The wholesale industry is one in which goods are bought to be sold on to retail outlets, either in the commercial or industrial sectors. It involves buying in bulk and then storing the items, often for a considerable period.
Most of that storage is done in units that have been specially constructed for a particular purpose, whether it is warehouses or another form of storage space. Items are then selected from the shelves for dispatch when orders are placed, and particular types of equipment are needed to be able to handle everyday business processes efficiently.
Among them are trolleys. Read on to learn more about how trolleys can be utilised within this industry.
About the wholesale industry
The wholesale industry in the UK is an incredibly profitable one. Three years ago, the total profits recorded across this industry were £828.2 billion; it has continued to grow in the years since then. On average, it has been building its revenues by 1% year on year during the past decade and that is partly down to the fact that the number of actual companies within it keeps rising.
There are around 2.6% more wholesale businesses emerging every year in the UK, so this is an industry that is expanding and becoming more profitable. For that to be the case in the long term, everyday business operations across the industry must be efficient and the equipment that is used is absolutely central to that. Trolleys are not the only piece of equipment that can be deployed within a wholesale business, but they are among the most important.
So how exactly can warehouse picking trolleys be used by such businesses to make their operations more fluid and maximise the profits that they make?
For picking stock
There is no question that the primary use of trolleys for a wholesale business is to help with the picking of stock when it is ready to be sent out to customers as part of an order. The process of finding the items that need to be prepared for dispatch sees those working in such a business moving between the shelves of the storage areas to locate the necessary items and then transporting them to the packing areas.
It is not hard to see how picking trolleys can be of benefit to wholesale businesses when it comes to that. Without them, workers will have to carry items manually from the storage areas to the packing ones and that will present a number of issues.
• Reduced speed
Selecting the correct items for dispatch and taking them to the packing areas will be much slower without a picking trolley. Workers can only carry small amounts of stock at one time, whereas a trolley can be loaded with multiple items for greater efficiency.
• Injury risk
Sometimes the items that have to be packed will be heavy and being forced to transport them manually will greatly increase the risk of employees suffering injuries. A trolley made of durable steel and fitted with hard rubber castors will bear the weight of the load so that the worker does not have to.
Therefore, the use of trolleys during the process of picking items for dispatch will save wholesale businesses both time and money. The former will be achieved by cutting the number of journeys that workers have to make between the storage and packing sections, as well as the time that those journeys take.
The latter will be managed by improving the speed and efficiency of the picking and packing and also by reducing the potential for injuries. These can lead to people needing to take time off, which will leave your business short staffed.
For transporting stock
Trolleys can also be deployed in transporting completed orders to the dispatch areas so that they can be loaded onto trucks for delivery. Again, this will help you to increase the speed and efficiency of your wholesale operations.
Important questions to ask yourself
Now that you know the ways in which trolleys can be useful to your business, there are some important questions to consider. These will help you to get the right trolleys.
Where will the trolley be used?
If a trolley is to be used in picking, then it must be able to fit easily between the aisles of your storage shelves. Should you have limited space, we stock a narrow aisle picking trolley that will be ideally suited to your needs.
What will the trolley carry?
A trolley that has to carry large amounts of stock, or very heavy individual items, will need to be made of a strong and durable material. All of our trolleys are manufactured from powder coated tubular steel for that reason.
At Steely Products, we make and sell all manner of picking trolleys. Use the form below to order items or contact us.
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