Dexco & Pendu launch Die Storage Rack with Conveyor Rollers at FABTECH 2026

Industrial rack storage provider Dexco and industrial material handling provider Pendu announced a new Die Storage Rack with Conveyor Rollers for Dexco Widespan Racks at FABTECH 2026.

The trade show was held Oct. 21-23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Nevada.

The jointly-developed solution combines Dexco’s heavy-duty Widespan Racks with Pendu’s engineering and manufacturing expertise to provide manufacturers with a more efficient and controlled way to store and access heavy stamping dies and tooling.

The new solution is designed to allow dies to roll into and out of their storage positions safely and efficiently, rather than requiring operators to slide them across a solid rack surface. This can significantly reduce the force required to move heavy dies, while minimizing physical impact on valuable tooling.

“Heavy dies present manufacturers with two challenges at once: they require substantial storage capacity, and they need to be handled safely when they are moved,” said Steve Luscian, Dexco VP of Sales and Marketing. “By combining the strength and flexibility of our widespan racks with Pendu’s roller technology, we’re giving manufacturers another way to make better use of vertical space, while making dies easier to access when they’re needed.”

In applications using a die cart, the cart can be positioned and secured at the rack, allowing dies to transfer directly between the cart and storage position for a more controlled die change and handling process.

Customized design for each customer’s applications

The Die Storage Rack with Conveyor Rollers solution is designed for demanding industrial applications, supporting between 5,000 and 50,000-pound dies per lane. The solution incorporates conveyor rollers and a custom steel support frame, and bolts directly to Dexco’s structural I-beam rack. Retrofit applications may require field drilling and adjustments to shelf capacity in order to account for the additional roller system weight.

The solution is engineered around each customer’s specific application and needs, rather than a fixed, one-size-fits-all configuration. Roller length, shelf width, roller positioning, and other features can be customized based on die dimensions, weight, and the customer’s method for loading and unloading. Dexco also engineers the rack structure to accommodate the combined weight of the roller system and stored dies.

“At Pendu, customization is core to how we approach material handling,” said Darren Max, Pendu CEO/President. “Our collaboration with Dexco is a natural extension of that philosophy. We’re taking proven material-handling expertise and applying it to a common storage challenge, where manufacturers need both heavy-duty capacity and controlled movement of valuable tooling.”

The new Die Storage Rack with Conveyor Rollers solution also incorporates features designed to help control die movement during storage. This includes a rear backstop bolted into the upright I-beams behind the rollers, while front restraint options can be configured for the application, including a manual stop (such as a pipe) or a fail-safe gravity stop designed to work with a die cart. Individual rollers can also be serviced or replaced as needed.

By moving dies off the manufacturing floor and stacking storage positions vertically, the solution can also help manufacturers reclaim valuable production floor space, while consolidating multiple dies within a heavy-duty storage system. Unlike many die-storage systems designed around a single die per shelf with lower load requirements, Dexco Widespan racks are engineered for high-capacity applications and can be configured to accommodate multiple dies on a shelf, as application requirements permit.