What do bulk containers and eaches have in common?

Long live canvas laundry carts. They’re still in use. Even by the Red Sox in the pandemic-shortened baseball season to celebrate a home run. Quite simply, the homer hitter got a ride the length of the dugout in one of the carts. And in case you don’t believe the story, check this out: “Christian Arroyo Explains How New Red Sox Home Run Cart Tradition Began”.

But as we all know, there’s always opportunity to improve on a good initial idea. And, that’s exactly what Meese Inc. did many years ago as it expanded from canvas into plastic rotomolded laundry carts. Just as you already suspect, these bulk containers have many other uses. One in particular might surprise you.

Talk to Dan Rodriguez, the national sales manager over at Meese. He’s got his eye on e-commerce, food processing and distribution center recycling applications, to name three. Even in a pandemic year, they have treated him and Meese quite well. “This has turned out to be one of our strongest years ever,” he says.

E-commerce, you say? That’s a world of eaches. What exactly could mobile bulk containers offer?

“The driver here is ergonomics,” says Rodriguez. “It’s so much easier for associates at a high-volume, e-commerce DC to load and remove items and packages for internal transport with a specialty mobile container.”

If you’re thinking the idea is just to drop items into the cart, that would be an incomplete thought. The company’s 72 ERGO line of mobile containers actually works for the associate.

Several springs under an internal platform in the cart allow it to rise up inside the container when it’s empty. (Think worktable here.) That brings the platform up to a comfortable loading height for associates. As more items are added, the springs compress under the load, allowing the platform to travel gently to the bottom of the container. However, associates still load items at the same original level. Not bad, especially if you’re loading the container.

Unload the cart and the reverse happens, bringing the platform back up to its empty position. Ultimately, what you’ve got is a lift table inside a container that saves associates from strains and possible injuries. Casters do their part to reduce strain moving the container around the facility.

“It’s very ergonomic for workers, safe and especially cost effective,” says Rodriguez. He recalls one prospective customer who was concerned about the premium cost of the spring-loaded containers. All Rodriguez had to do was quote another customer, “Do you know how much one worker’s comp claim costs? It’s a lot more than the cost of the container, for sure.”

Now, the containers can be used to move items including returns or even trash. They can also be used for manual operations and to support automation.

“The containers offer users a chance to isolate inventory that doesn’t fit into standard procedures. Once it’s isolated, the inventory can undergo special handling processes before being returned to the standard workflow,” says Rodriguez.

So, there you have it. Bulk containers making headway in even highly automated e-commerce operations. Who would have thought that? Now, if someone would just let the Red Sox in on the secret. A rotomolded plastic container might make next season’s home run rides more comfortable for whoever the team doesn’t trade away in desperation in the next couple of months.