Video duration 2:47
Enable New Zealand’s warehouses manage the flow of disability equipment to our customers around New Zealand.
We have warehouses in Hamilton, Palmerston North and Christchurch, each dealing with different aspects of our equipment service.
Most basic equipment – like shower stools, walking frames, and basic beds – go through our Hamilton and Christchurch warehouses. Complex equipment – like specialist seating, pediatric equipment and power wheelchairs – go through our Palmerston North warehouse.
Our warehouses move tens of thousands of items of equipment each year, ensuring our clients get what they need to live a good life.
These are some of the roles people do in our warehouses.
Equipment team
People in the equipment team make sure the right equipment is available to be issued to clients when they need it.
They do a wide variety of things, starting with unloading items of equipment that have been returned to us.
These pieces come from clients who don’t need them anymore.
The team first cleans the equipment – either by hand or in our state-of-the-art HubScrub machine – before they are carefully inspected.
They examine each piece, looking for any damage that needs to be repaired. The team do the necessary repairs and refurbish the equipment so it can be put back into stock ready to be sent to another client.
Some equipment can’t be refurbished and needs to be thrown away.
The equipment team do a lot of manual work handling disability equipment, but they also use our IT systems to manage the processes. This includes responding to requests for equipment that come from assessors, ensuring stock is managed correctly in the inventory management system, and managing the delivery process.
Wheelchair and seating technicians
Our wheelchair and seating technicians – based in our Palmerston North warehouse – repair and refurbish powered and manual wheelchairs, and the seating systems that can be attached to them.
Seating solutions are complex because each client has unique needs.
Our technicians adapt and repair all parts of the chair to help the disabled person perform everyday tasks.
Depending on the chair, the technicians work on the position of the seat, the accessories, and the power functions for power wheelchairs.
Our technicians are also involved in our outreach clinics with our seating outreach advisors, where they help with providing complex solutions for clients.