.

Very interesting there. And I think it kind of shows the evolution of storage a little bit, you know, merging those kind of associations together and kind of the history there and how it's kind of all coming together. So I guess tell us a little bit about, you know, maybe Chris, from your perspective, I mean, why is it important to have like an industry group focus specifically on just storage in the warehouse itself?

Yeah, just to expand a little bit on Terry there, that works right into your question. Currently today we have 14 members from different companies throughout North America. And one of the things that we do within the organization is we create standards, develop standards from ANSI. And when you develop or part of that and being able to create those standards, you do have a say in how things kind of move forward.

It's pretty unique and having those abilities to do that within industry, I would call them peers. And although they are your competitors at times, but still working to or towards the common goal of the betterment of the industry in a whole. And also gives you that cutting edge, right? You're staying on the front edge of how things are developed. And if you're not involved with that, then you're kind of getting left behind.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's such an important thing to have, like, foundationally, right? Those standards and, you know, making sure that the right things are being done, I guess, in a sense, within the industry. And then, like you said there at the end, and, you know, on top of that, you know, making sure that you're on top of the latest, right? And making sure that you're able to keep also that latest technology within standards as well. Because sometimes we see...

you know, advancements in certain industries and things where, you know, their standards maybe sometimes are not keeping up, right, or there's new things out there to address. So we want to be able to embrace the innovation, but also, you know, make sure we stay true to our roots and that foundational set of standards in itself. Now, you know, aside from the standards, and the standards kind of, I guess, lead into this, maybe there's

you know, SMA certification, right? So tell us a little bit about what does it mean to be SMA certified and,

And I guess tell us from both sides of the table, right? Because we have kind of two parties, maybe you would say, that are involved here. We have the OEM, the manufacturer of whatever the storage application is. But then we have the end user, the customer, right, who's using the storage application. So what does it mean to be SMA certified for both the manufacturer and then also for the customer themselves too? Well, I can speak on that there for sure.

I'm going to go back a little bit on the standards. By having the standards, it makes all the parties involved that are actually supplying this equipment follow a good standard that is sound structural design. And they're all playing in the same field, you know, where you don't.

one manufacturer is doing something different cheaper or more expensive than others so that's a key thing but to be uncertified what that really means is that you have followed the new um code that's in the book now for work platforms we just got it established into the ibc 2024 code chapter 20 a section in the code which we spent many years developing the standard

and getting it incorporated into the code. What this means for the end user

For the building officials and for the industry in a whole, it ups the game. It makes that everybody's playing on the same level of field, okay, at a quality product, okay, that conforms to the code. One of the big problems that happened in the past with other manufacturers of equipment is the building officials didn't understand your product. So they always look for some place in the code to place you and understand your product.

So, by us having our work platforms and the steel shelving in the code, now they can refer to the code on those issues and understand going back to our standard that we developed. Interesting. And Chris, your thoughts there? Yeah. And the SMA certification really kind of ties that all together in three main sections.

with design, being able to display the competency of your company and be able to follow those guidelines with the design that you use, manufacturing and showing and displaying the ability to do the same with manufacturing, and then finally installation through inspections. Once the product tips out the door, goes into the field,

And then, you know, obviously it's directed to come in and then do the inspections and being able to certify it in that way as well. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's such a such an important thing to to have that. And, you know, one of the things, too, I think is probably the most important I would say about that is from a safety perspective, for sure. Like you want something that's going to be safe.

stable is not going to put your employees in danger or anything like that. And I think, you know, standards and certifications help to ensure that those, those safety measures and standards especially are, are being followed and the right thing is being done there. I would say as well as performance as well. Absolutely. There's all types of levels of design out there from different load capacities, the deflection to requirements and robotics, which is an upcoming, um,

a little fear already. Well actually also we would have to look at the fact that we have different seismic zones. So you have designing for seismic zones from California to Florida. We have very low in Florida to very high in California and in between there's a multiple number of zones. So part of the process in the certification, I don't know if you want to discuss the process to get certified?

