Retrofit existing carts or buy new?

When a retrofit pays off

A retrofit makes sense when the cart itself is still doing its job and only the IT is missing. Typical cases: nursing and ward carts that were bought for materials and now have to carry documentation as well; workshop and logistics carts that need a screen and a scanner at the shelf; a fleet that was standardised a few years ago and that staff know and like. In all of these, the chassis, the drawers and the interior fit-out are worth keeping. What is added is the computing side — monitor or all-in-one PC, mounting, keyboard tray, scanner holder, cable routing and, where the cart has to leave the socket behind, a battery power supply. We have extensive experience equipping existing carts with IT, including carts we did not build ourselves, and the calculation is usually simple: you keep an asset that still works and pay only for the part that is new.

The five steps of a retrofit

The process is deliberately short. First we determine your requirements for use and IT equipment — what has to run on the cart, who works with it, how long it has to last away from a socket. Second, our specialists assess your existing carts; often good photographs are enough, so nothing has to be shipped for a first opinion. Third, you receive a quote for converting a single prototype in our workshop. Fourth, you test that prototype in practice, on the ward or on the shop floor, and your feedback flows into our fixed-price quote for the remaining carts. Fifth, the retrofit itself takes place at your site. The order matters: the prototype is what turns assumptions into a firm price, and it is much cheaper to change a detail on one cart than on forty.

What has to be true before we start

There are a few practical requirements. The carts need at least two conductive castors — this is the one hard technical condition, and it is worth checking early, because it decides whether a given cart model can be retrofitted at all. Beyond that, the carts have to be made available on schedule, there has to be a suitable room for the conversion work, and someone on your side has to be the responsible contact person on site. None of this is unusual, but all of it is easier to organise three weeks ahead than on the morning the team arrives. Our service team works on site throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland; for projects in other countries, talk to us and we will agree on delivery and support.

Downtime of a few hours instead of weeks

The reason we convert on site rather than in the workshop is availability. A cart that is shipped to a workshop is gone for days and comes back with transport costs attached. A cart that is converted in a room down the corridor is out of service for only a few hours and goes straight back into use the same day, with no transport costs at all. In practice the carts are worked through in batches, so the department never loses its whole fleet at once. This is what makes a retrofit realistic in environments that cannot simply pause — wards, production lines, warehouses — and it is why the on-site step is not a convenience but the point of the whole approach.

What speaks for new carts instead

A retrofit is not always the right answer, and it is worth being honest about the limits. Look first at the chassis: if the frame is worn, the castors rumble, the drawers no longer close properly or the body is damaged, you would be mounting new IT on a cart that is near the end of its life. Second, ergonomics: many older carts have a fixed working height. If people are to work sitting and standing, or document for hours, a continuously height-adjustable column such as EasyCart, VexioCart or ProCart changes the working day in a way no retrofit can. Third, power: an existing cart offers whatever space it happens to have, and if there is no sensible place for a power supply or a client, the cabling stays a compromise. Add to that the things a new cart brings with it — more than 1,000 configuration options, an optional five-year warranty, and cart, IT and power planned as one unit.

How to decide

Answer three questions. Would you still buy these carts today if they were empty? If yes, a retrofit is likely worth it. Does the working height fit the way people actually work? If not, new carts solve a problem the retrofit will not touch. And is there room for the IT and the power supply without improvising? If the answer is uncertain, the prototype step will settle it, because the assessment costs you little more than a set of photographs. Mixed fleets are common and perfectly workable: retrofit the carts that are still good, replace the ones that are not, and keep the IT configuration identical across both so support stays simple. A trial unit from our demo pool lets you put a new cart next to a converted one before you decide.

Read more on our site

• Services
• Mobile IT carts
• FAQ
• Contact