Companies that operate retail outlets and warehouses rely on material handling solutions to transfer stock between areas like loading bays, storage facilities and showroom floors. However, in some sectors, such as the furniture industry, the size and shape of the products involved mean that specific equipment is required.
Fortunately, built-for-purpose solutions known as furniture trolleys have been engineered to make transport easier. In this blog, we’ll look at these useful options for moving products, explaining everything you need to know about this retail and warehouse essential, so you can make an informed decision when purchasing equipment for your operation.
Why use warehouse furniture trolleys
From sofas and wardrobes to beds and mattresses, large items of furniture and their accessories are typically heavy, bulky, and unwieldy. To move such items typically requires two or more staff members, making human handling an inefficient work method that can harm a business’s bottom line. Once loaded onto a furniture trolley, large items can often be moved by a single employee to the desired location.
Firms face three key challenges when moving furniture, and all are vitally important. Furniture must be transported with no harm coming to the items themselves, the staff member moving them or the operating environment. Using furniture trolleys reduces the chance of furniture being damaged during transit, or harm coming to walls or other furniture being stored or on display. As well as avoiding breakages, it keeps products clear from floor and surfaces, which could result in them being soiled.
Furniture trolleys allow large items like beds and sofas to be moved swiftly and smoothly, enhancing workplace productivity but also putting less strain on workers. Trolleys come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and styles, but all designs are engineered to put zero strain on the employee moving them. For a happier, safer and healthier workplace, using furniture trolleys makes sense.
What are furniture trolleys made from?
Aluminium is a commonly used metal for many light material handling solutions, as it doesn’t rust and is easy for staff to move. However, it is not the strongest metal and can’t always cope with the weight of large items, making durable steel a far better option for furniture trolleys. Designs feature tubular steel sections to keep them lighter and powder-coated rather than painted. Therefore, they are protected from rust and wear, ensuring they provide a long active service life. As a result, enterprises buying steel furniture trolleys enjoy a solid return on their investment.
Rubber coated castor wheels are fitted to trolleys. These robust solutions offer extended use and allow weighty products to be shipped smoothly across warehouses and showrooms, but also avoid harm to flooring. Different wheels can also be fitted for different operating environments, making them better suited to stairs, or uneven surfaces.
The right furniture trolley for the job
There are a wide range of dedicated furniture trolleys available to suit different products. Heavy-duty sofa trolleys are designed specifically to take the weight of large sofas, but some models can carry an entire suite, or two sofas at once to save time on trips. The sofa is loaded on the lower berth of the trolly, while two armchairs or an additional couch can rest on the upper level.
Mattresses are renowned for being hard to handle. Featuring large dimensions, their flexibility can make them awkward to grip and position. Fortunately, trio mattress trolleys are available that can move these bulky bed accessories three at a time.
An all-purpose solution, the inclined sack trolley has a design dating to the 18th century. Today, modern sack trolleys are ideal for efficiently shifting heavy furniture items, whether they are assembled or flat packed. Reducing risk or strain to trolley operators, they are also designed for easy loading and unloading.
With such a diverse range of furniture manufactured around the world, it is understood that trying to find a material handling solution that is a match is not always easy. That’s why at Steely Products, we offer a personalised service and can custom build furniture trolleys to meet requirements. We provide site visits to understand your needs and obtain exact specifications so that we can produce bespoke solutions for the furniture stored or sold by your enterprise.
Do you need dependable warehouse furniture trolley for your firm?
Whether you operate a small to large warehouse or retail operation or a buy furniture for a bigger firm, if you need to move large items of furniture swiftly, smoothly and safely, we can help. At Steely Products, we have been manufacturing robust solutions for getting goods from A to B since the 70s. From our Manchester base, our in-house team of skilled metalworkers create British-made products of the highest quality.
For purpose-built material handling solutions that you can rely on, reach out to us today for furniture trolleys for your firm using the contact form below.
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