Military operations need to be ready to relocate anywhere around the world at a moment’s notice. Moving personnel and equipment to traditional brick-and-mortar buildings can be expensive and time-consuming. Portable shipping containers can be a durable and cost-effective solution. With regular maintenance, shipping containers can last for over 20 years. Here are four ways the military can use new storage containers for sale for a multitude of needs.
Military Operations in Urban Terrain Training Structures
Realistic training facilities are important for preparing military personnel for overseas deployment. Storage container modifications can be made to replicate villages and structures for this training. Shipping containers are affordable and can be conveniently relocated wherever they are needed.
Counter Improvised Explosive Device Training
Counter improvised device training is designed to help military personnel enhance their awareness of terrorist threats. During this training, participants learn how to prevent and respond to bombing incidents. This training involves utilizing storage containers to simulate buildings and other structures in a secure environment.
After Action Review Structures
New storage containers for sale can be used as mobile offices. Military personnel can use these mobile office containers to discuss training and events in a temperature-controlled environment. Climate-controlled containers can protect sensitive equipment and documents in harsh environments. These workspaces can be disassembled quickly and relocated as operational needs change.
Barracks and Housing
Storage container modifications can be made to create comfortable and durable housing for troops anywhere. These containers can be equipped with amenities such as heat, electricity, air conditioning, and windows. They can be configured to fit up to four people and can be stacked on each other. Soldiers can have all of the comforts of home while they are deployed overseas.
New storage containers for sale are ideal for the varied needs of today’s military. Steel shipping containers have a wide range of customization and convenience for all operations and budgets. At Integrated Equipment Sales, we specialize in new and used storage containers along with custom modifications. Contact us today to learn more about our services and receive a quote.
According to Jacobs, a major design and workspace construction firm, the average individual workstation has shrunk from 80 square feet in 1992, to the current 39 square feet. It’s this trend that has inspired the increasing uptake of office containers that has taken the corporate world by storm.
Before you buy new or used shipping containers for sale to modify into an office, you should consider the following factors.
1. The Size of the Shipping Containers
Largely, you’ll find 20 foot and 40-foot shipping containers for sale, as they’re the most common and available in the market. Your choice will be guided by the amount of office space you need. For instance, if you want to modify the shipping container into a home office, a 20ft container may be appropriate.
Small and medium companies with several employees may combine two or three 40ft shipping containers to create enough office space for their operations. Before purchasing an office container for sale, consider its size to ensure that it is big enough to accommodate your needs.
2. Identify the Modifications You Want in Your Office Container
Not unless you want to use your shipping container to only store office supplies, you have to modify the container to make it habitable. The modifications should allow natural light into the container, to light up your workspace. You achieve this by installing windows, doors, skylights, and container lighting.
The top shipping container dealers will modify your office container to accommodate all the utilities you need to make your office fully functional. These include ventilation, plumbing, climate control, interior décor and furniture, and electrical wiring. It’s important to consider the amount of time, space, and money your desired modifications will take to complete.
3. Do You Buy New or Used Shipping Containers?
When you buy new shipping containers for sale, you’re guaranteed that they’re in perfect condition. Most new shipping containers are manufactured in China, loaded with cargo, and sent on a one-way trip to America. As such, you’ll buy them when they’re still in pristine condition.
For used shipping containers, you must ensure that they’re still in good condition. Most used storage containers have been in the shipping industry for about eight years before they’re repurposed for other uses. For this reason, some shipping containers may be in better conditions than others depending on the type of environment they were exposed to.
It’s normal to expect some minor dings and dents on a used shipping container. However, cracks and holes and excessive corrosion on the edges of the container are not acceptable as they’ll eventually cause water leakages. You want your office container to be watertight and windproof so you can have a serene workspace.
4. Consider Whether You Should Buy a Pre-Built Office Container or Modify One From Scratch
The reputable container dealers will offer pre-built office containers for sale alongside the unmodified shipping containers. It may be easier to buy a pre-built container office if you are satisfied with the modifications done. Pre-modified office containers will save you lots of time when you’re in a hurry to set up an office and get down to business.
Pre-built container offices are the go-to for construction companies that need to set up on a site and commence work immediately. If yours is a small home office, it may suit your better to modify a shipping container from scratch. You’ll have more options to customize your office container when you have it modified from scratch.
5. Consider the Local Building Regulations
Given that mobile office containers are relatively new in the industry, some states may have hazy regulations touching on shipping container structures. Ensure that your modification process is in line with the local building codes.
As the conventional retail space becomes pricier by the day, office containers are the ideal alternative for companies, institutions, and people in need of office space. It’s easier and more affordable to modify a shipping container into a permanent or temporary office.
