MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
As the ANSI-accredited developer of shelving systems and work platforms, the Storage Manufacturers Association (SMA) promotes the safe design and use of these crucial infrastructure components across the material handling industry.
To that end, the SMA, led by Chairman Kevin O’Neill of MHI member Steele Solutions and Engineering Committee Chairman Arlin Keck of MHI member Steel King Industries, will complete a canvassing process by summer 2021 for revising SMA’s ANSI MH28.2-2018 industrial boltless steel shelving and MH28.3-2018 industrial steel work platform standards.
SMA will then submit the revised standards to the International Code Council for adoption in the 2024 International Building Code (IBC).
For SMA members and industry stakeholders including building inspectors, dedicated IBC standards will differentiate shelving providers from providers of heavier-duty industrial steel storage racks and related structural systems, which are represented within MHI’s Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI), while providing clarity on work platforms as opposed to viewing them as buildings.
And just as RMI’s R-Mark has long signified industry compliance with RMI/ANSI standards within the IBC, SMA’s 2024 entry into the code will pave the way for the creation of a new S-Mark certification. The new product mark will signal that all standard component testing, calculations and capacities have been reviewed and approved by independent engineers for compliance with SMA specifications.
“RMI members have done a very good job of clearly defining themselves through the building code process so when someone’s doing a rack project, everyone understands what it is,” said O’Neill, Steele’s CEO since 2020.