Sure. Yeah, let's hear it. Okay. So to get certified, the manufacturer first has to be qualified, pre-qualified by the managing director of the SMA to be able to get certified. They have to conform at first that they're either a member or if they're not a member, they'll have to pay a higher fee to get their product tested.

But you're going to submit the forms in there and they'll pre-qualify that you are able to actually, you know, produce and come up to that level of standards that the MSA, the ANSI code, which is a code we developed, is that they're able to produce that, their personnel. And part of that process is what you've got to do is you've got to submit testing documents.

calculations and a layout drawing showing how this system is going to perform. In that process, we have a standard, we call it a 36 foot by 36 foot by 12 foot high structure with two different seismic zones that you have to design to. You basically take that system, run the calculations, run your testing,

And then you get that submitted to a reviewing engineer, which was part of a list of engineers that the SMA has pre-qualified to review the information that you have given to them to certify that you have the personnel, the understanding, and the capability to manufacture and design and also install these structures to that certification.

so it's a quality control issue to its highest degree and a lot of that stuff goes through your manufacturing process your materials on integrity for tracing materials your you know as far as product fabrication as far as welding and if you have multiple facilities you have to have those also certified so there's a variety of things i have to go into here to make it work

Yeah. Yeah. For your certification. And then once you get your certifications approved, there's a certification symbol that we got and you get a four digit number that you can place on your drawings and use in appropriate locations. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's great to know kind of the process there and what goes into that. And I think robust, robust.

stringent for a reason, right? To make sure that the compliance is in line. And I think that that can give that end user, that customer is ultimately purchasing the storage solution or putting it in place, that peace of mind, right? That everything has been followed from all the different standards that need to be out there. So very interesting. So now on the storage front itself, I'm curious, you know, like what...

What are some of the trends out there in the storage, I guess, world right now when it pertains to the warehouse? What are you seeing lately? What stands out to you as something that people are asking for, people are trying to do when it comes to getting better utilization of storage in the warehouse or just storage in general? We'll be back after a quick break.

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Well, the whole goal for platforms has always been to get utilized the space above the warehouse floor. I would say, you know, going back all the way into the early 90s and late 80s, a lot of that was just to get inventory up off the floor. And you would see at times the conveyance, but not like you see it today. Today, platforms is really the foundation.

to automation in my mind, as we, we want to support and get the automation up off the ground level. Because there are certain things that have to take place down, down below, such as the heavy forklift for shipping and moving that product outside into the doors of the trucks that take the product to where they need to go. But

On top of that, as things evolve now within the last, I would say, eight years, wouldn't you say, Terry, the introduction of robotics, AMRs, the different types of robots. Auto stores. Oh, yeah. They're just all different types of them now today.

And as a platform manufacturer, you really need to know what are the questions you need to be asking the integrator. You know, what type of robots they are. How are they going to maneuver on the deck surface that is on top of the platforms? And what are the safety protocol or the guidelines that need to take place? Those platforms that were pretty simple back in the day of maybe 500 people

or 50,000 square foot or now we're seeing going up to several hundred thousand square foot in facilities and pretty cool to see that as everything has evolved over the last say eight years to ten years. Yeah yeah it's definitely exciting stuff to see that kind of technology. Terry what are you seeing from your perspective?

Yeah, pretty much. Actually, the same day. One of the things I was interjected is the order store, which is, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the order store, it's a high density compact type of system there. We're starting to use where we're actually supporting some of those

along with the main system for access for the auto stores where they have the inbound battery stations where they need to charge up. A lot of the auto stores were supporting structures for that. Some places were supporting the actual auto store. So there's a lot of integration that's getting involved with those auto store there. And then along with Akiva, which was Akiva systems that Amazon built out, that we're using those on top of there. Also robotics, robotic automobiles.

