Sports South stocked the carousels with its most popular small items, including hardware such as rifle scope mounts and rings, sling swivels, nipples for blackpowder guns and pocket knives. According to Walter Frederick, part of the management team at Sports South, each SKU represents an average of about five pieces in stock, for a total of some 15,000 items stored in the carousels. These items had been kept on approximately 250 feet of open shelving. By bringing items to the clerk, carousels eliminate travel time. Clerks now have to walk fewer than 20 feet to retrieve any item stored in the carousels.
Vertical carousels make efficient use of floor space.
Items can be stored as high as 20 or more feet. There is no top or bottom shelf in a vertical carousel. Every item is retrievable at an ergonomically comfortable working height of about 39 inches. This can help reduce ladder-related accidents and injuries caused by falling objects or improper lifting. At Sports South, customers' orders are processed on a main computer, then sent via a Local Area Network to a PC that is dedicated to controlling the carousels.