How to Choose the Right Roller Track for Flow Racks

A Flexpipe roller track is an essential component for lean gravity-fed FIFO (First-In, First-Out) flow racks. They are used in material-handling systems, such as picking and kitting carts and racks, and line-side replenishment, where material storage and retrieval must be seamless.

A roller track consists of low-friction rollers securely mounted within a steel frame. Accessories like level stoppers ensure material bins stay in place. When properly used, Flexpipe roller tracks are ideal for storing material bins and totes, allowing for easy loading and unloading as needed.

In lean manufacturing, roller tracks ensure line-side production technicians can easily retrieve materials and consumables from shelving units. A roller track leverages gravity, requires no power, and has low-friction rollers for seamless material flow. They are durable, come in different widths and configurations, and can be cut to whatever length is needed.

Flexpipe roller tracks :

• Are a gravity-fed solution
• Require no power
• Have low friction rollers
• Are 100% modular and scalable
• Can be cut-to-length
• Are incredibly durable
• Come in multiple widths and configurations

What is a Roller Track and How Does it Work?

A Flexpipe roller track is a gravity-fed solution used in material flow racks to control the storage, movement, and retrieval of material bins. Material is stored from the back of the flow rack and retrieved from the front.

How to choose the Right Roller Track

Choosing the right gravity roller track is critical to ensuring your material bins move easily from the back of your FIFO flow rack to the front without getting stuck. That means choosing a roller track matched to the types of bins your company uses. The following flow rack roller track guide outlines the most common Flexpipe options available and when to use them.

Roller Track Selection Guide

R40-RT96 – “R40 Roller Track” – Roller Track Steel 40 mm x 8 ft ESD

R40-RT96FL – “R40 Flanged Roller” – Roller Track Steel with Flange 40 mm x 8 ft ESD

R40-RT48BD – “R40 Bi-Directional Roller Track” – Bi-Directional Roller Track 40 mm X 4 ft

R85-RT96 – “R85 Roller Track” – Roller Track Steel 85 mm x 8 ft ESD

In most applications, lean manufacturers start with the standard R40 roller track. As their requirements and needs change, they often start using the other roller tracks.

Ultimately, a flanged roller track guides material bins and keeps them perfectly aligned. The bidirectional roller tracks support two-way material flow, while the R85 roller tracks are used with wider and heavier bins.

Sizing a Roller Track Lane

Several important criteria should be considered when sizing a roller track lane. First, always consider the width of your material bins. That width determines the spacing between the roller tracks. Material bins holding lightweight materials will require shorter spacing compared to material bins holding heavier materials.

Second, start with a 5-degree angle for the slope of the roller track. However, be willing to adjust this angle slightly up or down depending upon the weight of the materials within your bins. A 3- or 4-degree angle is sufficient for heavier material bins, as the extra weight ensures the bin slide downward. However, lighter bins may require more slope.

Finally, the weight of the material bins is also essential to choosing the type of roller track. Remember, the standard Flexpipe R40 roller track’s wheels support 20 lbs and over 507 lbs over 1 meter (3.28 feet). Anything heavier than that would typically require R85 roller tracks.

What Accessories Are Needed for Roller Tracks?

Flexpipe provides lean manufacturers with a comprehensive list of roller track accessories that help to secure bins in place while improving material flow. A breakdown of these accessories, along with a description of each, is provided in the table below.

Common Applications for Roller Tracks in Lean Manufacturing

The most common applications for Flexpipe roller tracks are FIFO flow racks. However, they are also found in supermarket racks, kitting and picking carts, and racks, in addition to any requirement for line-side replenishment or warehouse replenishment.

In lean manufacturing environments, it’s common to have mobile FIFO flow racks positioned immediately outside a given lean manufacturing workstation or lean work cell. Inventory personnel will store material bins from the back of the rack. The front of the rack faces the operator.

This simple configuration ensures the operator never has to leave their workstation or lean work cell to get critical materials or consumables. Everything is stored for them. They simply remove a material bin as needed, and a replacement takes its place while inventory personnel store the bin from the back of the rack.

• FIFO flow racks
• supermarket racks
• kitting racks
• picking lanes
• line-side replenishment
• warehouse replenishment

Roller Tracks vs Skate Wheel Tracks

An all-too-common mistake is trying to use skate wheel tracks in place of roller tracks. First, it’s important to understand that these two products serve different functions. They are not interchangeable.

Roller tracks are predominantly found in lean manufacturing FIFO flow racks, picking and kitting carts, and line-side material handling structures that support production with critical materials and consumables. They are essential to providing operators in lean workstations and lean work cells with the critical materials needed during assembly.

Skate wheel tracks are most often found in packaging and shipping. They are heavily relied upon for order fulfillment, allowing warehouse personnel to move parcels down the track to shipping. While they may be found in production, they are not used on FIFO flow racks or material handling structures that provide production employees in workstations with critical materials.

Roller Tracks

• Ideal for heavier bins, totes, and flat-bottom material bins.
• Ensure proper material flow in production.
• Provide straight-line material flow.
• Used in FIFO flow racks, lean manufacturing racks, and in Kanban structures.

Skate Wheel Tracks

• Used heavily in packaging and shipping
• Essential to order fulfillment
• More multidirectional movement point-to-point
  • From warehouse to shipping and back again
• Ideal for lightweight packaged products and finished goods in boxes/cartons.

Most Common Flow Rack Design Mistakes

The most common mistakes in designing  include using the wrong roller track. It’s common for companies to forget to account for the material bins’ width. They simply install the roller tracks only to find out there isn’t sufficient space between the tracks to allow for easy movement.

Another mistake is not adjusting the flow rack angle. Heavier material bins don’t require as steep a slope, whereas lighter material bins require a steeper slope. This leads to another common mistake, not using Flexpipe roller track decelerators (R40-SLOW) for heavier bins.

• Wrong Roller Track Width
  • Not accounting for material bin width
• Not Adjusting Angle of Roller Track
  • Not using decelerators for heavier bins
• Overloading Racks
  • Not accounting for weight distribution per roller track
• Buying Welded Steel Racks Instead of Modular Flexpipe Racks
  • Full customization is possible with Flexpipe – not with steel-welded racking

Overloading racks is another common mistake, and consequently, overloading the roller tracks. Always be aware of the total weight of each material bin relative to what the roller track can support.

While each of these mistakes is common, perhaps the biggest mistake is when lean manufacturers buy fixed, steel-welded flow racks. These fixed FIFO flow racks do not allow for customization. In most instances, they don’t match a manufacturer’s bin dimensions, and if those bin dimensions change, there is no way to adjust the structure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Design and Assemble Flexpipe FIFO Flow Racks Using Roller Tracks

The Flexpipe system is the ultimate solution for customizing FIFO flow racks and other material handling systems. This cut-to-size-and-assemble system is exceptionally durable while being a low-cost alternative to fixed-in-place, steel-welded material handling structures.

A Flexpipe FIFO flow rack, workstation, kitting cart, picking cart, lean work cell, or tugger cart can be customized, assembled, modified, and adjusted on-site at your facility.

To learn what’s possible with the Flexpipe system, please visit our Design Guide.

To see existing solutions that can help you reduce your costs of material handling, visit our Free Plans.

To speak to someone directly or inquire about our design services, contact us now.