The Hidden Costs of Carton Flow Rack Installation | Mallard Buyer Beware
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Why Every Minute Counts: Avoiding Carton Flow Rack Installation Delays with Better Design
When investing in a carton flow system, you need an efficient, long-lasting solution that won’t surprise you with unexpected installation and maintenance costs. Unfortunately, not all carton flow rack systems are designed for quick and precise installation.
At Mallard, we’ve seen firsthand how competing carton flow products complicate installation, leading to unnecessary delays and added costs. The biggest culprit? A flawed mounting design that forces installers to make complex manual adjustments, increasing both labor time and expenses.
Understanding Carton Flow Track Installation Challenges
Left to Right – Cart-Trak, Dyna-Flo HD, Dyna-Flo Track Samples
Carton flow tracks—available with either wheels or rollers—come preassembled and ready for installation within storage racking bays. These tracks mount at a slight incline, relying on gravity to move inventory from the system’s loading (charge) side to the opposite (discharge) aisle for picking.
Mallard carton flow products mount quickly to the front and rear cross beams, creating a full shelf of wheels or rollers. However, not all carton flow rack products are “drop-in” ready—the key difference is the mounting bracket design. Installation time can significantly increase without a well-designed mounting system, leading to higher labor costs and potential inefficiencies.
Bracket Design: How to Avoid A Costly Oversight
Example: Slide Adjustment
Some carton flow systems use a slide-type adjustment for their foot brackets, which attach the tracks to the rack beams. However, these brackets often lack incremental measurements, making precise alignment difficult. Without clear markers, installers must manually estimate adjustments on both sides of the track (left to right) and at both ends (charge and discharge). This imprecise method increases the likelihood of misalignment, leading to uneven flow, product hang-ups, inefficiencies, and potential inventory damage.
In addition to the adjustable foot brackets, the tracks are often secured with tek screws. While this is a common installation step for carton flow racking, including Dyna-Flo and Dyna-Flo HD, it’s a much more cumbersome process to correct misaligned tracks with the slide style brackets… here’s why.
Dyna-Flo products use full-length, pre-punched mounting brackets that secure to the front and rear beams. The tracks simply drop into place. No guessing game or additional adjustments… See our installation video below.
Alternatively, with the slide-style brackets, if one or more tracks are misaligned, correcting them requires removing the tek screws, resetting the foot bracket, and resecuring the tek screw for each track.
What is Dyna-Flo and Dyna-Flo HD Carton Flow Rack?
Mallard’s Dyna-Flo and Dyna-Flo HD are high-performance carton flow systems engineered for efficiency and durability. Designed for high-volume and dynamic picking operations, these solutions feature a full-bed flow surface to accommodate varying carton sizes and weights. The heavy-duty Dyna-Flo HD option is built for heavier loads, ensuring reliable performance in demanding warehouse environments.
Unlike traditional carton flow systems, Dyna-Flo and Dyna-Flo HD provide a superior wheeled surface that enhances product movement while reducing the risk of hang-ups. These systems simplify installation, improve pick rates, and minimize long-term maintenance costs.
The True Cost of Installation: Do the Math
Let’s break down the labor involved in installing an inferior system:
- 6 tracks per level
- 4 flow levels per bay
- 600 bays total
That’s 24 carton flow tracks per bay and 14,400 tracks across the entire system.
Each track requires four brackets, totaling 57,600 brackets to adjust. If two installers take 5 minutes per track, that’s 1,200 hours of labor—potentially adding $60,000 or more to your installation costs.
Avoid the hassle and choose carton flow rack products designed for superior strength, reliability, and quick, easy installation.
The Dyna-Flo Advantage: Faster, Easier, and More Precise Installation
Mallard’s Dyna-Flo and Dyna-Flo HD carton flow systems eliminate these issues with a streamlined design that installs quickly and correctly the first time. Our solution features:
- Full-length, pre-punched mounting brackets that secure directly to the front and rear beams.
- Two tek screws per bracket—just secure and go.
- Preassembled carton flow tracks that drop into place—no need for manual adjustments or extra alignment work.
Take a look at our installation video to see for yourself how easily your tracks can be installed to get your system up quickly and cost-effectively.
Step-by-Step Dyna-Flo Installation Guide
- Install uprights and step beams according to pallet racking manufacturer instructions. Unless otherwise specified, Dyna-Flo HD carton flow is typically set at ¾” per foot pitch from the charge side of the rack to the discharge side.
- Attach mounting brackets to the step beams using tek screws. The pre-cut holes allow for faster, more accurate installation.
- Secure the brackets with Mallard’s unique retention angle. Simply grasp the retention angle with an adjustable wrench and bend it upwards—no nuts or bolt assemblies are required, ensuring a secure fit to prevent shifting during operation.
- Install the first carton flow track. The track should fit securely into the brackets on both ends. Test the lane before proceeding with the rest of the tracks—look for smooth flow without hang-ups or excessive force at the front beam or end plate.
- Complete the system installation. Once the first track is successfully tested, drop in the remaining carton flow tracks until the level is full, then continue to the rest of the system.
Optimize Your Warehouse with Mallard
With Dyna-Flo and Dyna-Flo HD, you eliminate unnecessary labor and ensure consistent flow across your carton flow levels. Our wheeled bed design is available in convenient 12” and 16” sections to fit standard rack widths:
- 96” bays – six 16” wide rails
- 108” bays – six 16” rails + one 12” rail
- 120” bays – ten 12” rail sections
- 144” bays – nine 16” rail sections
Mallard’s durable polycarbonate wheels deliver reliable, high-capacity performance while ensuring smooth product flow. Avoid installation pitfalls and unexpected costs—contact our team today for a free consultation and quote!
See Mallard carton flow rack up close and personal at PROMAT. Visit our team at Booth #S2368 –We look forward to solving your warehousing challenges with the power of gravity!
