New demands and innovative ideas mean designers are taking a closer look at trolleys, the onboard workhorse whose role is changing fast.
If you think some things never change and that the onboard trolley is beyond reinvention, you probably didn’t get a sneak preview of the new kid on the block which made its debut, behind closed doors, at WTCE in Hamburg this year.
Two companies are promoting tailor-made solutions including the Café Roulant, a trolley with an inbuilt patented lift system to allow a coffee machine to be stowed within, then vertically lifted for service.
The collaboration also spawned the Duty Pad designed to give the “stupid” trolley new meaning by incorporating a tablet, PED [personal electronic device] or PED compatible device so it works as a rolling monitor, communicating sales information, success and stock requirements as it goes.