When people ask the question, “What can you build with storage containers?” they get a long list of answers because there is almost no limit to what you can do. In recent years, it has become incredibly popular to convert storage containers into businesses like retail stores, pop-up shops, and even office spaces. However, converting these steel shipping containers into a restaurant has to be one of the most popular cargo container modifications that people make. There are several reasons why shipping containers make for great businesses in general, but restaurants more specifically. Here are a few of them:
They Offer a Unique Dining Experience
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of restaurants in a major city. That breeds extreme competition for business. That where the 40-foot shipping container comes into play. They make your restaurant stand out as a unique dining experience, which people will try because of the ambiance. It will also help retain customers because when people think of a restaurant to go to, who doesn’t think about the time they ate dinner from a shipping container? In other words, by offering a unique dining experience you’ll be able to do more covers as a restaurant with less need to market yourself.
They Can Act as a Pop-Up Restaurant
Food trucks have rapidly grown in popularity over recent years, as people have come to find out that you can get incredibly high-quality food out of them while enjoying a more casual experience. For food truck owners, they don’t have to spend as much on a rental space and are able to go to where customers are going to be. Many of these advantages are shared by shipping container restaurants. By their nature, shipping containers are portable. This means that if there is going to be a large crowd of people, the entire restaurant can be moved to where they’re going to be, creating a better opportunity. This ability to pop-up in different locations gives restaurants based in shipping containers an edge over traditional brick and mortar ones and even lets you adjust your semi-permanent location if the one you’re initially based in doesn’t draw a crowd.
They are More Affordable Than a Traditional Space
One of the biggest benefits of choosing a modified shipping container over a traditional brick and mortar restaurant space is that it is much more affordable. For one, there is no rent that you need to pay for an existing space. Secondly, there is no cost to construction if you choose to buy land and build the restaurant yourself. This means that no matter what your shipping container restaurant is going to cost less to open than a traditional restaurant. Now, consider how much less maintenance needs to be done on a storage container than a traditional space, and it’s easy to see why many people choose these non-traditional spaces as a way of saving money alone.
They are Customizable to Fit Your Needs
There really is no limit to the question, “What can you build with storage containers?” That’s because they are truly customizable to fit your needs as a customer. This, in turn, means you can best serve the needs of your own customers. For restaurants, this may mean that you offer dining space for guests. It could also mean that you have an extra-large kitchen and refrigeration system to better serve as many customers as possible. Whatever you need, these customizable units can provide, which helps you stay successful as a restaurant.
What can you build with storage containers? Almost anything you want and considering that out of the 17 million shipping containers that exist in the world, 11 million are unused, there’s plenty of availability to recycle and convert these containers. So, stop wondering what can you build with storage containers. Start wondering what will you build with a storage container.
Shipping containers have become a go-to solution for building a variety of structures including mobile offices, pop-up bars, hotels, and eco-homes. In fact, there are over 17 million shipping containers in use globally. The primary reason is that shipping containers cost less to set up and provide much-needed flexibility. It explains why more companies are using them for experiential marketing campaigns. Here are a few ways businesses can use container pop up shops for experiential marketing.
What is Experiential Marketing?
Historically, marketing campaigns have been focusing on creating awareness about a brand without creating real connections with customers. As a result, customers become passive and less likely to purchase or show interest in a company’s product or service. On the other hand, experiential marketing engages new and potential customers encouraging them to develop relationships with a brand.
The premise for experiential marketing is that customers should engage in sales relationships without coercion. As such, the programs use emotional connotations and logic-based value propositions to connect with the customer persuading them to purchase an item. The phenomenon is based on the notion that the part of the brain involved in thinking about self also plays a significant role when creating associations between external things and ourselves.
Experiential marketing provides an opportunity for brands to create one-on-one connections with the customer while developing a sense of life the customer desires. Using structures that foster such relationships is critical to achieving this goal. Let’s take a look at some businesses that can use container pop shops to foster experiential relationships with customers.
Mobile Restaurants
Overspending and poor location are the primary reasons why most new restaurants fail during the first few years of their existence. Such businesses can minimize risk and increase their success rate by testing the market using flexible and affordable used shipping containers for sale. The premise is to get your business in front of potential customers faster. Business owners can also use a modified container pop up shop to introduce new menu items and ask customers for their feedback without making huge investment risks.
Mobile Showrooms
Setting up a traditional showroom is costly, time-consuming, and requires a lot of space. With modified container pop up shops, businesses can open low-cost mobile showrooms. The structure’s flexible configurations enable them to set up ramps that facilitate the entry of the cars and hook systems that ensure the safe transportation of vehicles. It would help if you equipped the structure with DVD players, TV screens, and incredible sound systems to optimize the customer’s experience.