Arms they use for welding and things of that nature, they're starting to put on top of the structure to either pick product, do manufacturing, do cutting, do various other processes that are required for processing the packages. It's either assembly or it's actually distribution. So you can have a manufacturing aspect of it or you could have the distribution aspect of it, which is storage is more common for distribution.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, it's interesting to see some of these technologies and,

you know, the impact that they have, I mean, you know, they have a direct impact, right, in the workflow or the task that they're tackling, right? But then there's like this kind of wave around them, right, where, you know, all these other things need to happen to support them and to get like that maximization there, right? And storage is certainly one of them. So as users, customers, warehouse operators, right, I mean, is there –

looking at their facility and, or maybe looking at, you know, a new facility or something like that. And, you know, then they're thinking about storage and what storage types they should get. And maybe they don't quite have automation or robotics yet, or, but it's like on their roadmap. How should they think about storage? Should they think about

Putting that initial storage in a different way, like to be able to be prepared for bringing in maybe like AMRs or something like that. Should they think about it in a different way than maybe they would have like, you know, eight, 10 years ago or something like that?

Well, I think to be honest with you, the problem, the issue is or the challenge or the fortunate challenge for us manufacturers is that new equipment's coming in and it has higher standards. So pre-planning for a system that's going to happen five years down from the road, you really can't. You basically...

planning for what the system is today, because it's got a certain specification for deflection, for loading, point loads, and various other things. In five years down the road, there may be a different specification for the condition. So unfortunately, you really can't plan too far ahead. You can plan for it further for future expansions on the platform under the same type of system.

But when newer systems come in, there's different specifications that are involved in there. So it's kind of tough to really say you're going to be all inclusive or something in the future because a lot of times just the elevation changes of these structures. I mean, we used to back when we first started in this industry, when you go 12 foot high structure, it was pretty high. Now we're at 20 feet, 24 feet in multiple levels.

And the way we look at it, and Chris was mentioned this before is what's happening down on the floor level is a lot of forklifts, all the fast turning items, the heavy items, all that stuff stays down below. They're lightweight items and the less turning over items go higher.

So the higher you go, the less turnover you get. But it also allows for picking systems to be up there, racking and other shelving and flow rack that people pick from. It could be liquor distribution. It could be stocks. It could be shelving and clothing. All kinds of items would go up there that people would pick from too. But down below where the fast moving stuff is happening and heavier stuff is happening, you're out of the way and it's safer for the people.

working in the type of operation. Interesting. And Chris, your thoughts there? Exactly the same. Yeah. You know, just to kind of continue on with that. I mean, several of your platform companies out there today also produce safety guarding that can help protect the aisles and so forth underneath.

So it is on the minds of the platform manufacturers all the time to continue to promote that safety and the safe utilization of how product flows through the entire warehouse. Very interesting there. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting way to think about it. I think, you know, trying to, you know, get the most out of that, that warehouse space kind of what it comes down to. Right. And, you

you're going to go up on the platforms, as you mentioned, or whatever the case may be, the more you can get creative, I guess, with some of these storage solutions, right? The more you can probably squeeze out of that overall cubic footprint that you have in a distribution center or warehouse. So very interesting there. So now I'm curious, I mean, because we think about storage and probably the average person, right, when they think about storage is probably...

some things that come to mind right away, just, you know, regular selective power racking, something like that. But there's many different types of storage that you can leverage and utilize. So I'm curious from your perspectives when you,

someone's thinking about storage options for their operation, you know, maybe it's for a certain section, certain department, or just the overall operation in general. What do you see are some of kind of the most commonly used

overlooked things when they're considering storage or, you know, things that people don't necessarily think about right away or kind of might be a miss or oversight that they could potentially do that's out there for them in the market? Yeah, I would say there's quite a few of those. One's time. How much time does it take? And why it is so important to contract a product

A estimate certified, or even as they may member platform company. Because these companies are very good at what they do. Taking from taking a design concept from cradle to grave. In a lot of cases, you're looking at lead times that need to happen within about 10 weeks. For purchase order to having products, different out the door and you're not going to see that.

they go to a fabricator or an outside engineering firm. So that's one good unique that these companies bring. And on top of that, one of the pitfalls that the end user, the integrator we contract through might want to keep in mind is always the slab on grade and the foundation that the columns are bearing on the floor, ensuring that that slab on grade can hold the load that's been produced.

