Crate Pro Support

Inside dims, outside dims, Cube and Capacity can be found in Wts & Dims tab of design.

Example Cubic Foot using Inches:  using 1/2 ply and 2x4 outside cleats plus a 4x4 skid/stringer

• Crate inside dims are 40 x30 x 20  (used for calculating Capacity)
• Crate outside dims are 44 x 34 x 27.75 = 41,514 inches
• 41,514 / 1728 = 24.0243' (which will be rounded in Crate Pro 6 to 24 CF)

Sell Price Per Cubic Foot: Located in the Design > Prices tab  Using the above example

• Based on my markups and pricing settings, this crate sells at $125 each.
• $125 / 24 = $5.21 per cubic foot selling price

In Crate Pro 6 you're able to view, based on the Cubic Feet, the actual selling price per cubic foot is. As you change your crate dimensions and materials, that selling price per CF will change. So on one crate it might be $5.21 per CF, but on another crate it could be $12 per CF.  If you have a 'flat rate' per CF, you may find that you underprice some crates and overprice others.

If you enter 'ice cream pricing'  the 'Sell per CF' value will update to indicate the Sell per cubic foot.

While some companies do quote by cubic foot for some crates, for most commercial crating companies today, this method of pricing has been in decline. The more out of cube a crate is, the more you could be under charging for your crate, even to the point of lost revenue. 

Example: 

• Crate 1 OD is 40x40x40 which is 37 Cubic Ft
• Crate 2 OD is 100x20x20 which is 23 Cubic Feet. 

Using cubic feet to set a selling price, in this example you will charge much more for the smaller and probably easier to build since its dimensions will be repeated on all sides. The larger crate with more cuts, splices and labor time will  be quoted at a much lower selling price if you're using cube tables.

If you have some designs that you would like to set a selling price by CF, enter the value in the 'Ice cream pricing' field and add notes to the design. The ice cream icon will appear whenever that design is selected so the users are aware of a "locked" price when they select that design.

Even if ice cream pricing has been applied, you are still able to see the actual costs of the design(s) when you update them.

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Calculating Capacity: The same formula above is used except you use the Inside Dimensions of the crate instead of Outside dimensions.

It should be kept in mind that this is the inside capacity calculation of the crate rather than the actual crate volume. depending on the content dimension you may need a higher capacity crate for your customers content.

Why quote by cubic foot?

Some companies may chose to charge by Cube or Capacity because its simple math to calculate the cubic capacity of a crate with the outside dimensions and looking at your price sheet.  

However, as you could see in the example above this result in under pricing your designs. But determining the actual usage of every material used, adding a waste % waste and them multiplying that by your cost for each material // then adding it all together in additional to your labor time cost estimates // THEN adding a markup, while very accurate is time consuming if you're not using Crate Pro 6. 

On top of that, if there is a change to any material that affect the adjoining materials, then you have to start over for accuracy. Crate Pro does all this for you and it only takes seconds. 

Crate Pro uses your settings and costs plus an algorithm to determine your actual costs and selling price. (Actual material usage + waste * markup) + (calculated labor time * markup) + additional preferences you may have entered for your company such as Administration time, addition of ISPM stamping and many more options. 

If you still want to quote by cube that information is also supplied on the Prices tab. Best of everything!