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The Benefits of Using Custom Crates and Solid Wood Packaging

Custom Wood Crates and Solid wood packaging are ideal shipping options for the safe shipment of goods.

This post will look at why you should use custom wood crates and how doing so can help your business. 

One of the issues many businesses face is figuring out how to store, ship, or transport their goods. Whether shipping nationally or internationally, you want to ensure your products are safe and secure and won’t get damaged in transit. 

The safe and secure transportation of goods is arguably more important than ever in a time where the world is an interconnected place built on convenience and one where adverse circumstances have caused global issues to the supply chain. 

Unfortunately, companies usually swallow any losses or damages that occur during shipping. But there are ways to secure your items and give them the best chance of getting there unscathed. The main one is ordering custom crates to fit your exact specifications. 

When shipping your products, there are many benefits to choosing custom crates and solid wood packaging. 

Custom crates and solid wood packaging are ideal for long-term use. In addition, the durability and sturdiness of custom crates offer extra protection that ensures your items don’t get damaged in transit. 

Before we cover the primary benefits of custom crates here are some answers to common  questions people ask:

Wooden custom crates are any six-sided container sized and tailored to your product's needs. They are most commonly used to ship awkwardly shaped, heavy, or valuable products.

Shippers commonly build custom crates using oak or southern yellow pine. This material ensures your goods receive maximum protection against the elements and have a lower risk of damage during transit.

Crating services offer full customization to your specifications and include any extras you require. That can consist of steel components for reinforcement when lifting or internal additions like shelves, hinges, and doors, among other features. 

The shipping industry classifies custom crates as solid wood packaging, but skids and pallets also fall into this category. They are best suited for when you don't need as much protection but still need a solid base for your goods because of their weight or size. 

While skids and pallets are similar, they do have some differences. A pallet has two "decks"—a top and a bottom, whereas skids only have one. Shippers do not use skids as frequently as pallets, as they're not quite as durable or easy to move. Instead, they're now most commonly used as bases for heavy machinery that will stay in one location long term.  

On the other hand, shippers can move pallets with a forklift. Using a forklift makes it easier to shift your goods between your warehouse, loading dock, and final destination. Pallets also provide a sturdy base to support a cargo's weight, and custom-made pallets are more robust and reliable than those mass-produced in a factory.

With 1.8 billion pallets estimated to be used in the US alone each day, getting robust, reusable custom solid wood packaging is essential to any business that has products to ship or store. 

Custom crates and solid wood packaging are most useful for transporting heavy, awkwardly shaped, or valuable items. 

Common uses for custom crates range from jewelry to furniture to priceless artwork or machinery. They are most useful for items undergoing long journeys.

Additional uses of custom crates include:

  • Going to an exhibition or trade show.
  • Shipping things overseas.
  • Moving business locations.
  • Transporting specialist equipment.  

Custom shipping crates are industry standard and offer far more protection and re-usability than other packing methods. Unlike pallets that only protect freight from the bottom, custom crates provide extra security since the contents can be secured and protected on all sides. Pallets can be used with or without custom crates and are ideal for moving equipment around a facility or warehouse or stacking for easy storage. 

Costs for a custom crate can vary dramatically, depending on your requirements and any extras you might need. Naturally, the larger the container, the higher the price. Likewise, the more bells and whistles – additional shelves, hinges, steel reinforcements, etc. the more the price will increase.

But purchasing custom crates is worth the extra expense. According to Packaging Digest, up to 11% of unit loads arriving at a distribution center have some level of case damage. 

When you calculate the cost of returns, additional labor, and sending out of new items, then paying a little extra for the protection of a custom crate seems like a good deal in comparison. 

Now, let's look at the top 10 benefits of using custom crates and solid wood packaging.

The Top Benefits of Using Custom Crates and Solid Wood Packaging.

Below are some of the best reasons for using custom crates for your business, benefiting everyone from your employees and customers to the environment around us.  

1) Solid Wood Packaging is Fully Customizable.

We’ve touched on this already, but using a custom crating service means fully customizable crates. No matter what shape, size, or weight your package is, you can be sure the fully custom shipping crate will offer it the best protection available. 

Customization also means you can adjust the interior of your crate by adding shelves, drawers, and hinges for more stable and secure packaging and add other options to the exterior for protection and ease of transportation. For example, you could reinforce the sides with steel components. Or add a system of pulleys and ramps that will make offloading and transporting your package on-site easier than ever. 

Some services also allow you to request a custom color so your crate can stand out and be more easily identifiable from the crowd of similarly colored wooden boxes. 

2) Wooden crates are durable and sturdy for better protection.

Custom crates or pallets offer better protection than boxes and other packaging materials. The most important thing you want to guarantee with your custom crate is that the stuff inside stays protected and that your container can handle heavy loads.

That means things that need a little extra care, like artwork, or anything fragile or expensive such as electronics or heavy machinery, will be best protected by a sturdy and durable crate. 

