Ever more items are purchased on the Internet using online merchants, such as Amazon and eBay. These merchants often store their items in a warehouse until they are retrieved for delivery. After retrieval, the items often are moved from one region of the warehouse to another warehouse region using a roller system (also known as a “conveyer system” or “roller conveyer”). Ultimately, the items typically are loaded from the roller system onto trucks for delivery. As the world economy increasingly uses this business model, roller system efficiency, robustness, and cost become even more important.
Online merchants certainly are not the only companies that use roller systems. For example, factories, wholesalers, and others have used roller systems for years. Accordingly, their benefit and efficient use impacts an even wider swath of the economy.