These are challenging times for garment retailers, with many brands closing or announcing reduced sales. However, some brands are expanding, especially in their online operations. To handle extra orders new warehouses have been acquired or existing storage space expanded and reorganised. It is a time when businesses look at acquiring new warehouse equipment and how it fits into their fulfilment system.
The garment trade always needs rails to hang clothes on, but it is important to use fully welded rails that are built to last and function well in a busy warehouse.
Retail successes
The mainstream media tends to focus on retail industry bad stories such as the closure of Maplin, Toys R Us and the collapse of Mothercare. There are stories about retailers defying this trend but they are often buried in the business section of newspapers. For example, Crew Clothing and Joules have increased their profits. Joules is opening more shops and both companies have attributed a lot of their success to the expansion of their online operations. More garment rails are needed for this.
The importance of fully welded
Unlike domestic clothes rails, heavy-duty garment rails have to be very strong. Rails made from wood may have visual appeal, but are not strong enough for use in warehouses or retail stores. Warehouses rely on fully welded rails made from tubular steel which is both strong and lightweight.
Businesses use a lot of equipment made in Asia and China. Garment rails are one of the few items of commercial equipment that are still made in Britain. They are fabricated by skilled metalworkers who bend, cut, and weld lengths of tubular steel to form very durable garment rails. An expert welder makes joints that will not come apart.
Garment rails have to be relied on. Warehouses work to strict deadlines that make the time between placing an order and dispatch as quick as possible. Online customers expect a speedy delivery. Anything that goes wrong with the processing of orders has the potential to delay dispatch. A customer who waits too long for their order to arrive may not order again, preferring to buy from a rival retailer.
The future
There have been many technological advances in equipment and materials that industry uses, but garment rails are still made the traditional way from welded steel. There have been some developments in creating materials that are an alternative to steel which have been adopted by some manufacturers, but garment rails for warehouses are still full welded steel rails. The wheels on moveable rails have changed over the years, with good quality swivel castors able to move easily and enable operators to steer the rails without effort.
Rail manufacturers can modify rails to order, changing their size or adding extra rails.
The reason why garment rails have not changed radically is that they simply do the job they were designed to do extremely well. They are designed to be functional and last a long time in busy warehouses, retail stores and storage areas.
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