Heavy-duty wooden crates can carry up to 4000-7000 pounds of weight, making them the only viable option for large, heavy packages that need transport. In addition, our manufacturing process makes these crates from high-quality wood, reducing the risk of damaging products. They are also far sturdier and can withstand a lot more moving and lifting than other types of packaging. This strength and quality are essential if it’s something heavy that needs to be picked up by a machine to transport. 

A wooden crate also offers far more protection from the elements than any other type of packaging. As a result, your package is kept safe from moisture or dramatic shifts in temperature. 

You can also request additional insulation for your packaging with your custom order. Insulation is essential for keeping things, such as electronics, at a specific temperature. 

3) Custom wooden crates can be more Eco-friendly.

Sending packages internationally using air or sea isn’t the most Eco-friendly thing globally, but it’s necessary for many businesses.  So as a company, you might be looking for ways to offset that ecological footprint. Using custom crates is one of them. 

Other types of packaging, like boxes, usually only survive one trip. By ordering custom-made wooden crates, you get a durable and reusable product. Custom Wooden crates can survive multiple trips with minimum damage, cutting back on waste dramatically. 

They’re also natural, so free of the chemicals and other nasty stuff you might find in synthetically processed packaging like plastic wrap.  Using reusable wooden packaging means they’re better for the environment, safer for your goods, and healthier! Reusable solid wooden packaging will reduce waste.

Pallets, skids, and crates can be broken down and reassembled to be used on the return journey or rebuilt for a different package entirely. Re-usability means they’re Eco-friendly, convenient, and cut down on several types of waste. 

4) Custom packaging can lower transportation costs. 

Having all your crates customized to the exact specifications of the products means there’s no excess space wasted or filled with pointless pieces of paper and bubble wrap (we all know some famous companies that are guilty of this). 

This approach means you might fit a few more custom crates into your transport vehicle and deliver your things more efficiently, in fewer shipments. Plus, wooden crates can mean no squishing the products inside, and your crates of similar shapes can be stacked in your transportation, further cutting back on wasted space. 

5) Wooden custom crates are budget-friendly.

Custom wood packaging and shipping crates are budget-friendly options. After plastic, wood is the second cheapest material you can use to secure your goods for transit. In addition, as wood is a natural product and easy to come by, the markup is not as high as on synthetic packaging. Its reusability also means that the extra money you’d usually put towards repurchasing packaging materials instead goes back into your company’s pocket for other business necessities. 

6) Solid custom wooded crates provide security for long journeys.

As well as being durable and sturdy, your products are a lot more secure in a wooden custom crate than just being wrapped in plastic or put inside a box. After all, it’s a lot harder to break open a wooden crate than to get a pair of scissors and cut open a cardboard box. 

This feature is perfect if you know your parcel is going on a long journey or heading through customs. A wooden custom crate will give you the security that your package has the best protection possible for its long journey. 

7) Best for long-term storage.

If you’re looking to put something into long-term storage or where it’s not moved regularly, then solid wood packaging is the best option to ensure your products aren’t damaged or exposed to the elements. 

Likewise, wooden skids are the perfect option for the long-term storage of heavy machinery and other items. You can have a skid customized to fit your needs and then use it as a solid and secure base for things you won’t be moving on for a long time.

8) Ideal for international travel. 

Custom-made crates are the best choice for international shipping. Tell your supplier your exact needs and where the crate is going. As a result, they can use high-quality lumber and ensure the crate is treated and managed at industry standard levels. 

For example, if you are shipping overseas, there may be regulatory requirements that custom wood shipping crates must follow. Any reputable crating company will ensure your packaging meets these standards before shipping. For example, every unit should receive the ISPM 15 stamp for international compliance when exporting crates. 

By ordering custom, you can guarantee they meet industry standards upon delivery, rather than having to hunt for pre-made crates that fit your specifications. 

9) Turnaround Time For Custom Crating Services.

Different custom crating services will have unique turnaround times. But they are usually relatively short. At SSCP, we can even offer same-day deliveries if the location and business requirements allow for this. Otherwise, you’ll still receive your custom crate promptly, so you can get on with organizing everything else needed for shipping. 

Summary

At SSCP, when we design and pack your custom wood crate, we take the weight, materials, exposure to damaged areas, shock sensitivity, value, and size into account. 

Custom-made wooden crates and solid wood packaging offer far more durability, stability, and reusability than other options. In addition, SSCP can and will customize them to your exact specifications. 

Working with SSCP custom-made wooden crates means that no matter the weight, shape, or size of your package, you can guarantee its transit from point A to point B is a smooth process, and your goods are valued and protected. 

SSCP only uses custom wooden crates made from high-quality lumber and works with their customers to ensure they’re packaging is as desired. With fast turnaround times, your custom crate can be with you within 24 hours and treated, ready to take to the skies, or loaded onto the back of a truck that same day. Contact SSCP today for a quote on your crate and packing needs

View our latest infographics below on wooden crates for more information about making your next delivery a custom crate.

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