About Rotabin Revolving Shelving

Static shelving spends most of its capacity on air and aisle. You can only reach the front of a shelf, so depth beyond arm's length is wasted, and every unit needs an aisle in front of it to be usable at all. Revolving shelving inverts that. The shelf turns instead of you walking, so the full circle of every level stays reachable from one standing position, and the unit needs clear space on one side rather than a full aisle.

How Revolving Parts Shelving Works

Round shelves mount on a central post and rotate independently. Each shelf is split into pie shaped compartments, so a single level can hold 5 or 10 separate items with hard dividers between them and no risk of parts mixing. Because each level turns on its own, you can bring the compartment you want to the front without disturbing the shelf above or below it. Loading works the same way, which is what makes these fast to restock as well as fast to pick from.

The Floor Space Argument

The reason to buy revolving shelving is floor space per item stored. Our 44 inch diameter units occupy a circle a little under four feet across and hold up to 60 separate compartments in that footprint on a 6 level unit with 10 compartments per shelf. Getting that many divided positions out of static shelving takes several linear feet of rack plus the aisle to work it. If your constraint is square footage rather than budget, the density is where the unit pays for itself, and the picking time you save is on top of that.

Sizes We Stock

We carry four Durham Rotabin configurations. Three are 44 inches in diameter: a 57-1/2 inch tall unit with 5 shelf levels and 10 compartments per level, a 69-1/2 inch tall unit with 6 levels and 10 compartments per level, and a 69-1/2 inch tall unit with 6 levels and 5 compartments per level for larger items that need wider compartments. The fourth is 52 inches in diameter and 66 inches tall with 5 levels and 10 compartments per level, which is the choice when the parts themselves are bulky and you need deeper compartments. All four are steel with a gray gloss powder coat finish.

Where These Get Used

Parts and service counters, tool cribs, assembly and kitting stations, maintenance shops, electrical and plumbing supply rooms, and any stockroom holding a large number of distinct small items in a small room. The common thread is high item count and low volume per item. If you are storing a few things in large quantity, ordinary shelving is cheaper and better. If you are storing many different things in small quantity and reaching for them constantly, this is the format that wins.

Choosing a Rotabin

Count your distinct part numbers first, since that sets the compartment count you need. Then size the compartment to your largest item, remembering that 5 compartments per level gives you roughly double the width of 10 and that the 52 inch diameter gives you more depth. Check ceiling clearance against the 69-1/2 inch height, and leave enough clear space around the unit that a full shelf can turn freely. Each listing states the diameter, height, shelf count, and compartments per level.

Related Categories

For divided small parts storage in cabinet form rather than round, see our parts bin storage cabinets. Pair a Rotabin with an industrial workbench so picked parts land on a work surface, and use our drawer cabinets for items that need to lie flat. Larger stock goes in steel storage cabinets, and for moving stock around the building, our platform and stock trucks do the hauling.