At CK Metal Storage, every rack we build can be powder-coated in any standard RAL color at no extra charge. Whether you want to match your company’s brand colors, follow a 5S color-coding system, or just go with something that feels like yours — send us a RAL code or a reference photo, and we’ll take it from there.
The Story That Started With a Soccer Team
A while back, a customer reached out and asked if we could build him a set of racks in a specific color. He sent over a reference photo.
We asked: “Is this your company’s brand color?”
He laughed. “No,” he said. “It’s my favorite soccer team’s colors.”
We loved that. And we said yes.
We built him a complete setup — sheet metal storage racks, tube racks, and long material racks — all in his team’s colors. Powder-coated, clean, and honestly a little bit fun to walk past every morning.
It might be the first fabrication shop in the world with a home-game vibe.
Why Most Suppliers Only Give You 3 or 4 Color Choices
Here’s something worth knowing: a lot of rack manufacturers treat color as an afterthought. You get a catalog with three or four standard options — typically something like gray, yellow, blue, or green — and that’s it.
If none of those work for you, you’re either told “custom color costs extra” or simply “we don’t do that.”
We’ve heard this from customers more times than we can count.
The reason most suppliers limit color options isn’t technical — powder coating a rack blue instead of gray doesn’t cost meaningfully more. It’s a process decision. Handling individual color requests takes coordination, and many factories just don’t want to deal with it.
We do.
| Typical Suppliers | CK Metal Storage | |
| Color options | 3–4 standard colors | Full RAL color range |
| Custom color upcharge | Often yes | Free |
| How to specify | Pick from a list | RAL code or reference photo |
| Applies to | Usually standard sizes only | All rack types and sizes |
How the Custom Color Process Works at CK
It’s straightforward — and it’s built into every order, not treated as a special request.
Step 1 — Tell us what you want. Send us a RAL color code if you have one. If you don’t, a reference photo works just as well — a swatch, a screenshot, even a photo of the wall in your facility.
Step 2 — We match and confirm. Our team identifies the closest RAL match to your reference and sends it back to you for approval before anything goes into production. You’ll know exactly what color you’re getting.
Step 3 — We build it. Every rack is powder-coated at our factory in Nanjing. Powder coating gives you a durable, even finish that holds up in industrial environments — resistant to chipping, scratching, and the general wear of a working shop floor.
No extra lead time. No extra charge.
What Color Can Actually Do for Your Shop Floor
Most people think of rack color as purely cosmetic. But in a lot of shops, color does real work.
A common practice in lean manufacturing and 5S environments is to assign colors by function or department — one color for raw material storage, another for work-in-progress, another for finished goods or shipping. When your floor is organized visually, people make fewer mistakes and spend less time figuring out where things go.
If you’re running a structured shop floor, matching your rack colors to an existing color-coding system is a practical decision, not just an aesthetic one.
And if you just want a shop that looks like yours — that reflects something about who you are — that’s a perfectly good reason too.
When Brand Identity Comes Into the Factory
Not every color request is personal. Some are very much professional.
One of our customers — an automotive parts manufacturer — came to us with something a little different. They weren’t just looking for a storage rack. They were about to have a group of clients visit their facility, and they wanted the shop floor to look the part.
Their brand colors are red and white. Clean, sharp, recognizable. Those colors show up on their logo, their packaging, their trucks. And when they thought about it, they realized their storage racks — gray, like everyone else’s — had nothing to do with the company visitors were walking into.
They sent us their brand guidelines. We matched the red to the closest RAL equivalent, confirmed it with them, and built out a run of sheet metal storage racks in their brand colors.
The result was a shop floor that actually looked like their company. Not a warehouse. Not a generic factory. Their place.
They mentioned something that stuck with us: when clients walk through the facility now, the space reinforces the brand — not just the product on the shelf, but the environment around it.
It’s a small thing, maybe. But in a competitive industry where every detail of a client visit matters, it’s the kind of small thing that adds up.
FAQ
Can I really get any RAL color at no extra cost? Yes. Any standard RAL color is included in the standard price. There’s no upcharge for custom colors on any of our rack types — sheet metal racks, tube racks, or long material racks.
What if I don’t know the RAL code for the color I want? That’s fine. Send us a photo, a color swatch, a paint chip, or even a screenshot of something with the right color. We’ll identify the closest RAL match and confirm it with you before production starts.
Does custom color affect lead time? No. Color customization is part of our standard production process, not a special order. Lead times are the same as for standard-color racks.
What finish does CK use for rack colors? All racks are powder-coated. Powder coating is more durable than liquid paint — it bonds to the metal surface at high temperature, giving you a finish that resists chipping, scratching, and corrosion better than standard spray painting.
Can I order different colors for different rack types in the same order? Yes. You can specify different colors for sheet metal racks, tube racks, and long material racks within the same order. Some customers use this to color-code by material type or storage zone.
Is there a minimum order quantity for custom colors? No. Custom color is available on any order, regardless of quantity.
Ready to Build a Rack That Looks Like Yours?
Tell us what you need — the rack type, the dimensions, and the color. If you’ve got a RAL code, great. If you’ve got a reference photo, that works too.
Or explore our full product range:
CK Metal Storage designs and manufactures custom metal storage and handling systems. Our facility is based in Nanjing, China, and we supply fabrication shops and manufacturing facilities worldwide.