Glossary of Terms

This is a selection of the most common technical and general terms referred to at ESE Direct and in fact most other specialist websites.

Active Coat

Refers to primarily products like shelving, cupboards and lockers coated with a finish specifically designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as MRSA and E- Coli. The coating reduces the risk of cross contamination in areas requiring high hygiene such as hospitals, medical centres and pharmaceutical industry, but equally effective in food preparation and high foot fall areas.

ALC

Refers to "Attached Lid Containers" which are plastic containers with a hinged lid attached to the sides of the containers itself, usually used in transport, removals and distribution situations.

Back to Back

Is a term used in shelving systems to indicate two "runs" or "individual bays" of shelving "one behind the other" usually bolted together and located with an aisle each side to access the products.

Balanced Platform Truck

Refers to a trolley that has four wheels in a diamond pattern under the base of the truck, of which the middle two wheels are larger than those at each end giving a "balancing effect" so only two or max of three wheels are touching the ground at any one time, making it easier to manoeuvre.

Bio Cote

Refers to primarily products like shelving, cupboards and lockers coated with a finish specifically designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as MRSA and E- Coli. The coating reduces the risk of cross contamination in areas requiring high hygiene such as hospitals, medical centres and pharmaceutical industry, but equally effective in food preparation and high foot fall areas.

Bolt Free

Refers usually to shelving and racking systems that are very easy to assemble which use clips or punched pockets for the shelves to sit on / in instead of nuts and bolts (although there may be bolts used in some systems for the bracing or feet).

Bunds

Are pallet sumps or containers used to safely hold liquids in the event of spillage and prevent an emergency situation.

Closed or Clad

Refers to the "Backs and / or Sides" of the shelving / racking which have solid sheet steel (or occasionally mesh) fitted to allow smaller products to be stored "loose" by forming a "binning" system.

C/U

Refers to the "Clear Underside" of a structure / item and is commonly used to describe the clearance between the floor on which it stands and the lowest obstruction.

Dividers

Refers to "Vertical Divisions" used within a bay of shelving to form smaller storage sections.

Drive In

Refers to high density pallet racking with a single bay at the rear and a series of rails on which to store the pallets, in front of the rear one allowing you to store 7–8–9–… pallets behind each other, the only downside to this is the need to use "last in - first out" for retrieval of the goods.

Drive Through

Refers to high density pallet racking with a series of rails on which to store the pallets all the way through the full depth of the system, allowing you to store 10–11–12–… pallets behind each other. This type of system is usually loaded from one side and unloaded from the other to provide "first in - first out" retrieval of the goods.

ESD

Refers to "Electro Static Dissapative" products specially designed for use in the electronics / electrical assembly industries like chairs, workbenches and containers / storage and handling equipment, but can be used anywhere where the removal / minimising of static build up is required.

Extension

Refers usually to a bay of shelving or similar (but can be used in many other instances as well) and means "it needs to be joined to another bay of the same make to be able to stand up" as it will only have uprights / end frames at one end of the bay and must be fixed to a "starter" or another extension in a run as long as there is a starter bay somewhere in the run.

FFL

Refers to the "Finished Floor Level" commonly used to describe the height to the top surface of mezzanine floors, raised access floors, computer floors or multi tier racking systems.

Germ Guard

Refers to primarily products like shelving, cupboards and lockers coated with a finish specifically designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as MRSA and E- Coli. The coating reduces the risk of cross contamination in areas requiring high hygiene such as hospitals, medical centres and pharmaceutical industry, but equally effective in food preparation and high foot fall areas.

Gondola

Refers to an "Island unit" of shelving (usually shop shelving) which has adjustable cantilever shelves on each side of a central back panel, NOT for use around the walls, but used with an aisle each side of the shelving.

IBC

Refers to "Intermediate Bulk Container" and is a container suitable for liquid storage and transportation with its own pallet and / or cage attached to aid handling.

KD

Refers to "Knock Down" products supplied in kit form ready for assembly on site. Most products come with instructions and some (like our cloakroom benches) even come with the required tools. If you are in any doubt as to how to assemble something, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will assist you.

Lamstat

Refers to a worktop used in our "ESD" benches to protect against static discharge between 106 and 108 ohms.

Lever Brake

Refers to safety steps and is a lever that effectively lifts the bottom tread to prevent access to the steps when in motion, and lowers the tread and the corner stabiliser legs when the steps are in position.

Live Storage

Refers to rollers / small wheels mounted on the shelf levels, which enable the products (or pallets) to move from to the front of the racks under their own steam each time one is unloaded. There are systems available to handle anything from small cardboard boxes to pallets of product weighing tonnes.

Load Notice

Is a term used to describe a sign that is applied to the end of a run of shelving indicating to the users, the capacity of each shelf level and the total bay capacity of that particular installation.

