Why Choose Wooden Crates?

The debate between crating and cardboard boxes is largely solved based on what product is going in the package, which includes the item size and weight, how long the package will be in transit, the environments it may be subjected to, and the durability required. 

Though the initial cost of a wooden crate is higher than a cardboard carton, crates offer benefits that outweigh the extra cost, including strength for more robust protection, higher security, and reusability.

Wooden crates are constructed with heat-treated wood, allowing them to be used to ship items internationally. Packaging components in wooden crates eliminates challenges like wet transit situations, heavy product concerns, and chances of the product being damaged by rough handling.

Wood crates have the strength required to carry heavy products without getting distorted and can be stacked on top of each other, reducing floor space required in the shipping vessel crate or your warehouse.

WOODEN CRATES ARE REUSABLE & RECYCLABLE

Wooden crates can be constructed in many ways, even using hardware that requires no tools to disassemble the crate. This allows for delivery as a flat pack back to base, to save on shipping costs if the crate is going to be used repeatedly. 

Many customers use crates if they are sending the same one type of product to outside processing on a regular basis and, need a safe and heavy-duty packaging solution to ship the product there and back.

Instead of going through a box for each shipment, the crate serves for many shipments, and saves money in the long term.

Wooden crates can generally be re-used several times before needing rework, and crates that become damaged can often be repaired to as good as new condition.

As part of our efforts to support more environmentally friendly packaging options, SmartShield offers a crate recycling program. Even when a crate is damaged beyond repair the wood can be used for other projects or shredded to create mulch.

CUSTOMIZING WOODEN CRATES

Crates are often painted, bearing the customer’s name, brand, or the product name. This offers advertising opportunities, and ensures traceability during transit. Custom printing also greatly reduces any likelihood of theft or incorrect shipments.

Crating can range from very small to very large, our innovative design team have developed many crates, small crates for medical devices and very large, for sizeable aircraft components.

This experience has taught us how valuable a perfect packaging solution is.

If the packaging is not adequate, the losses incurred from damage to product during transit may be traumatic. A solid custom crate with custom protective inserts pays its way multiple times over in preventing such losses.

Often these crates have complex designs and requirements, careful precision and design of custom inserts is a common occurrence at SmartShield.

Sometimes the products being packaged are worth millions of dollars or weigh thousands of pounds.

Our dedicated team are always willing to share their knowledge, skill, design creativity and expertise to assist you in designing the ultimate custom crate and protective fitments.

With a variety of fitment materials including wood, foam, cardboard, or a hybrid of these materials and specialized tooling and equipment, you can be assured the ultimate protection to support your products during storage or shipment will be created.

WOODEN CRATE DESIGN PROCESS

SmartShield’s process for designing and developing a crate is simple. Our design team uses a variety of methods throughout this process.

We collaborate with our clients over Zoom, perform on-site visits to get dimensions, reverse-engineer through your product drawings. Or we can use CAD files or drawings of the parts if available, we even have the capability to 3D scan for more technical requirements! 

Once we have a concept, or the drawings of the product, we will design the crate using SolidWorks.

We can then provide you with 3D renderings that will allow you to see exactly how the product will fit in the crate and, for you to give your approval before anything is built.

In some instances, we offer the option to generate a first-off for approval, so you can ensure that the crate meets your specifications before we do a production run.

NEED A CUSTOM WOODEN CRATE TO KEEP YOUR PRODUCTS SAFE?

At SmartShield we take pride in making our customers smile with packaging done right, therefore, it is our priority to provide our customers with premium quality packaging, for safe storage and transportation of their product.

Our CGP certification ensures we can carry out security-sensitive designs with confidence and, our ISO certification ensures a safe, consistent approach to reliable, high-quality custom packaging. For more details on custom crating, contact our sales team.

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