Manufacturing warehouses have material handling needs that must be met with high-quality and safe equipment like steel containers. These containers are vital parts of the manufacturing process because of their ability to handle, ship, and store parts for various industries. Ultimately, your company’s industry will determine what your container needs are.

At American Manufacturing, we always recommend steel equipment containers for all warehouses and companies with production assembly lines. These material handling containers have a range of capabilities and safety features that make them ideal for the manufacturing process.

Below, we detail some reasons why you should choose steel equipment containers as your preferred method for handling and shipping parts for your warehouse and assembly line procedures.

What Are Steel Equipment Containers?

Steel equipment containers are made for parts handling efficiency and keeping workers in warehouse and manufacturing settings safe. Operators manually place products inside the containers. They are then stacked and sent to a manufacturing plant where the stored products will be used to make sellable goods.

During plant processing, these containers are a lot more convenient during assembly line processes than other material handling products. The operator can take the container and place it right next to the assembly line, where products can then be pulled from it and placed into a fixture, like a welding fixture or unfinished car body, to be moved around by a robot. Because one container is involved in this process, multiple parts can be brought to the assembly line at once rather than one at a time.

One of the best features of steel equipment manufacturing containers is their versatility. These steel containers work for many different industries, including the following:

  • Agricultural farming equipment
  • Automotive equipment
  • Semi-truck and trucking equipment
  • Bus equipment

The car industry is one of the most well-known users of containers. Automotive equipment containers are best known for shipping and storing class A car parts, customer-facing parts that must be handled extra carefully to avoid scratches, dents, and other damage, through the use of dunnage inserts. Steel containers play a huge role in ensuring these parts reach their destinations without harm.

Safety Features of Steel Equipment Containers

Equipment containers in the manufacturing industry offer many more stacking and storing capabilities. Our containers at American Manufacturing stack neatly on top of each other with rounded guides. These guides, also known as nesting plugs, lock into the nesting caps on other containers to keep the stack from tipping over. This is different from other container products, which only nestle together metal-on-metal and don’t necessarily lock—creating the risk of the containers falling and damaging products or injuring people.

Along with preventing any tipping, the nesting plugs and caps also reduce the height of the container pile by two inches each time you stack one. This keeps the container stack lower to the ground and saves space in your warehouse, manufacturing plant, or inside of a trailer during shipping.

Steel equipment containers also protect all parts they carry from being harmed, and they allow for a lot more space during shipping. Truck space is ultimately saved because of how conveniently the containers stack and store products. Because of this, more products can be shipped in one load, saving both time and money for the originating warehouse.

Steel Containers vs. Plastic Containers

Some manufacturing plants may use plastic equipment containers for their product shipping and storing processes. In the past, plastic containers have been used for class A surfaces or other lightweight parts. While plastic containers can be stacked, they are a lot more susceptible to damage. They also don’t have any nesting plugs or caps, meaning they are more likely to fall when stacked.

Steel equipment containers offer the high durability of steel and the ability to stack and stay upright, giving manufacturers a safer option for part production.

4 Types of Containers from American Manufacturing

The steel containers from American Manufacturing are made with quality and safety in mind. We supply many companies with the containers they need for manufacturing their products. Take a look at a few of our top-selling steel container options below.

  1. Truss Base Standard Containers: These containers aren’t usually used for bigger material handling processes. However, they can be easily used with a forklift or pallet jack for lifting and storing. They also have a drop gate to allow for easy loading and unloading.
  2. Standard Collapsible: Containers that are collapsible allow for a higher return ratio, meaning you get back twice as many containers on one truck as you would when sending non-collapsible containers. A higher return ratio is ideal during shipping because it saves you money on trucking and fuel costs.
  3. Ford Standard: This steel equipment is pretty standard for the automotive industry and offers one size option for handling and storing parts.
  4. Chrysler Containers: These containers are similar to the Ford Standard ones in that they are great for handling automotive parts but offer another size option to handle different parts and products. Chrysler Containers offer more options regarding sizing and drop gate access.

Steel equipment manufacturing containers are an important part of manufacturing processes because of their advanced safety features and ease of use. American Manufacturing is here for your warehouse or manufacturing plant container needs. Contact us today at 419-531-9471.