Big Steel Rack

What Big Steel Rack does

Big Steel Rack, LLC is a privately-held American industrial equipment manufacturer headquartered at 1500 Technology Dr, Jackson, Michigan. Founded in 2012 by practitioners with direct sheet metal fabrication experience, the company designs and builds custom-engineered, high-density vertical storage systems for sheet metal and tube/bar stock inventories at fabrication and manufacturing facilities.

The product architecture centers on three core lines — Sheet Racks (high-density vertical storage with up to 5,000 lbs uniform load capacity per pallet and 40-60% footprint recovery versus legacy cantilever or pallet racking), Tube Racks (5,000-7,500 lb load capacity with removable pin and double-sided configurations), and Precision Pallets (laser-cut, robotically-welded, with chamfered corners and 8x3 fork pockets). A complementary accessory stack — Depalletizer (pin-table transfer), Drop Rack (filing-cabinet vertical storage with heavy-duty casters), and Pallet Cart (mobile staging) — extends the system across material transfer, remnant organization, and work-center staging. Every system is built in the USA to ANSI and AISC standards with third-party professional engineer approval.

Revenue is generated exclusively through direct, custom-quoted hardware sales via the company website and inside phone sales (517-745-4263); pricing is determined per customer specification (rack dimensions, height, pallet spacing, load capacity). The customer base spans sheet metal fabricators and OEMs across aerospace (SpaceX, Blue Origin, Pratt & Whitney), automotive (Forvia/Faurecia, FCA/Stellantis), machine tools (Mazak), and government/defense (U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard). Go-to-market is sales-led with a quote-based conversion motion, supplemented by event participation at Fabtech and Manufacturing Day, skilled-trades scholarship sponsorships, and educational content (sheet weight calculator, OSHA-compliance resources).

Name

Big Steel Rack

Legal name

Big Steel Rack, LLC

Website

https://bigsteelrack.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Big Steel Rack, LLC designs and manufactures custom-engineered, high-density vertical storage racks, pallets, and accessories for sheet metal and tubing inventory at U.S. fabrication and manufacturing facilities, serving aerospace, automotive, defense, and OEM customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Material Storage Racking

NAICS

All Other Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (33299)

SIC

Construction, Mining & Materials Handling Machinery & Equip (3530), Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Products (3490)

akta.pro primary industry

Bulk Material Handling Systems (Belt Conveyors, Feeders, Stackers, Reclaimers) (IMAHABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Bulk Solids Handling & Processing Equipment (Conveying, Silo, Feeders) (IMAHAEAG)

Keywords

• Sheet metal storage racks
• Industrial racking systems
• Tube and bar storage
• Fabrication shop equipment
• High-density material handling

Headquarters

HQ city

Jackson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Sheet Metal Storage Racks: Sale of custom-engineered high-density sheet metal storage rack systems. Each system is built to customer specifications including size, spacing, height, and load capacity requirements.
2. Sheet Metal Pallets: Sale of precision laser-cut and robotically-welded pallets, available in standard and custom sizes for sheet and tubing applications
3. Depalletizers: Sale of manual depalletizing pin table systems for efficient material transfer
4. Vertical Drop Racks: Sale of vertical sheet storage racks for managing sheet metal drops and remnants with heavy-duty casters
5. Pallet Carts: Sale of industrial pallet carts for material staging and work center flexibility
6. Tube Storage Racks: Sale of tubing and bar stock storage rack systems with various configurations and load capacities

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Big Steel Rack designs, engineers, and manufactures custom high-density sheet metal and tube storage rack systems for fabrication shops, OEMs, and industrial facilities in the USA. Core products include sheet racks, pallets, depalletizers, drop racks, pallet carts, and tube racks that reclaim 40–60% of storage footprint. The company offers free engineering services, custom sizes and capacities, and turnkey installation supported by American manufacturing.

Product overview

Big Steel Rack offers a portfolio of industrial sheet metal and tubing storage systems designed for fabrication and manufacturing facilities. The core product line consists of Sheet Racks (high-density vertical storage for sheet metal on pallet shelves), Pallets (laser-cut and robotically-welded storage trays), and Tube Racks (for tubing and bar stock). These integrate with complementary add-on modules including the Depalletizer (pin table for material transfer), Drop Rack (vertical filing system for remnants), and Pallet Cart (mobile staging cart for work centers). The products work together as an ecosystem: pallets load into sheet/tube racks, depalletizers facilitate transfer from supplier pallets to Big Steel Rack pallets, and pallet carts stage materials at work cells. All systems feature numbered grid organization, OSHA-compliant design, and up to 5,000-7,500 lbs load capacity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sheet Racks Custom-engineered storage rack systems for sheet metal and plate stock, sized to customer-supplied material dimensions and weight requirements, for metal fabrication shops and industrial facilities.
• Pallets Custom metal pallets designed to integrate with the company's racking and material handling systems for industrial and fabrication shop use.
• Depalletizer Depalletizer equipment for automated handling and dispensing of sheet metal stock from storage racks, used in fabrication shops and manufacturing facilities.
• Drop Rack Drop rack system for ergonomic sheet metal storage and dispensing at fabrication shop workstations.
• Pallet Cart Mobile pallet cart for transporting sheet and plate stock between storage racks and workstations in fabrication shops and manufacturing facilities.
• Tube Racks Custom-engineered storage racks for tube and bar stock, configured to specific lengths and diameters, for fabrication shops and industrial facilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Recover up to 60% of storage footprint when switching from older cantilever racks or pallet racking
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Troax: Specialist in mesh panel racking and safety/storage enclosures for warehouses and manufacturing. Comparable in providing custom-engineered safety-driven storage to fabrication environments.
• Ridg-U-Rak: North American manufacturer of structural pallet racks and storage systems with overlapping industrial customer base. Comparable in channel (direct to fab shops and DCs) and product category (custom-engineered racking).
• Steel King Industries: US manufacturer of pallet racking, stack racks, and protective storage systems for industrial and warehouse customers. Competes head-to-head in the same sheet-metal and tubular goods end markets.

Broad incumbents

• Lyon Workspace Products: Long-standing US manufacturer of industrial storage products including shelving, lockers, and rack systems. Comparable in serving fabrication and manufacturing facilities with broad storage offerings.
• Stanley Vidmar: Industrial storage cabinet and modular drawer/vertical storage systems for parts and tooling. Shares target customers in fabrication shops and competes for the same facility storage budget.
• Interlake Mecalux: Global supplier of pallet racking, automated warehouses, and storage solutions. Overlaps with Big Steel Rack in industrial sheet and long-goods storage but operates at much larger scale across multiple storage categories.
• Penco Products: US-based manufacturer of shelving, racking, and storage products sold through industrial distribution. Similar domestic manufacturing story and overlapping manufacturing customer base.

Emerging players

• Spacesaver Corporation: Specialist in high-density mobile and stationary storage systems for industrial and institutional customers. Competes for facility storage optimization budgets and shares the high-density storage thesis.
• Kardex: Provider of automated storage and retrieval systems including vertical lift modules and carousels. Competes for the same 'more storage per square foot' use case, though with higher-cost automated solutions.

Regional players

• Lista International: Manufacturer of modular storage cabinets, workbenches, and tool storage for industrial environments. Overlaps in serving the same fabrication and OEM end users with structured storage products.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC1baCcGMMCXqon9aQCdEjTg
• Facebookfacebook.com/BigSteelRack
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/big-steel-rack
• Xx.com/bigsteelrack

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Big Steel Rack