Product Review: Stock and Roll cart

Last month I attended the Ergonomics Applied to Retail and Distribution conference in Minneapolis.  It was my first conference I attended that was strictly devoted to this sector.  While I was attending I was thinking that there could almost be an ergonomics and human factors conference devoted to each industry and/or sub-sectors because there are enough unique work tasks, needs and nuances that could support what occurred at this conference—that was speakers specific to the industry presenting their current challenges, attempted changes and full or partial solutions to their issues.

One thing I always enjoy at conferences is the expo area where products and services are displayed.  This was a small conference so there was no expo but there was a presentation which showed and discussed various solutions to different problems.  One of the products that caught my eye was the Roll and Stock cart.  It is marketed as a cart that allows workers to “stock shelves faster, safer and easier”.  It was initially designed for grocery stores.  The cart has a relatively small footprint (35”x24”) which allows it to easily fit into grocery aisles while maintaining plenty of room for customers and their grocery carts to get by.  The cart has an adjustable height platform (23-53”) that can support up to 75 lbs of product.

A study conducted for NIOSH by The Ergonomics Center of North Carolina showed “a substantial improvement in stocking productivity”.  This is because it eliminates the bending and twisting needed to lift and place product from the floor to the grocery shelves and allows two hands to be used for stocking instead of one.  From a return on investment perspective the Roll and Stock cart should not only save time but also improve worker safety.  Given the low profit margins in grocery, having a win-win for both employee efficiency and injury this would seem like a good investment.

In my opinion this cart could be useful and beneficial for industries besides grocery.  It would appear that any company that has to frequently stock items to shelves would find this useful.  This could be used in hospital system warehouse/DC centers, Walmart/Target or similar stores.

Kelby Ergo Design does not endorse any of the products or companies featured in the review. All images are property of the vendor and used for illustrative reference only.