Pop up Retail Events
Shipping containers for sale in NY are particularly appealing to a demographic of people who prefer products that provide an experience. Apart from being trendy, the containers create a sense of urgency, encouraging spontaneous purchases. As such, companies can use the containers to get noticed by potential clients. Also, the containers are eco-friendly because they have been upcycled. If the marketing team broadcasts this point as part of the company’s green strategy, it can attract a demographic of customers who appreciate conservation efforts. The structures also make excellent storage containers for any type of product.
Product Testing or Launching
Container pop up shops enable businesses to extend their target market beyond the usual boundaries. If a company’s main distribution channel is via a website, a pop-up shop provides an excellent opportunity for attracting customers who prefer trying before buying. The company can offer sample products or set up a demonstration area to build trust and increase sales.
Mobile Wellness Studio
The traditional fitness studios hardly offer much flexibility. Introducing a new fitness package or service can be time-consuming as you mainly rely on your everyday customer. Utilizing shipping containers for sale enables a business to visit different locations. If well-matched with the target audience, you can attract new customers.
Container pop up shops provide countless opportunities for businesses looking to create memorable experiences with their customers. A successful experiential marketing campaign not only stirs interest and engagement but also increases sales.
It is outside the shipping industry that steel shipping containers become multi-purpose thanks to their durability and flexible design. You can modify a steel shipping container to fit your needs, whether it’s for commercial or domestic use. Luckily we have enough supply of new and used shipping containers, given that more than 17 million shipping containers are in circulation today. Of these, five million are actively involved in the shipping industry, and they make around 200 million trips a year, as Billie Box says.
Why, though, are steel shipping containers so reliable even beyond the shipping industry? Here’s why.
1. Steel Shipping Containers are Made Using Sturdy Materials
Corten steel is the primary material used to make shipping containers. From the corrugated walls, cross members to cargo doors and frames of a shipping container, sturdy corten steel is utilized. Corten steel is also known as weathering steel. It’s a group of steel alloys specially made to be rust-resistant, weldable, and eliminate the need for painting shipping containers. For this reason, steel shipping containers can withstand adverse weather conditions with zero to minimum damage. For instance, if you’re a contractor who works in remote areas with harsh climates, you can modify a steel shipping container into a site office or a storage facility for your tools, machinery, and equipment.
2. Shipping Containers are Easily Portable
Steel shipping containers are specifically designed to allow for crane rigging. The corner castings of a steel cargo container are reinforced to make the container strong enough for crane lifting even when it’s loaded to the maximum. The forklift pockets and twist locks also enhance the portability of a shipping container. Since steel shipping containers are easy to move, you can make a portable concession stand, mobile offices, or container pop up shops. Having the capacity to take your services and products where the customers are is necessary in the modern business world. Even as you move around showcasing your products, you’ll not worry about your products’ security because steel shipping containers are secure and hard to break into. Additionally, you can have reinforced cargo doors and install an alarm and monitoring system to enhance your products’ security.
3. Steel Shipping Containers Can Accommodate Various Modifications
Being made from weldable steel, it’s easy for technicians to make modifications to a shipping container without incurring huge costs. You can install doors, windows, ventilation, shelves, cabinets, and insulation to custom-make a shipping container to fit your needs. The ease of modifications on steel shipping containers increases not only their efficiency but also their utility. Many businesses in different industries can modify a shipping container to serve twin purposes in their line of work. For instance, a logistics company may modify a 40 feet container to serve as a pick-up office and a temporary storage facility.
A business can also modify a shipping container to capitalize on branding. The exterior walls of a shipping container are a perfect space for a business to paint its logo, corporate colors, and advertising message. Since steel shipping containers are easy to modify, it’s faster and affordable for a business to customize several containers to fit their brand’s needs.
4. Steel Shipping Containers are Long Lasting
The corrugated steel used to make shipping containers has no elements of organic materials, and it’s likely to last a lifetime. Ultimately, 98% of shipping container parts are recyclable. Therefore, when your shipping containers have outlived their usefulness, you can send them to a steel recycling company instead of the dumpsite. After doing a solid 10 or 12 years in the shipping industry, a shipping container can last for another 15 years in different services. If you modify a new steel shipping container and maintain it well, it may serve your business for a lifetime.
These are the qualities that make steel shipping containers extremely useful outside the shipping industry. The good thing is that shipping containers are plenty in supply and easy to customize to serve different business purposes.