Longspan

Refers to a shelving / racking system usually with 1.2m or more (can be up to 3m) between each upright, thus enabling longer / bulkier and usually heavier items to be stored side ways on the racks.

Mezzanine Floor

Refers to a "raised storage or access platform" designed to suit your building, making use of wasted height and giving you "almost a free hand" to determine the layout of what is put on the new first floor level (usually shelving, offices, partitioning, assembly areas but we have created canteens, locker rooms, workshop areas, customer display areas and even a steel decked mezzanine floor to take aircraft assemblies).

Mobile Shelving

Refers to almost any make and capacity of shelving that is subsequently bolted or fixed onto a purpose designed system of steel bases with wheels underneath, that in turn are located in tracks bolted onto or grouted into your existing floor to ensure they run free and true. The systems can be manually pushed, mechanically assisted with hand wheels and gearing to make it easier or even electrically powered and can take anything from archive storage to palletised loads (also sometimes called roller racking).

Modular

Refers usually to shelving, racking, security enclosures or partitioning systems that have a number of "standard key components" that join together easily in "Modules" to form variations of the complete system.

Narrow Aisle

Refers to a pallet racking system whose rack faces are closer together than a "normal" system to provide optimum storage capacity, but requires a special "narrow aisle" forklift to load and pick from the racking system.

Nest

Refers usually to Lockers which are joined together at the factory to form side by side units. i.e. A single locker with two doors in the height, when nested together has four doors (two high and two wide).

Nesting

Refers usually to Containers which will sit partially inside each other to save space when not in use.

Norastat

Refers to a worktop used in our "ESD" benches to protect against static discharge between 105 and 107 ohms.

Open

Refers to the "Backs and / or Sides" of shelving / racking systems that are either fully open or only use small bracing panels to provide structural stability to the shelving layout, but allow product to be stored "through the side or rear" (obviously making sure the items stored do not protrude into the aisles).

Platform Trolley

Refers to a trolley that has a flat base and four wheels (one at each corner and usually castors) that all have contact with the ground at the same time to provide stability.

Push Back

Refers to a system of "bogeys / trolley carriages" that is "bolted onto" a series of pallet racking frames and beams to enable a pallet to be loaded from the front, then another one also from the front which subsequently pushes back.

Roll Containers

Refers to a mesh / wire container on wheels, usually between 700mm and 1200mm in size and 1500mm to 1800mm high, with removable / missing sides. Often used on vehicles to move product between sites, most common in food industry but also used in warehouses / retail.

Runs

Is a term usually used in shelving systems to indicate "more than one bay long" i.e. a run of six 1m bays of shelving would be a nominal 6m long overall and usually contain one "starter" and five "extension" bays.

Scissor Lift / Scissor Table

Refers to a product with a series (usually 1 or 2 but can be up to 4 for the higher lifting models) of lifting arms that are powered by hydraulics and move in a scissor action, used to lift heavy / awkward items to a suitable working height and also used in loading docks etc.

SEC

Refers to "Static Electricity Control" products specially designed for use in the electronics / electrical assembly industries like chairs, work benches and containers / storage and handling equipment, but can be used anywhere where the removal / minimising the build up of static is required.

Single Sided

Is a term used in shelving systems to indicate it "does not have another bay behind it" and can only be accessed from one side (usually located against a wall or obstruction).

Stacker

Refers usually to a cross between a pallet truck and forklift that you walk behind, which lifts its load higher than a pallet truck but is more cost effective than a forklift.

Stairclimber

Refers to a specialist sack truck with multiple sets of wheels on a rotating spindle to pick up on each step, enabling it to be pulled up / lowered down stairs and reduce the "jerking of loads" associated with "bumping" a normal truck upstairs.

Starter

Refers usually to a bay of shelving or similar (but can be used in many other instances as well) and means "it will stand on its own" without the need for assistance as it will be supplied with all the uprights / end frames you need at both ends.

Tier

Can refer to lockers which are joined together at the factory to form side by side units (another term widely used is "nest"). i.e. A single locker with two doors in the height, when tiered together has four doors (two high and two wide).

Tool Balancer

Refers to an ergonomic means of supporting power tools from a pre tensioned coil, allowing you to release the power tool when finished and it will just "hang there" until you are ready to use it again.

Two Tier

Refers usually to a shelving or racking system with a "second level / walkway" above the ground floor, the racking is specially designed to take the extra loads and supports the decking for the walkways (three and four tier systems have also been designed / installed before).

UDL

Refers to "capacity of an item" and is the Uniformly Distributed Load the particular item can hold without the need for extra support (the load must be evenly spread, no point loads).

UDSWL

Refers to "capacity of an item" and is the Uniformly Distributed Safe Working Load the particular item can hold without the need for extra support (the load must be evenly spread, no point loads).

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If there is still anything referred to on our websites that you are at all unsure about please do not hesitate to contact us for clarification as we have some of the most experienced people in our industry waiting to help you.