Why Wire Mesh Beats Sheet Metal When Creating Custom Baskets

Baskets are a vital, although often overlooked, part of most warehouse and shipping operations.  They need to be chosen carefully if you are to receive the best returns on your investment.  Considerations such as size, weight, and durability are all crucial – and most can be controlled most easily through the choice of basket material.

While some operations utilize sheet metal for their baskets, in most cases custom wire mesh is the better option.  Here’s why.

Five Reasons to Choose Custom Wire Mesh Builds for Your Warehouse Baskets

1. Lower costs

Less material means lower costs.  So why construct your baskets out of solid metal when a wire mesh can do the exact same job, while only using a small fraction of the material?  Even with the need to do extra construction work on the wire mesh, it’s much less expensive than working with sheet metal.

2. Weight

Likewise, less material usage means lower weight.  This translates to wire mesh requiring less energy to move around or allowing you to move heavier products.  Either way, it adds up to more cost savings compared to using solid metal baskets.  

Also, you’ll be putting less strain on the mechanisms used to move the baskets around, creating more savings via lowered maintenance costs.

3. Better product visibility

Does your facility have any concerns with “loss” or products otherwise mysteriously going missing?  This will be a lot more common with fully enclosed baskets, where you can’t see the contents.  Custom wire mesh ensures the contents are always visible to managers and overseers, and missing product will be spotted much more quickly.

4. Better airflow/drainage 

While not always the case, most of the time, you’re likely to want your products to be able to easily drain out if they’re ever exposed to water or other liquids.  The design of wire mesh makes this simple.

5. Safer usage

Generally speaking, wire mesh baskets are safer to work with because they’re less likely to have sharp edges or jagged spots.  Sheet metal can easily have burrs and other hazards that can catch on clothes – or skin.  Wire mesh will usually keep your workers a bit safer.

Does this mean solid metal baskets are always a bad idea?  Of course not.  They will be somewhat stronger than wire mesh, and there may be situations where you want a product completely protected from the elements.  Still, except for these specialty cases, custom wire mesh baskets will be a better option more often than not.

Cal-Wire

Cal-Wire specializes in custom-made wire mesh products, with a reputation for quality that goes back to 1948.  Companies across America trust us for wire products.  Contact us directly to learn more about our lineup.