How machinery is crated for shipping

Prepare the machine

Before a machine goes near a crate, make it safe to move. Drain or cap hydraulic and coolant systems unless the maker says they ship full, lock axes and moving carriages, and tie down or remove anything loose. Retract and lock quills, spindles and tool changers where the manual calls for it.

Take off what projects and can be removed without trouble: handles, pendants, antennas, guards that stick out. Label each part and pack it in the crate or in a separate box, with its location noted. A machine that arrives with parts in a bag and no list costs a day to reassemble.

Crating sequence

The sequence below is the order we follow on the bench for most machinery. Heavier or special machines add steps, and the written spec for each load says which.

1. 01
   Build the base

   Construct the skid with runners and floor sized to the gross weight, with fork entry on the sides the carrier will use.

2. 02
   Place and bolt down

   Set the machine on the floor and fix its feet with lag bolts or threaded rod through to the skid members.

3. 03
   Block

   Fit blocking against the base to stop sliding in each horizontal direction, and padding where blocks meet painted or finished surfaces.

4. 04
   Brace

   Add bracing to tall columns and heads, tied to the base so a jolt does not rock the machine.

5. 05
   Protect the metal

   Wrap bare surfaces in VCI, bag the machine in barrier film, add desiccant and heat-seal the bag if it is going by sea.

6. 06
   Close and mark

   Raise the walls, fix the top, apply the stamp and handling marks, and attach indicators.

Skid sizing and lift points

The skid is sized from the machine's gross weight and the way it will be lifted. A machine with a short, heavy base wants runners close to the feet. A long machine wants a skid that carries it along its length, with a strongback if the span between supports is large.

Lift points must match reality. A machine with fork pockets can ride on its skid. A machine that will be craned needs lifting points on the crate or marked sling positions. Say how it will be unloaded at the other end, because a crate that cannot be lifted there is the wrong crate.

Truck, sea and air

The mode changes the crate. Truck freight puts the most stress on blocking and the base, as the crate bounces and brakes. Sea freight adds humidity, long storage and stacking in a container or on deck, so it needs the barrier bag, VCI and desiccant. Air freight needs a crate as light and compact as the load allows, because dimensional weight is billed by volume.

A machine that goes by more than one mode needs a crate that satisfies the hardest of them. If a shipment goes truck to port to ship, build for the ship.

Marking and paperwork

Mark gross weight in pounds and kilograms, the centre of gravity on two adjacent faces, sling points and the pictograms that apply. Add the consignee panel and, for export lumber, make sure the IPPC stamp is readable on two opposite sides.

Keep a packing list inside a waterproof sleeve on the crate, and a copy in the shipping file. List the machine, serial number, loose parts and the desiccant count. Photograph the machine in the crate before the top goes on.

A worked example

Take a bar-feed lathe measuring 120 x 36 x 66 in as shipped, with a gross weight of 6,500 lb. These are example figures only. The base is long and narrow, with the headstock end heavier than the tailstock end.

The builder would set the centre-of-gravity mark toward the headstock end, use a skid with runners sized for a weight in that range and a strongback at mid-span, bolt the lathe through the floor, block it at the base and add bracing at the headstock. If it were going by sea, it would be VCI-wrapped, bagged and sealed. The specification would be written down and kept on file for the next one.