The Product

One request form.
A complete build package.

CrateForge runs where your office already works — in the browser, inside your existing site or intranet. No CAD seats, no engineering backlog. Here's the trip a crate request takes from the phone to the saw.

Step One — The Request

Enter what the customer gives you

Start from whichever number you have. Give CrateForge a piece size and it works outward; give it inside dimensions or finished box dimensions and it works from there.

Job Header

Order details

Date, company name, order number, due date, production line, and number of crates — including crate-of-crate counts for multi-crate jobs. Everything the office needs rides on the same sheet the floor uses.

Dimensions

Piece, inside, or box

Length, width, and height for the piece itself, the clear inside dimensions, or the finished box — plus weights. CrateForge computes gross, tare, and net per crate for the packing list.

Box Type

Build style & options

Standard, slat, solid 2", knockdown, or reusable. Flag removable tops, slat sides, ends, and fastener choices — the calculation follows the style you pick.

Step Two — The Calculation

Your build standards, applied panel by panel

Hit Calculate and CrateForge produces the component schedule for every part of the crate — sized, counted, and called out the way your shop builds.

Skids

  • HeadersEnd members sized to the load and forklift entry
  • RunnersCount and dimension from piece weight and length
  • Deck boardsFull schedule, with recess decking where the job calls for it
  • Rub blocksPlacement for drag and hook handling
  • Hold-downBolts, saddles, and supports for securing the piece to the skid

Ends & Sides

  • FramingFramed-in or framed-out, per your house standard
  • MembersUpper and lower framing members with lengths
  • StrutsVertical strut count and spacing from panel span
  • SheathingPlywood call-outs — 3/8" or 1/2" — with quantity and size
  • Joist blocksSide-panel blocking where the top load needs it

Tops

  • LayersSingle or double layer, with layer-one / layer-two call-outs
  • FramingFraming members and joists sized to the span
  • Use of fallOff-fall accounted for in the cut list, not wasted in the scrap bin

Export Protection

  • Vapor barrierBarrier bag spec with 4-mil or 6-mil poly
  • DesiccantUnit counts for the enclosed volume and transit time
  • ShrinkShrink wrap call-out where the job needs it
  • InstructionsSpecial instructions that travel with the sheet to the floor
Step Three — The Cut Sheet

Print it, save it, run it again

The finished cut sheet prints clean and reads fast — quantities and sizes down the page, panel by panel, ready for the saw line. No interpreting someone else's handwriting, no arithmetic at the bench.

Every order is saved. When the same customer ships the same machine next quarter, pull the order, refresh it, and print — repeat business becomes a two-minute job. Search past orders by name, sort by date, and keep your build history where the whole shop can find it.

  • Shop-floor formatting. Big, legible call-outs the crew can read at the bench.
  • Order history. Searchable saved orders with one-click recall and reprint.
  • Multi-crate jobs. Per-crate sheets and weights for orders of any size.
Deployment

Lives where your office lives

CrateForge deploys into the web tools your shop already runs — no new hardware, no per-seat CAD licenses, no IT project. Your team opens a browser, keys the request, and prints. Access is controlled through your existing users and roles.

Each installation is commissioned for your shop: your terminology on every label, your standards behind every calculation, your forms coming off the printer.

Talk Deployment

See it on your kind of crates

Bring us a piece size you crated last week. We'll run it through CrateForge and hand you the cut sheet.

Request a Demo