Most warehouse managers inherit their racking. It came with the lease, or it was bought second-hand a decade ago, and nobody left a manual. Working out what you actually have is the first question behind almost every other one — because beams, frames and connectors do not cross brands.
Racking is a structural system, not a set of parts. A beam is engineered for a particular frame’s connector, at a particular load, and the capacity figure on a load sign belongs to that combination. Mixing components from two systems because they physically clip together is one of the more common ways a warehouse ends up with racking nobody can put a defensible capacity on.
It also drives cost. If you can name your system, you can buy compatible components, extend a run, or replace a damaged upright without replacing a bay. If you cannot, you are pricing a rebuild.
And it decides your options when you move. See relocating or reconfiguring racking for what brand identification changes about a warehouse move.
Australian suppliers consistently list the same set: Dexion, Colby, Stow, Schaefer, APC, Macrack, Spacerack, Brownbuilt and BHD (also sold as Meca) — plus a substantial "Dexion-compatible" aftermarket that exists precisely because Dexion was dominant for long enough to become a de facto pattern.
The pages below take them one at a time: what the system looks like, how to recognise it, what is still available new, and what the second-hand market for it is like.
12 guides
Say 'racking' in an Australian warehouse and someone will probably answer 'Dexion' before you've finished the sentence. The name has been in the market long enough that it gets used the way 'Esky' gets used, as a stand-in for the whole category. Here's what that actually means when you're buying, extending or trying to identify a system on your floor.
If a used racking listing doesn't say Dexion, there's a good chance it says Colby. It's the other Australian name that shows up constantly in secondhand stock, auction lots and warehouse fit-out enquiries, and it deserves the same care before you assume anything about what you're buying.
Stow doesn't have the decades of secondhand-market presence that Dexion or Colby have in Australia, but it's an established international racking and storage systems supplier with equipment installed in Australian warehouses. Here's what buyers actually need to know before shopping around.
Schaefer racking usually means equipment from SSI Schäfer, an international storage and intralogistics supplier with a presence in the Australian market. It's less likely to turn up in a general secondhand auction than Dexion or Colby, and more likely to arrive as part of a planned warehouse fit-out.
APC is one of several Australian-market pallet racking brands that turns up in fit-out quotes and secondhand listings without the name recognition of Dexion or Colby. That doesn't make it a lesser product, but it does mean buyers need to do more of their own homework.
Macrack is another Australian-market racking name that shows up often enough in industrial equipment listings to be worth knowing, without the brand recognition that turns 'Dexion' into a generic term. Treat it the same way you'd treat any brand you haven't dealt with before: confirm before you assume.
Spacerack is a name that comes up regularly in Australian secondhand racking listings, particularly from older industrial and warehouse sites. Like most brands outside the two best-known names, it needs the same care to identify correctly rather than assumed from the label alone.
Brownbuilt is one of the older names in Australian steel storage, and it still turns up regularly in secondhand racking and shelving listings decades after it was widely sold new. Age is exactly why it needs a bit more care than a brand you can buy off the shelf today.
BHD and Meca aren't two different brands so much as one product line sold under two names. If you're shopping secondhand racking in Australia, it pays to recognise both, because a listing under one name might be exactly what you'd find under the other.
'Dexion-compatible' is one of the most common phrases in Australian secondhand racking listings, and one of the least precise. It is worth knowing exactly what the claim does and does not tell you before you rely on it to plan a fit-out.
You inherited a warehouse, bought a business, or picked up secondhand racking, and nobody handed you a spec sheet. Working out what you actually have takes about twenty minutes with a torch and a tape measure, and it changes what you can safely assume about extending, mixing or replacing it.
Secondhand racking can cost a fraction of new, and a lot of perfectly good stock changes hands every year when warehouses close, relocate or resize. The trade-off is not condition alone; it is certainty, and knowing what to check before you buy is what makes used racking a good decision instead of an expensive mistake.