And that that area ventilation and lighting under the structures, they're all in consideration egress and making sure that your employees can get up onto the platform and off the platform. Those are all things that we can make suggestions and helping them work through that. But in knowing that they have to at some point along the way, submit to the billing department and get permits.

and have those permits in place prior to installation out on the field in the site. Definitely, definitely. And Terry, what are your thoughts there? Yeah, so my thought, to be honest with you, as an association member, my thought always has been is I try to understand what the integrator is trying to do for a system. I try to get the full picture, and not just for what we're supporting, but for what he's doing in other parts of the building, whether it be rack or other things, because we feed into it.

or we feed out of it. And then, you know, our equipment does. So by us understanding what they're trying to accomplish overall, okay, and by us working with integrators on a regular basis, unlike going with general contractors, we understand what they look for

as far as a historical requirements and what kind of deflections and kind of point loads and what kind of conditions that they're going to need to install this thing. You've got to be able to install it. You know, you can't have a situation where it's, you can't install something because the way it's designed,

And there's also how their installers are putting things on the deck. They can't just drag things across the deck. They got to have a certain, you know, pallet jacks can't be going on top of bar grading and there's things of that nature. So there's things that you think for them. Because if you think for them, then you become their preferred vendor. Okay. And then the end result is you want to make your integrator look great in front of your customer.

Because when you do, then he gets further business in the future and you get further business down the road. And so to me, it's about the relationship and the understanding what's happening on these projects. That's the key thing to me.

Very interesting. Good, good advice there. And I think, you know, I think too, it's, you know, it comes down to, you know, there's the customer, right? The, the end user of the actual solution. This is not a solution that, you know, you're, you're putting in every, every day, right. Or every week or even every month in a sense. Right. So, so it's good to lean on those, those experts, as you said, whether it's, you know, from the manufacturer, the integrators perspective, whoever's,

putting this project together for you potentially, you know, allows you to really lean on that experience that they have from doing several other projects and, you know, understanding everything that goes into that. And some of those things that they may overlook or not even realize

Right. Like, like Chris, you mentioned the ventilation or even lighting there in a sense, you're putting platforms in, you know, that's like a whole nother thing. Right. Cause essentially you're creating like almost another room in a sense within the warehouse and you're closing off some of those things. And, you know, it's those kind of external or ancillary things that need to be included as well. When you think about putting these solutions in place and implementing this stuff. So yeah,

So very interesting stuff with you both here and interesting to learn more about SMA and what it means to be certified and the standards and kind of what's happening out there in the industry in terms of storage right now and how people should be approaching it and looking at these different things. So I really appreciate you both joining me on the show today to talk about this. If people are interested in

Learning more about what SMA does or how SMA can help them or become a resource for them, what's the best way to go about doing that? Yeah, they can simply get online and go to the mhi.org forward slash SMA, and that'll take you straight to the SMA microsite.

And in there, you'll see all kinds of case studies, the ANSI standards if they would like to purchase them as far as that goes. And it's just an information site that's got all the members in it and a lot of information that they can take back with them.

And there's a lot of FAQs in there for previous questions that people have had in the past. Also, for the SMA certification, there is a block in there for people to look at the requirements for getting certified also. So people who want to get certified, they can go there also and get a good reference guide. And then executive managers' names are in there too for contact in that name so they can get in contact with them and understand who to talk to.

All right. All right. Great. And we'll definitely put all that information at thenewwarehouse.com as well and also in the show notes for wherever you're watching or listening to this episode. So Terry and Chris, thank you once again for your time on the show today. You've been listening to The New Warehouse Podcast with Kevin Lawton. Subscribe and check us out online at thenewwarehouse.com.

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