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Aviation and MRO Parts Storage — High-Density Storeganizer Pockets

Aviation spares are the extreme case: tens of thousands of part numbers, shallow stock depth, and full traceability required for every one. Convert existing rack into individually addressed, scannable pocket locations.

Storeganizer pocket columns suspended several rows deep inside a pallet rack bay

1 part no.

per labelled pocket

44 lb

per pocket

4 rows

deep per bay

No drilling

installs into existing rack

The aviation spares problemTraceabilityLine stores and hangarsWhat belongs elsewhereID Logistics referenceFAQs

Why aviation spares defeat conventional shelving

An MRO stores function holds a range that almost no other industry matches for breadth: consumables, standard hardware, seals, bearings, electrical parts, avionics units and rotables across multiple fleets and multiple configurations of the same aircraft. Most of those part numbers move rarely, and are held one, two or three deep. Every one of them still needs its own controlled, traceable location.

Locations, not cube, is the constraint

  • Part-number count is enormous; depth per line is tiny. Dedicating a shelf level to a line held two deep is indefensible, so lines get combined.
  • Combined locations are a traceability risk in an environment where segregation and identification are not optional.
  • Stores spread out as fleets are added, so travel per pick rises without any increase in volume stored.
  • Expanding the stores footprint is expensive and, inside a hangar, often simply unavailable.
Diagram comparing pick locations in one pallet rack bay as pallet storage, shelf levels and Storeganizer pocket columns
One bay counted by addressed locations rather than square footage — the metric that matters when the shortage is addresses.

Hanging textile pocket columns from existing beams multiplies addressed locations inside cube that is already paid for. Up to four rows deep per bay, with the front columns rolled aside by hand to reach the rows behind. The mechanism is set out in how Storeganizer works.

Diagram of the Storeganizer universal suspension rail on a pallet rack beam and columns hung up to four rows deep
The universal suspension rail mounts to existing pallet rack beams and carries up to four rows of columns per bay.

One part number, one address, one barcode

Storeganizer pocket label holders with barcodes for scan-verified picking
Every pocket takes a label and barcode holder and becomes a scan-verified location in your existing system.

Physical segregation instead of procedural segregation

The reason address count matters in aviation is that identification and segregation are physical requirements, not filing conventions. When a stores area runs short of locations, the pressure is to put similar part numbers together — and the audit finding follows.

A pocket per part number, labelled and barcoded, converts that discipline back into a physical arrangement. Where a serialised or lot-controlled item needs its own address, it gets one, because addresses stop being scarce.

Nothing to license, nothing to integrate: pockets become locations in the WMS you already operate. Dividers are available where two small part numbers must share a pocket under control, and front covers where dust or FOD is the concern.

Line stores, hangar stores and central spares

✈️

Line maintenance stores

Constrained rooms near the gate or hangar door where consumables and hardware must be dense and fast to reach.

🔧

Hangar and base maintenance

Heavy-check consumables staged close to the work rather than fetched from a distant central store.

📦

Central spares distribution

High line counts across fleets — pocket density recovers bays for the rotables and bulk that genuinely need them.

🛩️

Component repair shops

Sub-assembly parts grouped by workscope, so a kit is assembled in one short walk instead of three.

🛡️

Defense and government support

Long-tail sustainment inventories with strict identification requirements and no room to grow the building.

🚛

Third-party aviation logistics

Contract ranges that change: columns unhook and rehang as accounts and fleets move.

Our sector page for this work is aerospace and defense parts storage, and the broader maintenance-inventory argument is on spare parts and MRO storage.

Convert one bay before you commit to a stores project

Enter real beam width, depth and clear height in the Storeganizer Designer and compare the location count against what that bay holds today. That ratio, from your own dimensions, is more persuasive internally than any manufacturer average.

What belongs somewhere else

Pocket columns are excellent for a specific part of an MRO inventory and wrong for the rest. Being clear about the boundary is how a stores conversion succeeds:

Inventory type Recommendation
Consumables, hardware, seals, bearings, electrical parts Ideal. High line count, shallow depth, hand-picked — the core case for pockets.
Boxed avionics and small units under 44 lb Good fit in M, L or XL pockets, in their existing packaging.
Long items — control cables, extrusions, tubing, blades Not pockets. Use cantilever or long-span shelving; send the outliers with your list and we will say so.
Heavy rotables and assemblies over the pocket rating Keep in rack, on pallets or in their dedicated cradles and containers.
Items needing protective cradles, tooling or ATA containers Keep the container. Use pockets for the consumable range around it.
Hazmat, flammables, secured or bonded stock Use the compliant storage your regulations require; pockets can serve the adjacent general range.

Reference: ID Logistics, aviation spare parts

A contract logistics site storing aviation spares in pockets

ID Logistics operates a Paris-area site handling aviation spare parts, and uses Storeganizer pocket columns for the small-parts range. Jérôme Mellerin, the Site Manager, has spoken positively about the system’s fit for that inventory; we have not been given verified percentage figures for this site, so we do not publish any.

That is a deliberate choice. Where measured numbers exist — CEVA Logistics, Chalhoub, Everten, DSV, Gates — we publish them and attribute them. Where they do not, the reference is qualitative and we say so.

Read the write-up: ID Logistics aviation spare parts. Our own US project write-up is at aerospace parts storage system.

Hand lifting a boxed part out of a Storeganizer textile pocket
Hand-picking a boxed part from a pocket: no lifting equipment, no power, no service requirement.

The independent University of Leuven research (2013) associated with the system measured around 40% more usable storage in the same footprint, about 42% less travel time and approximately 26% better picking efficiency across the systems studied. Treat those as evidence that the mechanism works, then calculate your own location count from your own bays — the method is on SKU slotting and rack-space ROI.

Aviation and MRO parts storage — FAQs

Is Storeganizer used for aviation spare parts?
Yes. ID Logistics stores aviation spare parts in Storeganizer pocket columns at its Paris-area site, and aerospace and defense parts storage is one of the most common applications we quote in the US. The fit is driven by very high part-number counts held at shallow depth — the classic aviation spares profile.
Can each pocket be a traceable location?
Yes. Every pocket takes a label and barcode holder, so it becomes a discrete scannable location in the WMS you already run. That granularity is what makes part-number-per-address traceability practical instead of aspirational.
What weight can a pocket carry?
Up to 44 lb (20 kg) per pocket and 220 lb (100 kg) per column. That covers the great majority of consumables, hardware, avionics units, seals and rotables handled by hand — heavier or longer items stay in shelving, cantilever or bulk locations.
Does it suit rotable and repairable stock?
It suits packaged rotables that fit the pocket envelope and are handled manually. Pockets do not replace the protective containers, cradles or tooling that specific rotables require — keep those and use pockets for the consumable and hardware range around them.
Can we install it without disrupting the stores?
Usually bay by bay. Columns hang from a suspension rail fitted to existing beams with no drilling, anchoring, permits or power, so a stores area can be converted in stages during normal operation.
What happens when the fleet or contract changes?
The columns unhook and rehang. A stores layout built for one fleet or one contract is not stranded when the work changes — which is the reason the relocatable argument matters more in MRO than almost anywhere else.

Configure your stores area

Send bay dimensions and a part-number profile. You will get a pocket mix, a location count, and a straight view of which lines should stay in shelving or cantilever.

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